At the start of this fiscal year, I took over a new book of business.
One account stood out immediately, not because I was excited about it, but because it came with a red flag:
“They’re planning to churn 100 seats.”
That’s how it started.
Not only did the account blow up my Book of Business on paper, the potential churn would also hit my quota directly. No upside in sight.
So I did what you do in that situation: I tried to understand what was really going on.
I spoke with the Customer Success Manager, then with the previous AE to get a full picture.
There was one internal contact who was actually a champion of our product, but a few weeks in, I found out he was leaving the company.
His replacement? Nowhere near the same level of buy-in.
And then there was procurement, polite on the surface, but constantly referencing “agreements” that never existed, claiming things were promised in the past that clearly weren’t.
I kept it professional, but there were moments I was honestly mad.
Still, I didn’t let that get in the way.
I focused on what I could control: the structure of the deal.
And here’s one thing that’s absolutely critical in any negotiation like this:
If the customer wants to reduce volume, the price per seat has to go up.
That’s not being difficult, that’s just how value-based pricing works.
We ran through multiple scenarios, different bundles, product tiers, subsidiaries with varying needs.
I introduced a service package.
I involved my manager.
On their side, the CEO got pulled in too.
It wasn’t one of those “smooth” deals that closes in a single call.
This was back and forth, over weeks.
But eventually, we got to a structure that worked:
- The main entity reduced seats, but not by 100, only by 25
- One subsidiary actually upgraded their license
- We introduced a new product in the core business
- There’s clear upsell potential later this year
Was it still a churn? Technically, yes.
But in the end, it was only 5% of what was initially on the table.
What I took from it:
- Stay calm, even if the tone shifts or things feel unfair
- Don’t hold onto single champions, build structural logic into the deal
- If you lose volume, you need to win margin. Otherwise, the math breaks
- Bring leadership in early when the stakes rise, that’s what they’re there for
- It’s okay to push back, as long as you stay solution-oriented
- And last: Some customers are just difficult. You don’t have to take it personal.
Keep your professional distance, this is your job, not your identity.
It wasn’t my biggest “win” on paper.
But looking back, it was probably my most important renewal so far.