Quote sent, then silence
The renewal quote went out five weeks before expiry. The IT manager said yes straight away. Then it went to procurement, who needed a new supplier form because the old one had expired. Then to finance for budget approval. Then to a PO system that only raises orders on Thursdays. The PO arrives two days after the licence expired. The vendor applies a reinstatement process, the customer's users see warnings, and everyone is annoyed with everyone else.
Your account manager did chase, twice, by email to the IT manager, who had already said yes and did not know where it was stuck.
Why renewals stall between yes and PO
A renewal quote is the start of the customer's process, not the end of yours. Larger customers have procurement teams, approval limits and PO systems. Public sector customers may have frameworks and extra paperwork. Each customer has a typical time from quote to PO, and it is often longer than your team's standard renewal lead time.
Chasing also goes to the wrong person. The technical buyer said yes; the delay is in procurement or finance, whose names you may not have.
| Stage | Who holds it | What stalls it |
|---|---|---|
| Technical approval | IT manager | Usually quick |
| Supplier checks | Procurement | Forms, onboarding, insurance certificates |
| Budget approval | Finance | Approval limits, month end |
| PO raised | Purchasing system | Batch schedules, missing codes |
| PO sent to you | Procurement | Goes to an old email address |
What late POs cost
A lapse causes disruption for the customer, extra admin for you and, with some vendors, reinstatement costs or loss of terms. Rushed last-day orders are also where mistakes get made. Relationships suffer even when the delay was the customer's own process.
There is a hidden cost too: account managers spend renewal season chasing paperwork instead of talking to customers about what they need next.
The renewal follow-up we build
- Buying profile: each customer's renewal history is used to record their stages, contacts and typical time from quote to PO, and account managers add what they know, such as supplier form renewal dates.
- Quote timing: renewal quotes are scheduled from the expiry date minus that customer's lead time, not a single standard lead time for everyone.
- Stage tracking: after the quote, the renewal moves through the customer's stages, with a simple way for the account manager or the customer to update where it is.
- Right-person chasing: reminders go to the person holding the current stage, such as procurement for supplier forms, with polite, specific messages drafted for the account manager to approve or send automatically if they choose.
- Paperwork ready: supplier forms, insurance certificates and bank letters the customer usually asks for are kept current and sent on request without a search.
- Risk escalation: renewals where the PO is not in with a set number of days to go are escalated to a manager, with the options your team has for that vendor laid out.
A renewal season with less chasing
Account managers see renewals by stage rather than as a list of quotes awaiting reply. Customers with slow processes get their quotes earlier. Procurement teams receive what they need before they ask. Renewals heading for a lapse are visible weeks ahead, when there are still options, rather than on the expiry date.
Do your renewals stall like this?
- Renewal POs regularly arrive in the last few days or after expiry.
- Chasers go to the technical contact, not procurement or finance.
- Every customer gets renewal quotes at the same lead time.
- Supplier forms and certificates are hunted for each time.
- Nobody sees which renewals are at risk until the week they expire.