Non-Renew Pre-Mortem

Goal

Analyze a churned account's full history to identify root causes, reconstruct missed risk signals, and deliver a structured SWOT analysis plus an actionable save plan.

Trigger

Invoke immediately after receiving a non-renewal notice for an account.

Steps

1. 1

   Using your connected tools (for example the CRM account record, call transcripts from Gong or similar, recent email threads, and open/closed support tickets), gather everything relevant to $account_name: contract value, renewal date, stakeholder contacts, usage trends, NPS or health scores, support history, and any notes from the last 6–12 months. If a needed tool isn't connected, ask the user to paste what's available.

   • □Account record and renewal date confirmed
   • □At least 3 months of call transcripts or email history retrieved
   • □Usage trend and support ticket history collected
2. 2

   Reconstruct a chronological churn narrative from the gathered data. Identify the inflection points where sentiment shifted, engagement dropped, or complaints escalated. Note who raised concerns, what was said, and how (or whether) the team responded. Highlight the moment the decision to non-renew likely crystallized.

   • □Timeline of key events built from earliest to most recent
   • □Sentiment shift moments clearly identified with dates
   • □Decision-to-churn moment pinpointed
3. 3

   Surface all risk signals that were present but missed or under-actioned. Categorize each signal by type (engagement, sentiment, product usage, support escalation, stakeholder change, competitive mention) and by how early it appeared. For each signal, note what action was taken at the time versus what should have been done.

   • □At least 3 distinct risk signal categories identified
   • □Each signal has a 'detected on' date and an 'actioned / not actioned' status
   • □Earliest detectable warning noted
4. 4

   Produce a SWOT analysis scoped specifically to this account and this churn event. Strengths and weaknesses reflect the vendor's product and relationship with this account; opportunities and threats reflect the competitive and strategic landscape revealed by the churn evidence.

   • □All four SWOT quadrants populated with account-specific evidence
   • □Each item tied back to a specific data point from step 1–2
   • □No generic filler — every item is concrete
5. 5

   Draft a save plan with three horizons: (1) Immediate — actions to take within 48 hours to re-open dialogue and slow the exit, including who should reach out and what to say; (2) Short-term — concessions, roadmap commitments, or escalations to offer within 2 weeks; (3) Structural — process or product changes to prevent recurrence for similar accounts. Assign an owner role to each action.

   • □48-hour immediate actions are specific and assigned to a role
   • □Short-term offers are realistic and tied to identified pain points
   • □Structural recommendations address at least two missed-signal categories
6. 6

   Summarize the full pre-mortem into an executive brief (5–7 bullet points) suitable for sharing with a VP or CRO. Include: churn root cause in one sentence, top three missed signals, SWOT headline finding, estimated save probability, and the single highest-leverage action to take now.

   • □Root cause stated in one sentence without jargon
   • □Save probability estimate included with brief rationale
   • □Single highest-leverage action clearly called out

Output format

Deliver four clearly labeled sections in order: (1) Churn Narrative — chronological prose with inflection points called out; (2) Missed Risk Signals — a table with columns: Signal, Type, Date Detected, Action Taken, Action Recommended; (3) SWOT — a 2×2 grid with bullet points per quadrant; (4) Save Plan — three-horizon action list with owner roles; followed by the Executive Brief as a final standalone block.