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If you're struggling with renewal rates in 2025, you're not alone. According to recent surveys, gross retention rates have been declining across the board. But there's hope on the horizon! Two CS leaders from People.ai, Natalie Wolf, SVP, Customer Success, and Jesse Dailey, SVP, Solution Engineering and Field CTO, joined RevGenius to discuss how technology and team alignment are changing the game.
"Revenue protection and outcomes must be decided and operationalized together. Go-to-market teams really need to align on what I'll call shared rituals and goals." - Natalie Wolf
The data tells a compelling story. A 2024 survey of 154 companies showed gross retention rates varying by deal size: 85% for deals under $100K, climbing to 88% for those over $250K. But best-in-class companies are pushing even higher, targeting 90% gross retention and 120% net retention.
The Gap Between Average and Exceptional
Dailey points to a critical shift in how teams operate. "What's becoming more and more evident is point solutions for different teams that represent different processes... these siloed systems just aren't working in the way that they used to."
The key to bridging this gap? Executive engagement and cross-functional alignment. "If you're not in the room, meeting with executives at your customer account, whatever renewal is coming up, your competitor is in there," Dailey warns.
"It's easy to get lost in the sauce and spend all your time with the practitioners, implementers, end users. But when the CFO comes around... and she's like, 'yeah, I think my team is using it but I'm not seeing a ton of value, I haven't heard from that account team...' That's your death knell right there." - Jesse Dailey
Wolf emphasizes there are four critical criteria for success.
The 4 critical criteria for renewal success:
- A business-critical product or service – what rituals does it embed in?
- Being engaged in the right account – are your key personas engaged?
- Understanding changes happening in the business – are there new processes and transformations planned to be integrated?
- Realized value signed off by the customer – do we have documented outcomes committed by the customer?
"Don't worry about your existing really horrible executive sponsor program... if it's not helping you with these four things, it doesn't count," she states.
AI: The Game-Changer for Customer Success
While 63% of companies have integrated AI features into their products over the last year, adoption remains a challenge, with less than 40% of customers using these features. The solution? Embedding AI into existing workflows and rituals that matter.
Unlike humans, AI has boundless enthusiasm to go through all of your data and summarize the things that are happening or grade a customer base off of all the criteria you give it. This automation is transforming everything from weekly updates to health scores, saving customer success managers hours of manual work.
The Path Forward
Success in 2025 requires more than just tools – it demands a fundamental shift in how teams work together. Organizations can build more resilient renewal processes by aligning sales and customer success on shared goals, leveraging AI for efficiency, and maintaining focus on executive engagement.
As Wolf concludes, "For all of you as the users of tools, don't get sucked into the fact that they're new. Work backward from the job to be done and the outcomes you want to deliver in a ritual that matters."
Want to learn more about transforming your renewal strategy? Watch the full webinar here.