If you are feeling un-easy about your existing customer relationship, you have a good reason to fear a breakup might be in the cards.
According to Gartner, more than half of 3,000 recent and significant software purchases were replacement driven. And 65% of organizations are planning at least one replacement purchase in 2025.
Why is this happening?
- Renewal rates are falling. Across software categories, renewal rates have dropped sharply over the past two years, with many providers reporting double-digit percentage point declines that can translate into millions in lost recurring revenue.
- Purchase regret is rising. Gartner research has shown that almost 2/3rds of enterprise buyers experience regret after a major purchase — often because they struggle to prove the promised outcomes were delivered. This regret drives dissatisfaction, even when the product itself functions well.
- Cost-cutting pressures are mounting. As budgets tighten, every software expense must be justified. If a vendor cannot help the customer prove realized value, the easiest path is often to replace them with something newer, cheaper, or better aligned to current goals.
Even if your product is performing, even if your customer seems happy, you are at risk.
In B2B renewals, “It’s not you, it’s me” usually translates into: We can no longer justify your price without clear proof of value.
Why Customer Success Alone Falls Short
Most customer success programs focus on:
- Tracking adoption and usage metrics
- Responding to support issues
- Conducting periodic health checks or satisfaction surveys
These are internal vendor metrics — they measure how well you’re serving the customer, but they don’t address how well the customer is doing because of your solution.
From the customer’s executive perspective, the conversation is about outcomes:
- How much cost have we saved?
- How much new revenue have we generated?
- How has this improved productivity or reduced risk?
Without hard answers backed by data, your renewal and expansion opportunities are on thin ice.
The Power Trio of Value-Led Growth
To overcome these challenges, leading vendors are adopting a Value-Led Growth strategy centered on three essential pillars:
- Shared Value Plans: A Shared Value Plan is a jointly developed document that:
- Defines the customer’s specific business goals and success criteria
- Outlines the shared actions and milestones needed to achieve these goals
- Establishes how value will be measured and validated
This creates alignment and accountability, making sure both vendor and customer are working toward the same measurable outcomes.
- Realized Value Quantification and Proof: It’s no longer enough to rely on promised value. You must deliver ongoing, data-backed realized value assessments:
- Regular ROI and total cost of ownership (TCO) calculations
- Progress reports versus initial business case benchmarks
- Customer-specific success proof points, such as case studies, metrics, or executive testimonials
This provides the hard evidence customers need to defend renewals internally and justify ongoing investments.
- GROWS Storytelling Presentations: Your Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and success engagements must be transformed into strategic growth conversations using the GROWS framework:
- Goals: Confirm evolving business priorities
- Results: Present quantified realized value tied to those goals
- Opportunities: Identify new growth and expansion areas
- Workplan: Map out joint next steps
- Shared Success: Celebrate wins and reinforce the partnership’s value
With GROWS, you shift from reporting on past activities to co-creating future opportunities.
Top 3 Actions to Prevent Being Replaced
Here are the three most critical steps you should take now to safeguard renewals and drive expansion:
- Implement Shared Value Plans Across Key Accounts
- Co-create clear, documented plans that align success metrics, milestones, and responsibilities between you and your customer.
- Ensure buy-in at both the operational and executive levels.
- Deliver Regular Realized Value Assessments and Proof
- Quantify cost savings, revenue improvements, productivity gains, and risk reductions, not just activity metrics.
- Provide quarterly value updates to arm your champions with the proof they need to defend your value internally.
- Elevate QBRs with GROWS Storytelling Presentations
- Redesign your customer engagements to be forward-looking, value-centric conversations.
- Use the GROWS framework to connect past results to future potential, strengthening your position as a strategic partner.
The Bottom-Line: Loyalty Without Proof is Fragile
In today’s market, even satisfied customers can become part of the replacement churn cycle. Rising purchase regret, declining renewal rates, and intense cost justification pressures have made realized value the critical currency of retention and growth.
To survive and thrive, you need to embrace a Value-Led Growth approach:
- Co-create and manage Shared Value Plans
- Quantify and communicate Realized Value
- Elevate QBRs into GROWS storytelling moments
This isn’t just about keeping your seat at the table and sustaining your current revenue stream — it’s about growth based on deepening your strategic importance and positioning your company as an indispensable partner in your customer’s success.
Source: Gartner – Hank Barnes
Grab a briefing with us to discuss your renewal challenges and how a Value-Led Growth approach could help – Contact Us
Learn more:
Eight Reasons Why Customer Success Should Care About Value
Episode 33: Chief Customer Officer Perspective – How Valuable is Customer Success?
Download our Value Automation Platform Buyer’s Guide to learn how to automate and scale Realized Value.