I waited for the customer to come to us. They reached out about 12 days before renewal, flagged the freeze themselves, and asked about options. We walked through the auto-renewal terms together. They kept the contract.
Candidate waited for the customer to flag the issue — reactive posture on a known deadline.
I had a similar situation last year — prospect hit a freeze two weeks before renewal. I called, acknowledged the freeze directly, then walked them through the auto-renewal terms line by line. They appreciated the heads-up. They kept the contract but downgraded one seat tier.
Candidate acted proactively and informed the prospect, but leaned on process over relationship framing.
I separated the two conversations immediately. I called the day after the freeze announcement, acknowledged the pause, then flagged the 30-day auto-renewal directly so it wouldn't land as a surprise charge. They appreciated the transparency — they still cancelled, but we kept the relationship intact.
Candidate separated two problems, acted immediately, and prioritized transparency over retention pressure.