Skip to content Skip to footer
Close

Preventing Lost Revenue with Automated Contract Renewal Alerts

April 11, 2025
 

The Challenge

A U.S.-based financial institution marketing agency offering creative, digital, and physical marketing services had a growing challenge: staying on top of contract renewals for hundreds of clients. The sales team was either manually reviewing contract dates or—more often—missing them entirely.

This issue became especially problematic within one sector, where contract cycles were longer and harder to track. As a result, multiple contracts expired without renewal, directly impacting the agency’s revenue and client retention.

The Objective

Design a lightweight automation system that:

  • Alerted the sales team well in advance of contract expiration.
  • Reduced the need for manual review across hundreds of contracts.
  • Prevented contracts from “slipping through the cracks.”
  • Was fast and cost-effective to implement.

The Solution

Following a short discovery phase with the sales team, we identified two ideal timeframes to notify sales reps: three months and six months prior to a contract’s expiration date.

Fortunately, the agency already maintained a centralized repository of contracts with associated expiration dates and account owner emails. This meant the foundational data structure was already in place—we just needed to activate it.

Using Google Apps Script and the Gmail API, we developed a script that:

  • Automatically scanned the contract database daily.
  • Checked each contract’s expiration date against the current date.
  • Triggered a personalized email reminder to the assigned salesperson when a contract was approaching the 3- or 6-month renewal window.

The entire solution lived within their existing Google Workspace, requiring no new software or training.

The Results

  • 30+ minutes saved daily by eliminating manual contract reviews for the sales team.
  • Significant revenue retained through timely client outreach and increased contract renewals—especially within a high-risk sector.
  • High ROI on a simple solution that took only a few days to plan and implement.

Key Takeaway

Not all automation solutions require complex architecture. In this case, a lightweight script created in under a week led to tens of thousands of dollars in retained business. The key was identifying the right problem and designing a simple, scalable fix that blended seamlessly into the team’s existing workflow.

Sometimes, thinking outside the box just means seeing the opportunity in plain sight.