Want to save time and money? Here's how renewal management software can help

Renewal management is a business process that tracks customer subscriptions and contract renewals. Procurement takes care of orders, trials, payments, discounts, and other activities.

Although renewal management can apply to any type of business, it is most often mentioned in the SaaS space where revenue is generated through subscriptions.

Often, contracts have auto-renewal terms baked in, and companies could be paying for subscriptions even though the usage is low. 

With the average company employing 250+ SaaS tools, it is challenging to keep track of renewal dates for every tool. 

Thus, a SaaS buying and optimization tool like Spendflo that enables renewal management can help you rightsize your SaaS spending.

Benefits of renewal management software

Here’s how renewal management software can benefit your company:

1. Accurate budgeting

A centralized dashboard that provides a comprehensive view of all upcoming renewals, finance, and procurement teams can help you allocate funds more effectively. 

This level of insight is crucial for avoiding budget overruns and making informed financial decisions. 

It also allows for more strategic planning, as you can forecast your software expenses for the upcoming quarters or even years.

2. Improved cash flow

By automating the renewal process and setting reminders for upcoming renewals, the software helps you avoid last-minute scrambles that often result in late fees or rushed decisions. 

This proactive approach allows you to negotiate better terms and take advantage of early payment discounts, thereby improving your cash flow. 

3. Better customer lifetime value (CLV)

By automating renewal reminders and offering personalized renewal options based on customer behavior and preferences, you can significantly improve retention rates. 

Higher retention rates translate to increased CLV. This is especially important because acquiring a new customer is more expensive than retaining an existing one.

4. Reduce inefficiencies

The manual process of software renewal management leads to errors in data entry. 

Renewal management software eliminates these inefficiencies by automating repetitive tasks and centralizing data. This frees up your time so you can focus on strategic initiatives to drive the growth of your business. 

Case study: Wodify's transformation with Spendflo

Over 100 hours saved

Wodify, a management software in the gym and studio space, was grappling with a significant challenge: their SaaS data was fragmented across various platforms. 

This lack of centralized information made it extremely difficult to manage renewals and optimize costs effectively. 

After evaluating several options, Wodify chose Spendflo for its user-friendly interface and efficient onboarding process.

With Spendflo, Wodify was able to centralize all their SaaS data, providing a single source of truth for their entire organization. 

Moreover, Spendflo's automated renewal notifications enabled Wodify to engage in proactive negotiations with vendors, leading to better deals and significant savings in both time and resources.

How to choose the best renewal management software for your business

Since it is challenging to manage renewals manually, most SaaS companies choose to use renewal management software like Spendflo.

How should you go about selecting such software?

1. Analyze company needs

Conduct a thorough analysis of your company's specific needs. 

Do you require advanced analytics or integration with existing systems? 

2. Check your IT infrastructure

The last thing you want is to invest in software that requires a complete overhaul of your systems. 

Make sure the software you choose is easily integrated into your current environment, ensuring a smooth transition and minimizing disruption to your operations.

3. Draw up a budget

While it may be tempting to opt for the most feature-rich option, you must take into consideration the overall cost of ownership, including initial purchase, implementation, and ongoing maintenance. 

Weigh these costs against the expected ROI to make an informed decision.

4. Check your company size

Some renewal management software packages are tailored for small businesses, offering simplicity and ease of use, while others are designed to fulfill the complex needs of large enterprises.

Make sure to choose a solution that scales with your business, ensuring you won't outgrow it shortly.

Top 5 renewal management software to explore

Let’s explore the top five contract renewal management software available:

1. Spendflo

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Spendflo is a SaaS buying and optimization platform that helps companies with a comprehensive suite of tools like renewal management, product discovery, contract management, insights and visualizations, vendor trust metrics, approval workflows, spend analytics, and user sentiment surveys. 

Key features

• Alerts through renewal notifications 90-120 days ahead of renewal date
• Deploys a user sentiment survey to help you decide whether to renew or replace a SaaS tool
• Consolidates SaaS vendors into a central platform for easy management and improved visibility
• Focuses on security and compliance to safeguard your business from potential risks and threats
• Features such as API, access controls and permissions, and activity dashboard with alerts and notifications 
• Greater transparency and efficiency with intelligent reporting and analytical insights

Pricing

Starts at $2500 per month for a business with an annual spend of $250K - $1M

G2 Rating (as of September 2023) - 4.7/5

2. Vendr

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Vendr specializes in SaaS procurement and renewal management, offering features to help businesses optimize their SaaS spend. They have a suite of tools that allows you to select and approve SaaS vendors quickly and efficiently. 

Key Features

• Notifications for upcoming renewals
• Automated procurement and renewal workflows
• Overlapping spend alerts
• Assistance for sourcing and negotiating new software contracts
• App bundle for quick browsing and evaluation
• User sentiment analysis

Pricing

Starts at $36,000 for companies with $400K-$1M annual SaaS spend

G2 Rating (as of September 2023) - 4.6/5

3. Zylo

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Zylo offers a SaaS management platform that includes robust renewal management features. It helps identify software redundancies, unused licenses, and pricing errors, too.

Key Features

• Tracks spending and contracts to manage SaaS investments
• Automates employee onboarding, SaaS operations, and maintenance
• Integrates with Salesforce, Google Workspace, and JIRA
• Enables periodic user sentiment tracking 
• Offers insights and analytics in a digestible and visually appealing way

Pricing

Non-transparent pricing; contact the sales team for a quote

G2 Rating (as of September 2023) - 4.8/5

4. Axonius

Axonius offers a cybersecurity asset management platform that includes renewal management features. If security compliance is a significant concern for your business, Axonius might be the right choice for you.

Key Features

• Enables compliance tracking
• Offers endpoint management
• Provides alerts or escalations and automatic notifications
• Enables access control to safeguard critical data
• Enables third-party integrations

Pricing

Pricing is not mentioned on the website. However, a free trial is available.

G2 Rating (as of September 2023) - 4.5/5

5. CobbleStone

CobbleStone offers a contract renewal management software with features to streamline the renewal management process. With its focus on compliance and legal oversight, CobbleStone is ideal for businesses in highly regulated industries.

Key Features

• Allows you to search, sort, and filter your contract repository
• Enables permission-based security access
• Uses workflows to track process flow
• Sends automated email alerts of next steps
• Offers contract writing software that uses templates to merge fields and clauses

Pricing

G2 Rating (As of September 2023) - 4.8/5

Conclusion

Spendflo’s contract management and reporting suite helps you stay on top of your SaaS renewals. You can manage your upcoming contract renewals and upgrades with custom notifications. In addition, you can set the time and frequency of alerts and plan your contracts ahead of time.

Spendflo’s renewal alerts inform you about upcoming renewals 90-120 days in advance, allowing you to manage them proactively.

Talk to our team today to know more. 

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