Published September 11, 2019 | Updated December 13, 2024

Equipment and technology deals move fast. Businesses are constantly looking for the best solutions to help them serve their customers and grow, and keeping sales flow moving on new opportunities is critical to your bottom line. But the secret to building long-term recurring revenue – and revenue in general – has less to do with bringing in new customers than how you renew existing ones.

Too often, businesses decide to switch equipment providers due to poor end-of-lease experiences. And in many cases, if equipment and technology sellers put half of the energy into the ends of leases as they do selling them the first time, they’ll have those customers for many years to come.

These customers aren’t leaving because your competition has lower prices, better equipment, or even a more valuable offering. They’re leaving because the end-of-lease experience drove them to look for alternatives.

Getting new customers is important. But so is keeping the ones you already have.

Here are four tips to ensure a successful lease-renewal experience:

1. Tell them upfront. Then tell them again. Sales teams need to go the extra mile to educate their customers on terms at the point of lease inception and again at the expiration of the agreement.
2. Be proactive about the end. Establish a process that leverages marketing, sales, and service contacts to remind customers about an expiring lease term. A simple triggered marketing campaign that offers items for consideration 18, 12, six, and three months out, along with disciplined account-management communications, goes a long way toward an effective renewal strategy.
3. Be intentional. Many equipment and technology sellers go to remarkable lengths to establish processes and strategies to deliver a great experience for new customers, but they spend little time and energy on the renewal experience for existing customers. Make sure to give your existing customers the TLC they need!
4. Use “equipment plans,” “technology plans,” or “upgrade plans”. Financial planners successfully keep clients by building plans that extend beyond a one-time transaction. Give your clients a written plan that includes upgrade options, additional services, and a reminder of your end-of-term process.

With just a little creativity, you can come up with a renewal experience that retains monthly recurring revenues and boxes out the competition. LEAF helps equipment and technology sellers of all kinds make these solutions affordable today and for the renewal ahead.