Renewal sequence
Three messages, starting at day 21 of a thirty-day pilot. Never at day 30: by then the work is finished, the urgency has gone and your champion has moved on to the next thing.
Before message one, do two things. Pull the baseline you recorded at kickoff, so the day-28 message has real before-and-after numbers in it. And decide which shape you are recommending: a done-for-you retainer if the marketing team is one person, or Pro on their own account if there is somebody who will run it.
Day 21: while the last articles are still landing
Subject: seven of ten, and what happens next
[Name], seven of the ten are delivered and the last three are with the editor.
Two things worth deciding now rather than at the end.
First, what happens in [next month]. If this has been useful, there are two shapes: you run it yourselves on Austen Pro at $299 a month for fifty articles, editing added per piece, or we keep running it for you at $2,000 a month for eight finished, edited articles.
Second, which of the two do you want me to price properly? I will put it in writing this week either way, and you can decide when the last article lands.
Simon
Day 28: at delivery
Subject: all ten, and the baseline
[Name], all ten are delivered and published to [destination].
For the record, here is where those queries stood on the day we started and where they stand today: [baseline vs today]. Four weeks is too short to draw a conclusion about rankings and I am not going to pretend otherwise. What has changed is that you now have ten researched, professionally edited articles that did not exist a month ago, and a brief format your team can reuse whoever writes the next ten.
The proposal for [next month] is attached: [$2,000 done for you, 8 articles / $299 Pro, you run it].
One favour, whichever you choose. Would you write me two sentences about how it went that I can quote, with your name on them? You would be the first, and being able to name a real customer is worth a great deal to us.
Simon
Day 38: if there has been no answer
Subject: closing the loop
[Name], no answer is an answer and that is completely fine.
Three things before I stop.
The ten articles are yours outright, published or not, and so are the briefs. They are reusable whoever writes the next set.
If the reason is budget timing rather than the work, tell me the month and I will come back then rather than chasing you.
And if something was wrong with it, I would genuinely rather know. One sentence is enough.
Simon
What to offer, by customer shape
| If | Offer | Price |
|---|
| The marketing team is one person and stays one person | Done-for-you retainer, 8 finished articles a month | $2,000, or $2,500 where the subject is technical or regulated, or where there is more than one brand voice |
| There is somebody who will run it | Austen Pro, editing added per piece | $299 a month, editing at $55 per 1,000 words |
| They are an agency with several clients | Pro on the agency's account, one project per client | $299 a month plus editing per client. This is the best outcome available and costs you almost no time |
| The volume was more than they needed | Austen Starter | $99 a month for 15 articles. Do not talk them out of it |
| It is a budget timing problem, not a value problem | Nothing now. A dated note in the calendar | Come back in the month they named, once, without a sequence |
| They want a second pilot for another team or faculty | A second pilot | $2,500. Better than a retainer they are not ready for |
Rules
- Day 21, not day 30. The conversation has to happen while the work is still visibly in progress.
- Two options, never three. "You run it" or "we run it". Adding a third makes it a decision rather than a choice.
- Be honest about four weeks. It is too short to prove a ranking movement, and saying so is more persuasive than a chart that overclaims.
- Ask for the reference at delivery, not at renewal. That is the moment they are happiest.
- Ask for one introduction two weeks later, separately, so it is not bundled with an ask for money.
- If they say no, ask what would have had to be true. Write the answer down verbatim and take it to the Friday review.