My biggest client goes quiet before renewal. What should I send?

Your largest client’s service agreement is approaching its next term. You sent a note asking to discuss renewal, but the contact has gone quiet. You need to plan your capacity without turning silence into an assumption about what the client will do.

First check the signed agreement and amendments for the end date, renewal mechanism, notice deadline and any required form of notice. A friendly renewal email may not count as a formal notice, and silence may not prevent an automatic extension. Treat the commercial conversation and any contractual notice as separate tasks.

Give the client a one-page renewal decision

Make your proposal easy to forward to the person who can decide. Keep it short enough to scan:

If the proposed work differs from the current agreement, mark those changes. Do not imply that a new price, scope or term has already been accepted. Where renewal depends on formal approval or a purchase order, state that clearly and identify the person who owns it.

Send a short, answerable email

Adapt this fictional message to the actual relationship and contract:

Subject: [Service] renewal decision by [date]

Hi [name],

Our current [service] term is due to end on [verified date]. I’ve attached a one-page summary of the work in progress and the proposed [length]-month next term, including [material scope or price change].

Could you let me know by [decision date] whether you’d like to renew on that proposal, discuss a change, or plan an end-of-term handover? If another person owns approval or procurement, please point me to the right contact.

I’m available [two concrete times] if a short call would help. I’ll continue to follow the current agreement while we confirm any change in writing.

Thanks, [name]

Choose the response date by working backward from the real deadline, the client’s approval process and the time you need to plan. Do not label it a contractual deadline unless it is one. If a notice date is close, follow the contract’s notice procedure independently and keep evidence of delivery.

If there is still no reply

Send one concise follow-up that refers to the date and asks whether the right person has seen the proposal. Then make a capacity plan using what you know: current contracted work, confirmed renewal, unconfirmed work and work you can offer elsewhere. Do not reserve unlimited future capacity on the strength of an unanswered email.

Check what the existing agreement permits during the remaining term. Do not stop service, change delivery or assume it has renewed or ended without checking the actual terms and any required approvals. If the client wants more work before the next term is signed, agree which existing terms apply and get the new scope, price and authority recorded.

For an orderly exit, check payment, access, records, data, licences and handover duties while there is still time. If the client is returning after a project pause rather than making a renewal decision, the restart timeline and email addresses that different situation.

Track the date as well as the relationship

Keep a record of the next term end, any formal notice date, the decision owner and the client’s answer. The contract-renewal calendar checklist shows how to record the dates and delivery method you must verify in the agreement. A calm, early conversation helps with planning; only the signed terms and valid changes determine the contractual position.