Renewal-defence template · Stakeholder swap
New CMO is evaluating the SEO agency
Your champion gets replaced by a new CMO from outside the company. They've inherited your contract, they don't know your work, and the first-90-days playbook every consultant gives them is 'audit the vendor stack and cut 30%'. You have one shot at the introduction.
The receipt
Mid-market consumer marketplace, ~$25-50K ARR
Pattern observed across multiple stakeholder swaps in the book. Agencies who introduced themselves in this shape held the renewal more often than agencies who waited to be invited.
What lands in your inbox
From (no inbound - proactive intro before they ask) · (no inbound - you're reaching out first)
The reply
The full reply, subject line included, opens for library members. Start with the free template below to see the shape of one before you commit.
Read the free templateWhy it works
Names the vendor audit explicitly - refuses to pretend it isn't coming. Reframes the intro from 'sell yourself' to 'make the audit easier on them'.
Acknowledges the first-90-days playbook every new CMO is handed. Shows you understand their world as well as your own.
Modest - a 20-minute meeting with source data. No vision deck. Excite during an introduction is the wrong tempo.
Volunteers what to cut from your own contract. Highest-credibility move available to a new-CMO introduction.
Specific timing ('first 30 days, before the audit'), specific attendees ('whoever has the strongest opinions'), and a clean opt-out for March.
The anti-pattern
A 'congratulations on the role, looking forward to working together' email with no ask. You've now used your one introduction email on a greeting card. The audit happens without you in the room and you find out you're cut in a calendar invite titled 'Vendor consolidation update'.
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