The Exec One-Pager That Protects Renewals
ClickHouse raised $400M Series D recently and backed it up with two moves that matter for Customer Success:
A move to measure and monitor AI in real customer workflows (Langfuse)
A move to run both app data and analytics in one place (Postgres)
That combination screams one thing: production is the battleground now.
This is the same renewal problem every SaaS team runs into, whether you sell analytics or not.
And in production, renewals are not won by “adoption vibes.”
They’re won by proof.
Paid members can download the Proof-of-Value Renewal Kit (Excel) to implement this fast.
If you can’t show outcomes with data, your renewal becomes a debate.
If you can, your renewal becomes a decision.
The renewal reality nobody says out loud
Most CS teams already have usage data.
They just don't have a Proof-of-Value system.
And here’s the damage: CS teams running consistent, outcome-focused QBRs maintain net retention rates 15-20 points higher than teams relying on reactive support alone.
So what do reactive QBRs look like?
feature updates
charts without context
activity reports
“we’re partnering closely”
Execs hear: “Trust us.”
Procurement hears: “Discount us.”
The Proof-of-Value Operating Rhythm
This is the rhythm that turns product telemetry into renewal leverage:
Usage telemetry > executive narrative > renewal leverage
Not once a quarter.
Every month, with a tight loop.
Here’s the system.
Part 1: Instrumentation that answers exec questions
Execs do not care about logins. They care about impact and risk.
So you need three layers of telemetry:
1. Adoption signals (leading)
These show momentum.
Active users by persona (not just total users)
Frequency (weekly active, daily active if relevant)
Key feature utilization (top 3 workflows that matter)
2. Value signals (outcome-linked)
These show results.
Pick 2 to 4 that map to your customer’s business case:
Time saved per workflow (and total hours saved)
Error reduction or quality increase
Cost avoided (manual work, tooling, downtime)
Revenue influenced (conversion, retention, upsell, throughput)
3. Risk signals (renewal killers)
These show what could break trust:
Drop in usage for a critical workflow
Support severity spikes
Performance issues, outages, and latency
Stakeholder disengagement (champion silence, exec absence)
If you sell AI-powered products: procurement teams are increasingly asking for AI quality and control metrics during reviews.
If you can’t answer “How often do humans need to intervene?” with data, your renewal becomes a risk conversation instead of a value conversation.
And the trendline is clear: observability spend is rising fast, with AI-related observability emerging as a real buyer requirement.
Part 2: The Exec Proof Dashboard Spec
This is what your exec view should contain.
Not 30 charts. One page.
Header
Account goal (one sentence)
Renewal date + renewal path (auto-renew, legal, procurement, re-compete)
Current status: On track / At risk / Escalation
Proof tiles (4 max)
Business outcome (number + plain-English definition)
Adoption of the value workflow (not generic usage)
Time-to-value milestone (where they are in the plan)
Risk indicator (only if it threatens renewal)
Example (copy this):
Business outcome: 312 hours/month saved
Meaning: “You got roughly 2 FTE worth of capacity back each month.”
Value workflow adoption: 4 teams running the workflow weekly
Risk indicator: Latency up 18% last 14 days, mitigation in progress
Trend + context
90-day trend for the single most important value KPI
“What changed” notes, in human language
Next 30 days
3 actions max
each action has: owner, date, expected impact
Rule: if your dashboard can't be read in 60 seconds, it's not an exec dashboard. It's an internal report. (See: metrics executives actually care about)
Part 3: The QBR Evidence Pack
Stop building QBRs from scratch.
Build an evidence pack and reuse it every quarter.
Here’s the pack structure (8 slides max):
The decision we’re here to make
Renew scope, expand scope, or fix risk
Original success plan
Goals, metrics, timeline (one slide)
What changed since the last review
3 bullets, no storytime
Proof of value
The 2 to 4 outcome KPIs, trend, and business meaning
Adoption of the critical workflow
Which teams adopted, how often, and where it’s stuck
Reliability + risk
Incidents, performance, AI quality issues, mitigations
Next value milestones
Next 30, 60, 90 days with owners
Asks
Decisions you need, stakeholders you need, timeline you propose
This keeps the conversation in exec language: outcomes, risk, decisions.
Part 4: The Value Milestones Timeline
Most renewals fail because value shows up too late.
So you publish a timeline early, and you run the customer against it.
A simple milestone model you can use
Week 0: Value contract
Define 2 to 4 outcome KPIs
Confirm data sources
Agree on how you’ll measure improvement
Week 2: First proof
Show early leading indicators
Confirm the workflow is actually being used
Week 4: Value v1
First measurable outcome shift
Document what caused it
Week 8: Expansion-ready signal
Usage stable + outcome improving + risk controlled
Identify the next team or next use case
Week 12: Exec checkpoint
15-minute exec update with the one-page dashboard
Confirm renewal path and timeline
Week 16+: Renewal pre-wire
Summary of proof, remaining gaps, and decision date
Align procurement before they “start the process.”
This is how you avoid the “Q4 scramble” renewal.
You’re not chasing signatures.
You’re controlling the timeline.
The email you send to set this up (copy/paste)
Subject: Wire our renewal now (before Q4 starts)
I want to prove value before we're both scrambling in Q4.
That means aligning on:
The 2-4 outcomes we'll measure together
The workflow that drives those outcomes
A timeline that keeps us both honest
I'll bring a one-page dashboard draft. We lock it this month, run it monthly, and your QBR becomes a 15-minute decision meeting instead of an hour-long recap.
20 minutes this week?
Why this matters now (the ClickHouse signal)
ClickHouse's announcement wasn't just "we raised money."
It was a bet that the next wave of software wins by being:
real-time (production-grade)
observable (trust and accountability via LLM observability)
unified (fewer moving parts, fewer excuses)
Customer Success has to match that reality.
That's why:
Your instrumentation needs to be real-time. Adoption + outcome KPIs updated weekly, not quarterly
Your proof dashboard needs to be observable i.e. risk signals that show what could break, before it breaks
Your renewal system needs to be unified: one timeline, one dashboard, one evidence pack (not scattered spreadsheets and last-minute scrambles)
Because when customers run mission-critical, always-on workflows, they don't renew on relationships.
They renew on evidence.
And the teams that operationalize evidence will win renewals before the renewal even starts.
If you want to implement this without building from scratch, paid members can download the Proof-of-Value Renewal Kit (Excel) to generate an exec one-pager + QBR evidence pack + milestone timeline in under 30 minutes.