700-805 Cisco Renewals Manager (700-805 CRM) Questions and Answers

The annual recurring revenue (ARR) for each customer is $1000 and $1000. ARR is the total amount of money the company expects to receive from its subscribers over a year. It is calculated by summing up customers’ monthly or quarterly subscription fees and multiplying them by 12 (for an annual period). It excludes one-time fees, transactional charges, and other non-recurring revenue sources. In this case, both Customer A and Customer B pay $10 per seat per month for 100 seats of WebEx. Therefore, their monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is $10 x 100 = $1000. To calculate their ARR, we multiply their MRR by 12: $1000 x 12 = $1000. Thelength of the contract does not affect the ARR calculation, as it only considers the revenue generated within one year.

A solutions led approach should be applied when renewing a quote. A solutions led approach focuses on understanding the customer’s pain points, challenges, goals, and desired outcomes, and then proposing a solution that can address them effectively. A solutions led approach is different from a product led approach, which focuses on highlighting the features and benefits of a product or service without considering the customer’s specific needs or situation. A solutions led approach can help create more value for the customer, as well as differentiate your offering from competitors. A solutions led approach can also help build trust and rapport with the customer, as well as increase their satisfaction and loyalty. By applying a solutions led approach when renewing a quote, you can demonstrate your commitment to helping the customer achieve their objectives, as well as showcase your expertise and credibility in providing the best solution for them

SD-WAN is the product that addresses network segmentation issues and is comprised of Viptela and Meraki products. SD-WAN stands for Software-Defined Wide Area Network, which is a technology that simplifies the management and operation of a WAN by decoupling the networking hardware from its control mechanism. SD-WAN enables enterprises to use multiple types of transport services, such as MPLS, broadband, LTE, or 5G, to securely connect users to applications hosted in data centers or the cloud. SD-WAN also provides centralized visibility and control, dynamic path selection, application optimization, and security policies for the entire network.

Viptela and Meraki are two of Cisco’s SD-WAN solutions that cater to different customer needs and preferences. Viptela is a cloud-first SD-WAN solution that offers advanced routing, segmentation, and security capabilities for complex enterprise networks. Viptela can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud, and supports multiple transport options, including cellular wireless. Meraki is a cloud-managed SD-WAN solution that offers simplicity, reliability, and automation for lean IT environments. Meraki can be deployed using plug-and-play devices, and provides easy configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting through a web-based dashboard.

Both Viptela and Meraki products help enterprises address network segmentation issues by enabling them to create secure virtual networks that isolate traffic based on business intent and policy. Network segmentation improves network performance, security, and compliance by reducing congestion, preventing unauthorized access, and enforcing granular rules. 

Business Critical Services are subscription-based services covering the lifecycle of a technology, which provide customers with:

Expert guidance and best practices to optimize their network performance, security, and availability

Proactive support and automation to prevent issues, reduce risks, and accelerate outcomes

Insights and analytics to measure and improve their operational efficiency, agility, and innovation

References: 4: Business Critical Services - Cisco

The area of the Success Plan that the Renewal Manager is responsible for is Solution Renewal. The Success Plan is a document that captures the account team’s strategy and actions to achieve customer success. It defines the customer’s desired outcomes, identifies the potential barriers and risks, outlines the key milestones and deliverables, and assigns roles and responsibilities to the account team members. The Solution Renewal area of the Success Plan covers the activities related to renewing the customer’s contract, such as reviewing the current solution, assessing the customer’s satisfaction and value realization, proposing any improvements or enhancements, negotiating the terms and conditions, and executing the renewal agreement. The Renewal Manager is in charge of leading and managing the Solution Renewal area of the Success Plan, as well as collaborating with other account team members, such as Customer Success Managers, Account Executives, or Sales Engineers.

ATR stands for Annualized Total Revenue, which is a metric that measures the total revenue generated by a customer contract over a 12-month period. ATR is calculated by multiplying the monthly recurring revenue (MRR) by 12. For example, if a customer pays $100 per month for a service, the ATR is $100 x 12 = $1,200. Therefore, the ATR on a $10,000 one year recurring revenue contract is simply $10,000, since the MRR is already $10,000. ATR is useful for comparing the revenue potential of different contracts with different billing cycles or durations

Cisco offers different types of service offerings to help customers achieve their IT vision and strategy, such as support, optimization, training, and advisory. Among these options, the one that best helps define the customer’s IT vision and strategy is advisory. Advisory services from Cisco provide expert guidance and insights to help customers design and deploy new solutions, streamline existing operations, or optimize their IT. Advisory services can also help customers align their IT goals with their business priorities, identify opportunities for innovation and growth, and measure and report on key performance indicators. 

According to the CCW-R User Guide5, some of the actions that a partner or customer can perform within CCW-R are:

Change Customer Address: This allows the user to update the customer address information for a quote or an order.

View and Manage their Contracts: This allows the user to view their contract details, status, expiration date, product coverage, etc., as well as request a quote or renew their contracts.

References: 5: CCW-R User Guide - Cisco

An action that a Renewals Manager can take to drive value in the account is to manage and mitigate renewal risk. Renewal risk is the possibility that a customer will not renew their contract with Cisco at the end of their term, resulting in revenue loss and customer churn. Renewal risk can be caused by various factors, such as low adoption, poor satisfaction, lack of value realization, competitive pressure, budget constraints, or organizational changes. A Renewals Manager can manage and mitigate renewal risk by:

Identifying and prioritizing the accounts that have the highest risk of non-renewal, using data and tools such as ATR (Annualized Total Revenue), ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue), iARR (Incremental Annual Recurring Revenue), TPV (Total Partner Value), icebreaker (a tool that provides insights into new and unique business prospects), and Adopt on Scores (a tool that provides insight into how well customers are utilizing service and software they purchase from Cisco).

Developing and executing a risk mitigation plan for each high-risk account, involving actions such as engaging with the customer, understanding their needs andchallenges, demonstrating value and ROI, addressing any issues or concerns, proposing improvements or enhancements, offering incentives or discounts, or leveraging partners or references.

Monitoring and tracking the progress and results of the risk mitigation plan, using data and tools such as CCW-R (Cisco Commerce Software Subscriptions and Services), which is a tool that allows customers and partners to quote, order, and manage their service contracts and software subscriptions from one place; and Customer Success Plan, which is a document that captures the account team’s strategy and actions to achieve customer success.

Collaborating with other account team members, such as Customer Success Managers, Account Executives, or Sales Engineers, to align on the renewal strategy, share information and insights, coordinate activities and touchpoints, and deliver a consistent and positive customer experience.

By managing and mitigating renewal risk, a Renewals Manager can drive value in the account by increasing the chances of a successful renewal, retaining customers and revenue, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty, and creating opportunities for upsell or cross-sell.

A discussion point that helps up sell a customer is to discuss changes in the network and identify any uncovered additions to the network. This discussion point can help us understand the customer’s current situation, needs, and challenges, as well as uncover any gaps or opportunities for improvement. By discussing changes in the network, we can show our interest and curiosity in the customer’s business, as well as demonstrate our expertise and credibility in providing solutions. By identifying any uncovered additions to the network, we can highlight the risks and costs of not having adequate protection or support for those additions, as well as propose relevant products or services that can address those issues. This discussion point can help us create value for the customer, as well as differentiate our offering from competitors.

the Health Index is:

An ongoing measurement of several key customer health indicators, such as adoption, satisfaction, retention, and expansion

A tool that helps Cisco and partners monitor and improve customer outcomes and experiences

A score that ranges from 0 to 100, where higher scores indicate better health

References: 1: Customer Health Index - Cisco

 the first action that a Renewals Manager should take is to download contract data and develop a renewals strategy, which involves:

Using tools such as TPV, icebreaker, or CCW-R to access and analyze contract data

Segmenting contracts based on their size, complexity, expiration date, product coverage, etc.

Defining objectives, actions, timelines, and resources for each segment

Aligning with the account team on the renewals strategy and value proposition

Enterprise Agreements (EAs) represent the highest value for customers who want to simplify their software licensing and management across their organization. EAs provide customers with:

Unlimited access to a suite of Cisco software products within a defined technology domain for a fixed term and price

The ability to deploy software anytime, anywhere, without additional costs or approvals

The flexibility to grow and adjust their software usage without overage fees or penalties

The convenience of co-terminating all their subscriptions at the end of the EA term

The option to include Cisco services and support in their EA2

References: 2: Cisco Enterprise Agreement - Cisco