In Episode 39 of ClearPath Conversations, Mark Bernardin breaks down the renewal risk audit: a structured review CSMs should run six months before a customer's renewal date. Mark explains why this window matters more than any other point in the renewal timeline. It's late enough that the renewal feels real, but early enough that the outcome can still be changed.

Mark walks through the five dimensions every renewal risk audit should cover: stakeholder health, value clarity, competitive exposure, product fit, and internal advocacy. For each dimension, he provides the specific questions CSMs should be asking, both of themselves and of their champions, to get an honest read on where an account actually stands.

Listeners will learn why single-thread stakeholder dependency should always be treated as risk, even when the relationship feels strong, and why customer indifference is often more dangerous than customer frustration. Mark also covers how to test a customer's value narrative directly, how to surface competitive exposure without putting the customer on the defensive, and why product fit can quietly erode over time even when nothing appears to be wrong on the surface.

The episode closes with guidance on turning individual audit findings into a shared view across the account team, and a clear framework for sorting renewals into three categories: clean confidence, correctable risk, and serious renewal risk, each with a different required response.

This episode is built for CSMs managing enterprise accounts who want a repeatable, proactive process for protecting renewals rather than reacting to risk once it surfaces.