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Renewals: the deals most brokers leave on the table

The most profitable deal in your book is one you already funded.

Alex Makowski · Updated 23 September 2026 · 3 min read

The short answer

A renewal costs nothing to acquire, closes faster because the merchant already knows the product, and underwrites better because the funder has repayment history. Most shops spend heavily on new leads while running renewals informally or not at all — which is backwards, because a renewal book compounds and a lead spend does not.

Work out what a funded deal costs you in acquisition, then note that a renewal costs zero. That gap is the entire argument, and most shops still run renewals out of memory.

Why renewals underwrite better

  • The funder has repayment history on this exact merchant, which is better information than any statement analysis.
  • The merchant understands the product, so the conversation skips the education a first advance requires.
  • Documentation is mostly on file, so the submission is faster to assemble.
  • A merchant who repaid on schedule is a materially different risk from an unknown one at identical revenue.

What a renewal saves you

New deal, from a purchased leadCost to originateLead spendRep time to contact and qualifyPackaging and placement
RenewalCost to originateNothingOne conversation and a resubmission
Proportions are illustrative. The point is which bars exist at all — the two largest costs of a new deal simply do not appear on a renewal.

When a merchant becomes renewable

Roughly half paid down is the usual eligibility. Funders run anywhere from 40 to 60%, so check each one you place with, but half is the number to build around. The practical signal is timing rather than the exact percentage: the merchant starts thinking about the next one before the current one clears, not after.

The renewal date is computed, not remembered, at 8:15. Chapters and transcript →
Whiteboard timeline: funded jan 12, 8-month term; a green bar to ~half paid, marked “= eligible · may 13”, then an arrow to paid off. A red arrow above: “task fires may 6 — a week before, on the rep’s desk.” Two boxes: “the CRM computes this from two fields: funded date · term. Nobody has to remember.” and “stack him today → ~$1K commission; renew him in 30–45 days → ~$7K.” Below: a mature book is 30–50% renewals. This is where they come from. Roughly half paid down is the usual eligibility — funders run 40–60%. The $1K / $7K is one broker’s numbers; the gap is the point. In GHL: funded date + term as fields → the workflow computes the eligibility date → wait until → task on the rep 7 days before.
Funded 12 January on an eight-month term, eligible around 13 May, task on the rep’s desk on 6 May.

Building a process rather than remembering

  • Record the funded date and the term on every deal at the moment it funds. Not later.
  • Let the CRM compute the eligibility date from those two fields — roughly the point where half is paid down. Nobody should be working it out by hand.
  • Fire a task on the rep’s desk seven days before that date, so the conversation starts while the advance is still running.
  • Track which merchants renewed and which did not, and ask the ones who did not why. That answer usually names something fixable.
  • Keep a diary of declines that failed on time in business or a single bad month. Those are renewals that have not happened yet.

In GoHighLevel it is one automation: funded date and term as fields, a workflow that computes the eligibility date, waits until seven days before it, and puts a task on the rep. It is the sixth of the six automations the top brokerages run, and the reason is the size of the prize: a mature book is 30–50% renewals, and this is where they come from. The board puts one broker’s numbers on it — stack the merchant today for roughly $1K of commission, or renew him in 30–45 days for roughly $7K. The figures are one shop’s; the gap is the point.

What to say

Not "are you ready for more money." A merchant halfway through an advance has a live view of whether the remittance is working, and the useful conversation is about that. Whether the payment is sitting comfortably, what changed since they took it, what is coming up that needs capital. The renewal is the outcome of that conversation rather than its opening line.

Questions.

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