Renewals Advisor - Payroll - 6 Months Contract

Sage; Johannesburg; Hybrid; ZAR 400,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

Sage in Johannesburg is seeking a Renewals Advisor to protect recurring revenue, strengthen customer relationships, and drive retention. You will own the renewal journey, collaborate across teams, and ensure renewals are managed efficiently to maximise retention KPIs in a hybrid work model (3 days in our Johannesburg office).

You’ll engage customers via phone and email, capture interactions in systems, and push subscriptions while identifying renewal opportunities.

Qualifications

• 3+ years' experience in customer retention, account management, renewals, or customer success.
• Ability to build and manage strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ownership, urgency, and accountability toward revenue and retention targets.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for diverse customer conversations.
• Calm, solutions-focused under pressure in a fast-paced, target-driven environment.
• Strong analytical skills to interpret customer data and identify trends.
• Proficiency with CRM and contract management systems.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain strong relationships with customers via phone and email.
• Capture customer interactions accurately in the systems.
• Own customer incidents, queries, and escalations within KPIs.
• Process payments and invoices daily.
• Drive retention to meet/exceed targets, securing 80% before due date.
• Categorise cancellations and update as per guidelines.
• Support annual channel renewal and retention targets.
• Inform customers about product updates and developments.
• Identify opportunities and share qualified leads with teams.
• Assist in transitioning customers to subscription-based solutions.
• Collaborate with internal teams to remove blockers and ensure a seamless renewal.

Skills

Customer retention

Account management

Renewals

Customer success

CRM proficiency

Communication skills

Analytical skills

Tools

CRM systems

Job description

As a Renewals Advisor, you'll play a key role in protecting recurring revenue, strengthening customer relationships, and delivering an exceptional customer experience. You'll take ownership of the renewal journey, working closely with customers and collaborating across different areas of the business to ensure renewals are managed efficiently and opportunities for retention are maximised. With a strong focus on service excellence and commercial results, you'll work towards meeting and exceeding agreed operational, revenue, and retention KPIs.

Location - 3 days per week out of our Johannesburg office.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with customers through professional, accurate, and timely communication across telephone and email channels.
• Ensure all relevant customer interactions and activities are accurately captured within the appropriate systems.
• Take ownership of customer incidents, queries, and escalations, ensuring they are managed effectively within agreed KPI timelines.
• Process payments and invoices accurately and efficiently on a daily basis.
• Drive customer retention by achieving a minimum of 100% of the agreed retention target, with 80% of the target secured before the invoice due date.
• Ensure all customer cancellations are accurately categorised and updated in line with departmental guidelines.
• Maintain high standards of administration and data accuracy, including the correct processing of downgrade forms, re-invoice requests, and contract acceptances.
• Support the annual channel renewal process and contribute towards achieving agreed retention targets.
• Keep customers informed about relevant product information, enhancements, and developments.
• Identify potential customer opportunities and proactively share qualified leads with the appropriate teams.
• Champion the transition to subscription-based software solutions by helping customers understand the value and benefits of moving to a subscription model.
• Collaborate effectively with internal teams to remove barriers, resolve customer concerns, and deliver a seamless renewal experience.

What You’ll Bring

• 3+ years' experience in customer retention, account management, renewals, or customer success.
• A proven ability to build and manage strong professional relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.
• A strong sense of ownership, urgency, and accountability, particularly when working towards revenue and retention targets.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the confidence to manage a variety of customer conversations.
• The ability to remain calm and solutions-focused while working in a fast-paced, target-driven environment.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret customer information, recognise trends, and identify opportunities.
• A high level of proficiency in CRM and contract management systems.
• The agility and adaptability to succeed in a changing, fast-paced business environment.
• Empathy, patience, and professionalism when handling customer concerns, objections, or escalations.
• A proactive approach to keeping your product, industry, and commercial knowledge up to date.
• A genuine passion for creating positive customer experiences while delivering strong commercial outcomes.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role means retaining customers, protecting recurring revenue, creating trusted customer relationships, and making every renewal interaction count. You'll combine commercial awareness with outstanding customer service to help customers continue to see value in the solutions they use.

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Sales South Africa Johannesburg Hybrid

Working at Sage means you're supporting millions of small and mid-sized businesses globally with technology to work smarter and move faster. We build software that reduces busywork so customers can spend less time on admin and more time building their business.

Our colleagues are high-performers who prioritise growth, make bold choices, and focus and galvanise to get things done. They work on meaningful, market-shaping initiatives that stretch their skills, sharpen their craft, and create real customer impact.

Explore our culture and benefits: sage.com/careers/working-at-sage

We celebrate individuality and welcome you to join us if you embrace all backgrounds, identities, beliefs, and ways of working.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

Sage is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities.

In order to provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals, employment decisions at Sage will be based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. Sage does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, protected disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.