In a B2B context, churn almost never arrives without warning. The warning is almost always in the inbox — weeks before the cancellation email, before the customer goes quiet, before the renewal conversation fails.

Here are the five signals that show up most consistently.

1. Repeated unresolved issues

A single unresolved bug is an inconvenience. The same bug reported twice, with no visible progress, is a relationship problem. Three reports with no resolution is an active churn risk.

The key metric isn't "is this issue resolved" — it's "has this customer reported the same class of problem more than once in 30 days?" That combination is a significantly stronger predictor than either factor alone.

2. Competitor mentions

This one is obvious in retrospect but easy to miss in a high-volume inbox. Customers rarely mention competitors casually. When they do, it's usually because they've been looking.

Phrases like "we're evaluating other options", "a colleague suggested we look at X", or even just naming a competitor in a pricing question should automatically elevate a customer's risk score.

3. Billing objections outside the renewal window

A billing question in the week before renewal is normal. A billing objection three months before renewal is not — it usually means the customer is building a case internally to cancel, and they're stress-testing the cost justification.

4. Declining engagement with support responses

This one requires tracking, not just reading. A customer who used to reply to drafts within an hour and has started taking two days — or not replying at all — is showing a change in engagement. Disengagement precedes cancellation.

5. Key contact changes

"I'm forwarding this to our new operations manager" or "our team has changed — can you re-onboard us?" are structurally risky moments. The relationship you built with the previous contact doesn't transfer automatically. Key contact changes are moments where accounts can be lost simply because no one re-establishes the relationship.

What to do with these signals

Each of these signals is actionable individually. Together, they're the basis for a proactive outreach system: identify which accounts are showing two or more signals, prioritise by MRR, and reach out before they've made a decision.

The accounts you'll save aren't the ones who email you to cancel. They're the ones who were going to cancel but didn't hear from you in time.