Handling Inactive Tenants
Over time, some tenants will let their subscriptions expire โ this is normal in any SaaS business. This guide covers what happens to inactive tenants and how to manage them.
What Is an "Inactive" Tenant?โ
A tenant becomes inactive when:
- Their subscription has expired and they haven't renewed
- Their trial period has ended without converting to a paid plan
- You've manually deactivated their account
What Happens When a Tenant Becomes Inactive?โ
When a subscription expires:
- Tenant's CRM becomes inaccessible โ They can no longer log in or use their CRM
- Data is preserved โ Their database and data are NOT deleted immediately
- Grace period โ If you've configured a deletion period in Tenant Settings, the database will be preserved for that many days
- After the grace period โ The tenant's database is automatically deleted (if configured)
Subscription expires
โ
Tenant can't access CRM (locked out)
โ
Data preserved for X days (your configured grace period)
โ
If tenant renews โ Access restored instantly โ
If grace period expires โ Database deleted โ (if auto-delete is configured)
Configuring the Grace Periodโ
The grace period is set in SaaS Management โ SuperAdmin Settings โ Tenants Settings:
| Setting | Recommended Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Delete Inactive Tenant Database After | 90 days | How long to keep inactive tenant data before deletion |
| Set to 0 | Never delete | Data is preserved forever (you manage cleanup manually) |
Be generous with grace periods! A tenant who missed a payment might come back in 30 days. If you've deleted their data, they'll be furious and never return. 90 days is a safe minimum.
Re-Activating an Inactive Tenantโ
If a tenant wants to come back:
- Open their profile in Customers
- Go to the SaaS Tenant section
- Assign them a new plan or extend their existing subscription
- Their CRM becomes accessible again immediately
- If their database still exists โ all their data is intact!
Best Practicesโ
Before Expirationโ
- Send reminder emails before subscriptions expire
- Perfex CRM handles invoice reminders automatically through Setup โ Email Templates
After Expirationโ
- Send a "We miss you" email with a discount offer
- Keep data for at least 90 days to allow re-activation
- Consider reaching out personally to high-value tenants
Preventing Churnโ
- Offer annual plans with a discount (reduces churn dramatically)
- Enable auto-renewal where possible
- Make it easy for tenants to upgrade (not just cancel)
- Provide excellent support and documentation (you're reading this, so you're on the right track!)
Business Insight: In the SaaS world, it's 5-7x cheaper to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one. Investing time in retention (good support, reliable uptime, useful features) pays off much more than spending the same time on acquisition.
Understand tenant lifecycle? Learn about Billing & Subscriptions to manage the financial side.