Primary Roles
CSM, AM
Secondary Roles
Sales Manager, AE
Hire With
Problem-solving orientation, resilience, ownership, customer empathy
Train For
root-cause diagnosis, recovery planning, owner alignment, checkpoint management
Certification Definition
A certified rep diagnoses why an account is at risk and runs a save plan with clear actions, owners, checkpoints, and customer communication that gives the account a realistic path to recovery.
Why It Matters
At-risk accounts rarely recover through goodwill alone. Effective save plans turn vague concern into coordinated action, improve the chance of retention, and help managers distinguish genuinely recoverable accounts from those that need a harder commercial or forecasting call.
What Good Looks Like
- The rep identifies the main churn risks clearly rather than labelling the account as generically unhappy.
- The rep distinguishes issues that can be fixed operationally from issues that need expectation reset, executive intervention, or commercial decisions.
- The rep builds a written plan with specific actions, owners, deadlines, success checkpoints, and the recovery hypothesis behind them.
- The rep aligns internal teams on what must happen first, what the customer will see, and what evidence would show the account is stabilising.
- The rep keeps the customer informed without overpromising what the team cannot deliver.
- The rep monitors whether the plan is working at each checkpoint and changes course when evidence does not improve.
- The rep escalates quickly when the save path is weak, blocked, or no longer credible.
Red Flags
- The rep cannot explain the root cause of the churn risk.
- The plan lists activity but no clear success criteria, ownership, or timing.
- The rep treats every at-risk account as recoverable without assessing reality.
- The rep makes promises to the customer before internal alignment or feasibility is clear.
- The rep defaults to generic training, discounts, or executive calls without showing why those actions fit the root problem.
- The rep fails to review progress against checkpoints once the plan is in motion.
- The save effort depends on heroics or vague optimism rather than structured execution.
Evaluation Scorecard
| Area | Standard |
|---|---|
| Risk diagnosis | The rep identifies the actual drivers of churn risk and separates symptoms from causes. |
| Save-plan structure | The plan includes specific actions, owners, timing, and checkpoints that can be inspected. |
| Cross-functional coordination | The rep aligns the right internal teams around the plan and clarifies who is accountable for what. |
| Customer communication | The rep communicates the path forward clearly without false certainty or avoidable delay. |
| Progress management | The rep reviews evidence against checkpoints and adapts the plan when conditions change. |
| Commercial judgement | The rep recognises when the save path is weak and escalates or reframes accordingly. |
Real-World Scenarios
Account with falling adoption
Risk is visible but the cause is unclear
Diagnoses the real blockers and builds a targeted recovery plan rather than launching generic training.
Account impacted by unresolved support issues
Trust is damaged and timing is tight
Coordinates resolution work, resets expectations, and ties recovery checkpoints to customer confidence.
Executive sponsor has disengaged
The plan lacks top-level support
Rebuilds alignment with the right stakeholders and tests whether the account is still realistically recoverable.
Renewal is approaching fast
Time pressure compresses options and forecast pressure rises
Prioritises the highest-leverage actions, escalates early, and keeps the customer view realistic.
Assessment Approach
Review 1 live save plan from an active at-risk account, including the root-cause assessment, actions, owners, checkpoints, and follow-up evidence showing how the plan was managed.
Alternatives
- Review 1 live save plan plus 1 manager-led churn-risk scenario that tests judgement on recovery options and escalation.
- Use scenario-only assessment for early ramp only, then confirm the certification in the next live at-risk account review.
Verification Examples
- Save plan with root cause, actions, owners, checkpoints, and follow-up evidence
Related Skills
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