Hi, Markus here. Welcome to a new episode of the Customer-Value-Led-Growth Newsletter.
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The Account That Looked Healthy Until It Was Not
The account was never at risk. The customer attended every QBR. They responded to every email. They gave you a 9 on NPS three quarters in a row. The champion was praising the product and the relationship at every occasion.
And then comes the call: "We have decided not to renew." CSMs are in complete disbelief. It feels like being in an alternative reality. How on earth could that happen?
Because somewhere between the last QBR and the renewal conversation, the decision was made in a room the CSM was not invited into. By a person thy have never spoken to. Based on a question they have never been asked.
"What did we actually get for this investment?" No one in the room had a compelling answer.
Today’s episode is about that account. Not as a cautionary tale about a single failure but as a forensic examination of the signals that were always there, the system that was never built to surface them, and what changes when it is.
The Anatomy of a Healthy Account That Was Not
11 months of engagement. The champion, a Head of Operations, was responsive, enthusiastic, and highly committed to making the product work for her team.
QBRs happened on time, every quarter
NPS scores were consistently high
Product usage was way above averag
Strong working relationship
By every conventional measure, this was a healthy account. But here’s what conventional measures missed:
1. The economic buyer had never been in a QBR
The CFO who approved the original purchase and who would make the renewal decision has never heard of the CSM. The champion and her team attended the QBRs. The economic buyer has never been in the room.
This is not unusual. In most CSM relationships, the economic buyer is invisible until they are not. And by the time they become visible when the renewal conversation comes up, it is too late to build the relationship or the value story.
The health score was all green, but it was measuring the wrong things.
2. The champion's internal influence had diminished
Six months before the renewal, the company went through a reorganisation. The champion's team was restructured. The budget was reduced. The scope of responsibilities narrowed.
Her ability to champion your product had diminished significantly. Nobody asked whether she is still in a position to defend the investment when it matters. The CSM found out on the “break-up” call.
3. Adoption was wide but not deep
Product usage looked solid on the surface. All team members logged in frequently. Healthy session lengths. All functions in use. But the high-value workflows that are critical for accomplishing the desired outcomes had never been fully adopted.
The health score tracked all of those signals. It did not track workflow completion. No one asked whether the customer was getting closer to their goal. They were measuring activity and calling it health.
4. The success plan had gathered dust
At kick-off 11 months ago, both sides agreed on a clearly defined set of goals. Efficiency gains. Process automation. Time savings across a specific team workflow. They were captured in a successful plan that no one had ever opened again.
The goals had never been translated into specific, measurable milestones with timelines. The progress against those goals had never been formally reviewed. At the time of the renewal conversation, there was no documented evidence of whether the goals had been achieved.
The value was there. The improvements were real. But they lived in the champion's memory and in occasional comments during QBR conversations. They had never been captured, measured, and translated into the language that survives a budget meeting.
5. The renewal conversation that went wrong
When the renewal came up, and the conversation started, you could not have been more relaxed. The champion said she committed to continuing. All signals pointed to a flawless victory.
But then the conversation went to the CFO, who had one question: What did this investment deliver for the business? And she could not answer it with numbers. She had positive feelings about your product. She had anecdotes about its impact.
But she did not have a value story with tangible outcomes. The CFO categorized it as a nice-to-have that the company can’t afford and declined the renewal.
The Signals Were Always There
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