The Journey: #33 Flip the Risk

I remember my first CSM role when the business really started to scale. Suddenly, “risk” became the centerpiece of every conversation.

At first, it was simple, our weekly 1:1s with our manager are where we'd talk about accounts that weren’t “going well.” Then came playbooks for every flavor of risk. Soon, we had red account meetings. Eventually, we even created overlay roles dedicated exclusively to managing risk.

I was our competitive overlay and would be pulled into any deals where our competitors were involved.

The entire focus was on saving accounts already on the brink of churn. And because that was my earliest exposure to Customer Success, it became my default playbook when I started leading teams: double down on risk, double down on red accounts.

Fast forward to today and my perspective has completely shifted.

I’m less interested in being the firefighter, and much more interested in building fireproof homes. Instead of obsessing over how to save a handful of accounts in the red, I’m focused on how to create more accounts in the green.

The truth is: the best way to manage risk is to design for health from the start.

Flipping the Risk: How to Build for Green

If your team is spending the majority of its time in escalation and rescue mode, you’re playing a losing game.

Instead, here’s how to flip the focus:

Operationalize Success, Not Risk

• Build playbooks that reinforce healthy behaviors, not just rescue tactics.

• Standardize touch points for green accounts to ensure they don’t quietly drift into yellow.

Invest in Proactive Discovery

• Regularly revisit customer goals and business outcomes before they slip out of alignment.

• Don’t wait for the QBR. Every conversation is a chance to validate value.

Design Leading Indicators of Health

• Move beyond lagging churn signals (like usage drops or renewal dates).

• Track metrics that actually predict long-term health: executive alignment, breadth of adoption, customer advocacy, ROI etc.

Celebrate Green Accounts Loudly

• Shift recognition from “who saved the biggest red account” to “who nurtured the healthiest partnership.”

• Make being proactive as rewarding as being reactive.

Train for Prevention, Not Just Intervention

• Teach CSMs how to ask the hard questions upfront about budgets, leadership changes, or shifting priorities.

• Build confidence in early risk identification, so issues never become escalations.

The Big Mindset Shift

When we stop treating risk as something to be managed only when it surfaces, and instead design systems that prevent risk from ever materializing, everything changes.

Your team spends less time in crisis mode. Your customers feel more cared for and aligned.

And your business benefits from more predictable, durable growth. Because in Customer Success, the real magic isn’t just in saving accounts from the fire. It’s in making sure they never catch fire in the first place.