You can write the most beautiful get-well plan in the world. You can diagnose every risk factor and map out every milestone. But if your own team isn't on board - if Sales is working against you, if Support doesn't know the plan exists, if Product thinks this is just another CSM fire drill - you're dead in the water.

This episode is about the work nobody sees but that makes everything else possible: internal alignment.

Most recovery efforts fail not because the plan is bad, but because the CSM tries to execute it alone. The recoveries that work? Those are the ones where Sales has your back, Support prioritizes what matters, Product commits to high-visibility fixes, and leadership gives you air cover when things get messy.

In this episode, Mark walks through his signature Pre-Flight Checklist - the five boxes every CSM must check before presenting a recovery plan to a customer. He shares real stories from enterprise accounts where internal alignment made the difference between losing seven figures and turning red accounts green in under 90 days.

You'll learn:

• How to brief Sales without them undermining your plan with early discounts
• The exact message to send Support to get priority treatment during recovery
• How to get Product to commit to 1-2 high-impact fixes instead of a 47-item wish list
• The one-page, three-section format for briefing leadership so they're never blindsided
• Why documentation is your insurance policy when someone says "I didn't know that"

Mark covers what happens when you skip internal alignment (hint: you end up fighting internal fires while trying to stabilize the customer), and shares tactical examples from government, retail, and cybersecurity accounts where the invisible work of alignment turned impossible situations into expansion opportunities.

This isn't theory. This is the battle-tested playbook Mark used to rescue accounts at companies like Palo Alto Networks, Cofense, and Swimlane - accounts worth millions in ARR that everyone said were lost causes.

If you're managing an at-risk account right now, this episode will change how you approach recovery. Because the customer doesn't care about your internal dysfunction. They care about results. And you can't deliver results if your own team is working against you.

What You'll Get:The companion PDF download available at ClearPathCX.com contains:

• The Pre-Flight Checklist (to use before every customer presentation)
• Internal Alignment Tracker (document all your recovery team coordination)
• Email Templates (copy-paste messages for Sales, Support, and Leadership)

This is part of the Path to Green Playbook mini-series from ClearPath Conversations - where customer journeys find direction.