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.

You can have the best recovery plan in the world, but if no one reads it, it doesn't matter. In this episode, Mark breaks down the harsh truth about most get-well plans: they're too long, too detailed, and too focused on documenting problems instead of driving solutions.

Drawing from a painful early-career mistake - a 37-page recovery plan that accomplished nothing - Mark walks you through exactly how to write a get-well plan that stakeholders will actually read, understand, and act on. No 50-page novels. No endless retrospectives. Just clear, actionable roadmaps that respect people's time and get results.

Mark shares the seven essential elements of an effective get-well plan:

1. THE ONE-SENTENCE SUMMARY - Your elevator pitch that goes at the very top. Make it bold. Make it clear. If someone only reads the first paragraph, they should know exactly what this plan is about.
2. CURRENT STATE (3 bullets or less) - Provide context without writing a memoir. Three bullet points maximum. You're not reliving every mistake. You're setting the stage for action.
3. THE OUTCOME (Your Guiding Star) - Define the measurable end state you're driving toward. Make it specific. Make it time-bound. Make it a statement, not a wish.
4. THE PHASES - Break the work into 2-3 clear phases. Typically: Stabilization (stop the bleeding), Remediation (fix core issues), and Reinforcement (sustain improvement). Each phase gets a name, timeframe, and clear goal.
5. THE ACTIONS - This is where most plans fall apart. Every action needs four things: WHAT will be done, WHO owns it, WHEN it's due, and HOW you'll know it's complete. No vague action items. No missing owners. No ambiguous success criteria.
6. THE ASK - State clearly what you need from stakeholders. Be specific and actionable. You need support to execute this plan, so ask for it upfront.
7. THE FOLLOW-UP CADENCE - Define how you'll keep everyone informed. Plans die in silence. If you're not updating it, no one's going to believe you're executing it.

Throughout the episode, Mark shares real stories from his work with enterprise accounts at companies like Cofense and Palo Alto Networks. You'll hear about the two-page plan that saved a stalled retail customer deployment, the financial services account that went from red to reference in 90 days, and the critical lessons learned from plans that failed because they tried to do too much.

The key principle: constraint creates clarity. When you force yourself to keep it under three pages, you force yourself to be strategic. You can't document everything, so you have to prioritize what actually matters.

Mark also covers what NOT to include: no root cause analysis (save that for the post-mortem), no detailed project plans with Gantt charts (that's for internal management), and no "what if" scenario mapping (focus on the most likely path forward, then adjust as you go).

This episode is part of the Path to Green mini-series, which explores Mark's signature framework for rescuing at-risk accounts. Whether you're facing a red account, a stalled deployment, lost trust with an executive sponsor, or a relationship that needs rebuilding, this episode gives you a practical template for writing recovery plans that move the needle.

Perfect for: CSMs managing red accounts, team leads mentoring junior CSMs, customer success managers who've inherited messy situations, or anyone who's ever written a plan that got ignored.

Companion resource: Download the free Get-Well Plan Framework template at ClearPathCX.com. It includes a one-page summary template, phase-by-phase action tracker, and stakeholder communication guide, all designed to help you write a plan in under two hours that you can send with confidence.

Next episode: We'll tackle what happens before you ever send that plan - how to get internal alignment from Sales, Support, and Product before taking your recovery plan external.

When an account goes Red, most CSMs panic. Meetings multiply. Emails fly. Sales blames Support. Support blames Product. And you - the CSM - are expected to fix it.

But here's the problem: without a shared framework, everyone's just running around with their hair on fire, hoping something works. Spoiler alert: it doesn't.

In this episode, Mark introduces the Path to Green: a repeatable, milestone-driven methodology for taking at-risk accounts and moving them back to health in 90 days. This isn't theory - it's the exact framework Mark used to save millions in ARR. It's the reason people call him the "At-Risk Whisperer."

You'll learn why most recovery plans fail before they even start. The answer? CSMs skip the most important step: defining what "Green" actually means. Without a bullseye, every shot is off-target. Mark walks you through how to sit down with your customer, capture their version of success, align it with your internal requirements, and merge them into one clear, measurable definition that everyone agrees on.

From there, Mark breaks down the three phases of recovery:

Phase 1: Stabilization (Days 1-30) - Stop the bleeding. Rebuild basic trust. Fix the most urgent pain points. This phase isn't glamorous, but if you can't stabilize the account, nothing else matters.

Phase 2: Execution (Days 31-60) - Deliver on your commitments. Prove progress through action, not words. Track everything in a Recovery Progress Dashboard so nothing falls through the cracks.

Phase 3: Optimization (Days 61-90) - Shift the narrative from crisis to growth. Run the pre-renewal conversation. Transition the account back to normal CSM management.

Mark also shares the three core principles that make this framework work: clarity (everyone knows what Green means), alignment (all actions support a shared goal), and accountability (tasks, owners, and timelines are locked in and visible). He explains why visibility is just as important as the work itself - if no one can see progress happening, confidence doesn't build. And confidence drives renewals.

To make it real, Mark tells the story of a $2 million retail account he inherited that was about as Red as they come. The executive sponsor had stopped returning calls. The primary user was openly badmouthing them in industry forums. The internal team was paralyzed. Mark walked through exactly how he applied the Path to Green framework: defining success with the IT director, building a 90-day plan, stabilizing the relationship, delivering on commitments, and shifting the conversation from "what went wrong" to "what's next." Three months later, they renewed. Six months after that, they expanded.

This episode also covers what to do when you're ready to implement this yourself. Mark gives you the four-step process: pick an account showing early signs of risk, define Green with the customer and your internal team, build your 30/60/90 plan with specific milestones and owners, and execute while tracking progress weekly. If you want to go deeper, Mark mentions that the full methodology - including templates, the Recovery Progress Dashboard, and stakeholder mapping tools - is available in his book, The Path to Green.

Whether you're managing a healthy portfolio or currently staring down a Red account, this episode gives you the playbook to lead recovery yourself. Because at-risk accounts aren't a failure - they're an opportunity to prove your value, build trust with leadership, and turn a customer who was ready to leave into your biggest advocate.

Grab the free companion download pack with worksheets, templates, and the complete recovery planning framework at ClearPathCX.com.