Stop firefighting.
Start predicting.
You spend half your week saving accounts that should have been flagged 60 days ago. Here's the stack and the plays to flip that.
By Mark Ashworth, Founder of ChurnTools · Updated May 2026
The shift
What changes when you go from reactive to predictive
- × Renewal calls scheduled at month 11 of a 12-month contract
- × "Why didn't we see this coming?" is a weekly question
- × CSM workload is whoever yells loudest
- × Health scores are someone's gut feeling in a spreadsheet
- × Save attempts happen after the cancel notice arrives
- ✓ At-risk accounts flagged 30-60 days early
- ✓ Daily Slack digest of accounts that moved into red
- ✓ CSM queue prioritized by risk + revenue impact
- ✓ Scores update daily from usage data + support signals
- ✓ Save plays trigger before the customer drafts a cancel email
The plays
5 CS plays that move retention numbers
Each one has a clear input, a clear action, and a measurable output. Pick the one your team is weakest on.
QBRs that aren't a waste of time
Run Quarterly Business Reviews that actually surface risk and expansion opportunities. The wrong QBR is a status update. The right one is a strategic conversation.
Read the QBR playbook →Health score that you trust
Most health scores are arbitrary weights nobody trusts. Build one from real usage data + outcomes, validate against historical churn, and make it the daily queue.
Read the health score guide →NPS detractor recovery
When a customer drops to detractor on NPS, a CSM call within 48 hours recovers 30-40% of them. Automate the alert, script the call, measure the save rate.
Read the NPS recovery play →Competitive evaluation detection
By the time a customer mentions a competitor, you're already losing. Detect the behavioral signals (sudden integration removals, dropped features) and intervene early.
Read the detection play →Save flow that actually saves
When a customer clicks cancel, the offer they see should depend on why they're leaving. Static flows save 5-10%. Dynamic flows save 15-25%. That's a 2-3x lift on the same traffic.
Read the save flow guide →Not sure which play to run first?
Take the 60-second Health Check. It scores your CS setup and tells you exactly which play has the highest leverage for your specific gaps.
Take the Health CheckThe CS retention tool stack
What to use, what to skip, and the right combination by company stage.
| Layer | What it does | Best for | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health scoring | Risk score for every account, updated daily | Above $1M ARR | Vitally, Gainsight, ChurnZero |
| Save flows | Dynamic offer when customer clicks cancel | Above $250K ARR | Churnkey, ProsperStack, Raaft |
| Dunning | Failed payment recovery | Everyone | Stripe Smart Retries, Churnkey, Butter |
| Lifecycle email | Behavioral and AI-personalized sequences | Everyone | Customer.io, Braze, Intercom |
| In-product engagement | In-app prompts based on usage signals | Above $500K ARR | Pendo, Appcues, Userflow |
Most useful for CS teams
AI customer health scores
Build a score that predicts churn 30-60 days early.
AI churn prediction
Build a model your team actually uses for outreach.
AI save flows
Save 15-25% of cancellation attempts with dynamic offers.
Offboarding emails
Recover 5-12% of churned customers with the right sequence.
50+ experiments
Tactical playbooks filtered by churn type and segment.
Churn Health Check
Score your CS setup in 60 seconds.