Red-Account Standup Row

The fixed row a CS team produces for each account on the weekly at-risk (red-account / save-list) review — one account per entry, read down a list of ten or twenty in a few minutes. Handed one account's notes and asked for "the standup update", base models default to a paragraph: a narrative recap of the relationship, the risk and the plan blended together, no dollar figure, no date, and no clear thing the room is being asked to decide. A review that moves fast needs the opposite — the same labeled fields in the same order every week, one line each, terse enough to scan and specific enough to act on.

Produce it as seven labeled lines, in this fixed order, one line per field.

The fixed order

1. Account — the account name or identifier. One line, no narrative.
2. ARR — the annual recurring value (or contract value). If the notes do not give it,

write "unknown" — never invent a number.

1. Health band — the current band: RED or YELLOW (this is the at-risk list; GREEN

accounts are not on it). A trend arrow (RED ↓, YELLOW ↑) is fine if the notes support it.

1. Top risk — the single biggest reason this account is at risk, one phrase. Exactly

one — the worst one — not a list of everything wrong.

1. Play in flight — the mitigation actively running right now (exec sponsor call booked,

save offer sent, adoption push, escalation open). What is in motion, not the whole plan. If nothing is running yet, say "none yet".

1. Ask — the one concrete thing the CSM needs from the room to move this account

(approve a credit, pull in an exec, free eng time). One actionable ask, or "none". Never "keep watching" or "will update".

1. Next milestone / date — the next concrete checkpoint and its date (renewal date,

booked exec call, decision deadline). Always a date, or "TBD — scheduling".

Rules

1. Same fields, same order, every week. The value of a standup row is that it is

scannable because it never moves. Do not reorder, merge, or drop fields.

1. One line per field. Each field is one short line, not a paragraph. If a field needs

a sentence, it is too long — cut to the load-bearing fact.

1. Top risk is one thing. Name the single worst driver. A row that lists four risks

defeats the point — the room cannot triage a paragraph.

1. Play in flight is what is moving now. The active step, not the strategy deck. If

nothing has started, "none yet" is the honest answer and itself a signal.

1. The ask is a decision or resource, or explicitly none. Something the room can grant

in the meeting. "Keep watching" and "will follow up" are not asks — write "none".

1. Never omit ARR or the date. Money at stake and the next checkpoint are why the row

exists. Unknown ARR is "unknown"; an unscheduled milestone is "TBD — scheduling". Blank is not allowed; an invented figure is worse.

Worked example

Situation notes (input): > Our second-biggest manufacturing account, ARR about $360K, renewal in roughly two months. > Usage has dropped off since their power-user champion left three weeks ago and the new admin > hasn't onboarded. I sent a re-onboarding plan and we've got an exec business review tentatively > next week. Honestly I think we need our VP on that call to steady it. Renewal date is March 14.

BEFORE (base default — a paragraph, no dollars, blended risk/plan, no clear ask): > This manufacturing account has gotten shaky since their champion left a few weeks back — usage > is down and the new admin isn't really up to speed. I've sent over a re-onboarding plan and > we're trying to get an exec review on the calendar. Renewal is coming up in a couple of months > and I'm a bit worried, so I'll keep an eye on it and push the onboarding.

AFTER (this format): > - Account: Manufacturing (2nd largest) > - ARR: $360K > - Health band: RED ↓ > - Top risk: Champion left; usage dropping, new admin not onboarded > - Play in flight: Re-onboarding plan sent; exec business review being booked > - Ask: Get our VP on next week's exec review call > - Next milestone / date: Exec review ~next week; renewal Mar 14

Edge cases

• ARR unknown. Write "ARR: unknown" and move on. The blank is honest; a guessed number

corrupts the whole review.

• No play started yet. "Play in flight: none yet" is a legitimate — and telling — entry.

Do not invent a plan that is not running.

• Nothing to ask for this week. "Ask: none" is fine. Do not manufacture an ask, and do not

substitute "keep watching".

• Milestone not scheduled. "Next milestone / date: TBD — scheduling exec call". Never leave

the date field blank.

• Notes are a paragraph. Compress into the seven labeled lines; the narrative paragraph is

the exact default this row replaces. Drop relationship color that is not risk, play, ask, or date.

• Multiple accounts in the notes. Produce one seven-line row per account, same fields each,

so they stack into a scannable list.

Do / Don't

• Always use the same seven labeled fields in the same fixed order.
• Always keep each field to one short line.
• Always name exactly one top risk — the single worst driver.
• Always state ARR (or "unknown") and a next-milestone date (or "TBD").
• Never write the update as a narrative paragraph.
• Never list several risks in the top-risk line.
• Never soften the ask to "keep watching" or "will update" — write "none" instead.
• Never invent an ARR figure or a date the notes do not support.

Common mistakes (the base's wrong defaults)

• A relationship-recap paragraph instead of seven labeled one-line fields.
• ARR omitted because the row "is about the risk, not the money".
• The top-risk line carrying three or four problems instead of the single worst one.
• "Play in flight" describing the whole strategy rather than the step actually in motion.
• The ask written as "keep an eye on it" — nothing the room can grant.
• The next-milestone line missing its date.