Save Plays

“It's too expensive” can hide five different problems. It can mean they don't use half of it, a cheaper tool now does the part they use, the budget really shrank, a new boss wants a change, or it never became part of how they work. A discount only helps with one of those, and only partly.

Script packs give you emails sorted by stage. They assume you already know what's wrong. Save Plays starts one step earlier: it helps you find the real reason, then gives you the move that fits it.

Each of the 25 plays is built around a situation you'll recognise (champion left, procurement took over, silent before renewal, “your competitor offered us less”) and gives you:

• what's often really going on underneath
• the move, step by step
• the words to say on the call, and the follow-up email where it helps
• if-then decision rules for when the conversation branches
• the mistakes that lose accounts
• an agent prompt that pulls the facts from your CRM and tickets before you pick up the phone
• a check step for the agent's draft, so a guess never goes out as a fact

Diagnosis first. Discounts last. And a walk-away line, decided before the call, so you know where to stop.

What's inside

• The polite reasons decoder: what “priorities shifted” and “we're reviewing vendors” can mean, and the one question to ask
• 25 situation plays in 7 chapters: read the real reason, early warnings, people change, money conversations, competitive threats, silence and stalls, and escalate, decide, let go
• A diagnosis map: start from what you're hearing, go straight to the right play
• The five real reasons table: what each looks like, what helps, and what usually doesn't
• A worked save, start to finish: one made-up account taken from “can you do better?” through diagnosis, a filled-in concession ladder and a filled-in walk-away form
• Two made-up saves that didn't work, one lost by mistakes and one lost well, compared side by side
• Decision tools: starting defaults for concessions and credits with the reasoning shown, a days-to-renewal table, a discount gate and a save-or-let-go check
• Four judgement calls worked through, common advice set against what to do instead, and bad agent drafts with each error marked
• A save rate worksheet that counts downsized saves separately
• A concession ladder with trades you can copy (what to offer, what to ask back), and a walk-away form with three tests for your floor
• 6 templates and worksheets: the save call talk track (12 short tracks), a polite reasons decoder card, the concession ladder, the walk-away form, a one-page risk note and a save log
• Policy check boxes wherever contracts, pricing approvals or HR come up, pointing you to your own company's policy
• A 51-page PDF, plus a free sample with 3 complete plays (Diagnose before you discount, Champion left, The walk-away line)

Who it's for

Account-owning CSMs, account managers and CS team leads in B2B software who own renewals and get handed red accounts. If you work in support, a short section shows which five plays work from the support desk and how to hand a renewal risk to the account owner.

Who it's not for

Anyone looking for legal or contract advice.

The fine print

Written by Draft First, a customer success and support lead. The companies and people in the examples are made up. No promises about save rates: results depend on your product, your customers and why they're unhappy. Not legal, HR or contract advice.

Questions: hello@draftfirstcs.com

All sales are final.

Get Save Plays

Questions before you buy? Email hello@draftfirstcs.com.