The Slow Fade

The signal

Meetings are shorter, fewer people attend, and a previously important workflow sees less activity. Nothing has broken. The detective could mark the account disengaged and move on, but Ruff is still sniffing around the last success plan.

The dig

The CSM checks for benign explanations first: seasonality, automation, staff changes, and incomplete tracking. In this scenario, a conversation reveals that the initiative the product supported has lost priority. The account has not rejected the product; its business context has shifted.

A practical response

The CSM asks what the team is now responsible for delivering. Together they examine whether an existing capability supports that priority, and whether the customer wants to test it. They agree on a modest next step, an owner, and what would count as useful evidence.

If no meaningful use case remains, the team records that honestly. More meetings are not a substitute for relevance.

The scenario’s resolution

The success plan is updated to reflect the customer’s current priority, with a review point rather than a guaranteed turnaround. The case is still open until the team sees whether the revised use case actually helps.