What is a customer health score?

A customer health score is a numerical indicator (typically 0-100) that represents how likely a customer is to continue using your product. It's calculated based on usage patterns, engagement levels, feature adoption, and other signals that predict retention or churn.

How does FirstDistro calculate health scores?

FirstDistro analyzes customer activity patterns including login frequency, feature usage, engagement depth, and trend changes over time. These signals help teams understand retention risk, prepare for renewals, and spot expansion opportunities across customer accounts.

How quickly can I see health scores after setup?

You'll see initial health scores within minutes of installing the SDK. As more data is collected, the scores become more accurate and predictive over the first few days.

What alerts will I receive from FirstDistro?

You'll receive alerts when retention risk rises, a customer shows no activity for an extended period, a renewal needs attention, usage patterns indicate decline, or account behavior suggests a credible expansion opportunity.

Is FirstDistro a Gainsight alternative?

Yes, FirstDistro is a simpler, more affordable alternative to Gainsight for SMB and mid-market SaaS companies. While Gainsight is designed for enterprise complexity, FirstDistro focuses on account intelligence for retention, renewals, and expansion with guided onboarding and account-based pricing.

Does FirstDistro offer a free trial?

Yes. FirstDistro offers a 30-day Growth trial so teams can connect their product data, review health signals, and explore grounded account workflows before moving into account-based pricing.

$112k portfolio proof: what we showed finance

$112k ARR we did not lose. Three accounts. One quarter. One slide finance actually trusted.

This is a composite portfolio proof. Each line is directional. Together they beat "average health +9 points." Not a named customer claim. A prove format you can reuse.

The ask from finance

Leadership did not want another dashboard tour. They asked: what did retention work protect in dollars this quarter?

Health scores could not answer. Alert counts could not answer. NRR answered portfolio shape, not which interventions worked. We needed saved revenue receipts: expected loss, actual loss, window, basis.

That ask is fair. CS teams that only show charts look busy. Teams that show dollars look accountable.

Three saves (catch → save → prove)

1) Usage fade, $40k renewed

Catch: Weekly active use down ~30% vs the account's own baseline. Renewal in 50 days. Health in the low 60s, not red. Pattern matches the fade in we caught the drop 6 weeks early.

Save: Milestone restart + CSM working session. Cleared one access blocker. No discount.

Prove: Renewed at $40k. Expected full churn without action. Saved ≈ $40k.

2) Champion silence, $48k renewed

Catch: Champion offline 14+ days. Soft portfolio usage. Renewal inside six weeks. Procurement already asking "still needed?"

Save: One value-reset call + VP briefing booked. Integration unblocked. Commercial path stayed clean.

Prove: Renewed at $48k. Saved ≈ $48k. Detail: $48k ARR one call.

3) Seat-cut path, $24k protected

Catch: Admin exploring seat reduction in CRM notes. Health still "green." Classic score-vs-dollars trap from health scores vs saved revenue.

Save: Commercial + CSM joint call. Right-sized unused seats early. Kept the core module. Avoided a larger cut framed as "cleanup."

Prove: Directional expected contraction $36k; actual contraction $12k. Saved ≈ $24k.

Quarter rollup: $40k + $48k + $24k = $112k directional saved revenue.

What we showed finance

One table. Not a novel.

Account	Catch	Action	Window	Saved ARR
A	Usage fade	Milestone restart	Through renewal	$40k
B	Champion silence	Value-reset call	Through renewal	$48k
C	Seat-cut path	Joint commercial call	60 days	$24k
Total				$112k

Assumptions listed underneath. No fake certainty. Conservative where fuzzy. That honesty is why the slide landed.

We also showed NRR for the book so nobody confused intervention receipts with portfolio math. NRR is the map. Saved revenue is the pin for each save.

What we did not show

Average score up and to the right as the punchline
"We closed 47 alerts" as ROI
Expansion booked as saved revenue
Soft "relationship improved" without a dollar cell

Scores and alerts were how we caught. Dollars were how we proved. Category context: dashboards don't save accounts.

How a small team repeats this

Run a weekly triage so saves show up early (which customers need you this week).
Log every serious save with at-risk ARR and an action date the same day you act.
At quarter end, roll receipts. Cut anything you cannot defend. Prefer under-claiming.
Bring finance the table, not the chart gallery.
Keep playbooks handy for the middle step: how to reduce SaaS churn.

A two-person CS team can do this. The bottleneck is habit, not headcount. Start with a shared spreadsheet if you must. Move the habit into product later. The honesty rules do not change with the tooling.

Objections you will get

"Isn't this just churn we avoided, which is already in retention?"
Portfolio retention is real. Attribution for interventions is separate. Finance asked for both. Give both.

"How do you know they would have churned?"
You do not know with certainty. You document basis: fade, silence, seat-cut path, renewal clock. Label it directional. If the basis is weak, do not put it on the slide.

"Can we count every QBR as a save?"
No. Meetings without at-risk ARR and a changed trajectory are hygiene. Saves need a counterfactual you can defend.

Try this quarter

Pick your last 90 days. Find three interventions you believe protected revenue. Write expected loss, actual loss, and saved dollars. If you cannot write the numbers, you do not have prove yet. You have stories.

Then put the three lines on one slide. Bring NRR beside them. Ask leadership which they trust more for "did CS protect money." That question is the point of prove.

Get started when you want the receipt habit closer to the product workflow. The honesty rules stay the same either way. $112k on a slide beats nine points of average health every time.