Support teams must accelerate their shift to proactive support engagement – It is the best way to scale support delivery, increase efficiency, improve service levels and drive better customer and business outcomes.

The good news is that many companies have the means to be more proactive.  The bad news is that reactive demand is overwhelming many support teams and inhibiting their ability to make the transition.

This article introduces the state of proactive support today and outlines steps for support teams to become more proactive.

The Crush of Reactive Support Demand

According to ServiceXRG 2023 State of Support study we find that Support demand grew at 11% in the past year, and we anticipate that demand will continue to grow for most companies but at a slower rate.  We also find that in the face of growth, 80% of support leaders anticipate a reduction in their ability to hire.

To compound this growth, most support issues are received at the time of a customers’ choosing about topics they select – The result is that Support cannot always for prepare for unanticipated demand or prioritize resources to meet the needs of critical customers.

Proactive vs. reactive support interactions

A Shift to Proactive Engagement

While most support interactions are reactive, many companies have the means to become more proactive.

• 44% of companies report some means to monitor customer systems.
• 41% of companies actively engage customers through digital means (tech-touch) but not always to prevent issues.
• 55% of companies report means to monitor product use.
• 42% of companies offer proactive success planning.
• 48% conduct formal business reviews – a perfect venue for planning proactive actions.

Actions to Get More Proactive

Leverage capabilities to monitor and engage customers proactively. Consider the following to become more proactive:

Can you tell when a customer is in distress?

Monitor system performance and proactively engage customers to prevent issues.

• Remotely monitor systems performance.
• Track customer health and indicators of distress.
• Alert customers before issues impact their business.
• Respond with a digital or assisted response to mitigate issues.

How much do you proactively share with customers?

Digitally engage customers and share relevant insights to help drive product adoption and prevent issues. 

• Establish digital engagement plays to assist with adoption.
• Proactively push important products news and updates to customers.
• Go light on marketing and focus on best practices, usage tips and technical insights.
• Allow customers to subscribe to information updates.
• For key customers, and potentially serious issues, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone to engage with customers.

Do you know how to help customers realize more value faster?

Track how customers use products as a basis for developing training, self-help and guides to accelerate time to value.

• Track how customers use your products.
• Evaluate customer interactions and case records to determine what types of issues impact customers.
• Leverage customer feedback to identify issues that generate the most dissatisfaction.
• When possible, understand why you lost a customer (churn) or lost a new deal.