Have you ever had those days when everything seemed to be going well? You sat down at the table and a colleague handed you your favorite coffee. Your normally full mailbox was unusually empty. And you (finally) got your quarterly sales report.

Proactive service gives your customers the same magical feeling. While most customer support is reactive – you answer problems your customers are already experiencing – proactive customer support identifies and resolves those problems before they arise.

Proactive problem solving is like magic. All it takes is the right combination of knowledge, strategy and tools.

What is proactive customer service? Why is it important?

Proactive customer service (or proactive support) is when you identify problems and respond to them before the customer feels the need to contact. This can include everything from AI-powered chatbots to self-service knowledge bases and FAQs. Customer satisfaction can also come from using contact center tools such as customer service CRM and automatic call distribution (ACD) to help your agents provide faster and more personalized support.

Because you don’t need me to tell you that customer expectations have skyrocketed. At the same time, companies are seeing a surge in the number of contact centers across all channels. Relying solely on reactive customer service means you’re always running into an avalanche of problems. But by adopting a proactive strategy, your team will have more room to breathe (and be able to focus on customer focus).

What is employee proactivity?

In the psychology of work, proactivity is proactive behavior, that is, actions that work to stay ahead of the future situation. If a good response allows you to quickly put out fires (missed deadlines, a website server that has flown, a sudden arrival of an important client), then proactivity allows you to prevent these fires even before the first sparks appear.

For example, a company is developing a SaaS product, and at one point the service stops working. The reaction of the reactive company: immediately start fixing everything with the hope that no one will have time to notice. The solution of a proactive company: add a plaque to the website, to the account and to the technical support service with a notification that the service is not available right now, but the team is already working on solving the problem, and then proceed to fix it. Thus, the company does not turn on the “silence on the air”, but itself reports about its problems – before dissatisfied customers report them on social networks.

In general, proactive employees take control of processes and initiate change, while adaptive employees adapt to them.

Proactive behavior has three key features:

• Advance. Proactivity includes acting ahead of the future situation, not just reacting.
• Result orientation. Proactive employees know the end result that needs to be achieved, and they themselves take actions that bring it closer.
• Initiative. Proactivity occurs on its own initiative: a person does not need to be asked to act or given detailed instructions.

Proactive and reactive management

When a customer has a question, they contact the company via their preferred communication channel and wait for a response. This is reactive customer service, that is, service is a reaction to something (in this case, to a customer request). Reactive service is a standard process in most companies.

Proactive customer service involves anticipating problems a customer might encounter and proactively resolving them through multiple communication channels (e.g. FAQ, knowledge base, and YouTube tutorials). Proactive customer service is reaching out to customers to inform them of a problem before they encounter it. This approach shows that as a company you are ready to go beyond the standards.

Benefits of Proactive Customer Service

Proactive customer service provides businesses with many benefits:

1. Reduction in support calls. As you identify and resolve problems before they become serious, the number of tickets to tech support is also reduced;
2. retention of existing customers. Proactive management exceeds customer service expectations and increases the chance of repeat orders;
3. attraction of new clients. Proactivity makes it possible to reach out to potential customers and encourage them to choose your brand among others when ordering;
4. increasing customer loyalty. According to Enkata research, this type of customer service can increase customer retention by 3-5%;
5. conflict control. You identify potential negative customer experiences early on and can handle the customer before any real conflict arises.

Thus, proactive customer service in a call center is a great way to improve customer experience, improve audience satisfaction and loyalty.

Tools for proactive management

1. Customer survey. In order to exceed expectations, one must first find out those expectations. To do this, the call center can use surveys: they will show what customers want and indicate areas for optimization.
2. Online chat. A call center with quality live chat support provides proactive customer support, as it gives the customer the opportunity to contact the company as simply and quickly as possible.
3. Error messages. Communicate with the audience and inform them about your work, including correcting errors. Found a problem with a product? Don’t wait for your customers to notice it; let them know themselves to show that you have the situation under control.

Conclusion

Proactive customer service not only enhances the customer experience, it also transforms customers into brand advocates. And this is already quite a powerful marketing tool for business! The GotYourBack Support company will help you organize a proactive customer support service and conduct surveys, collect feedback from the audience, implement online chats and other communication channels, and keep customers informed about your work. This will allow you to prevent negative situations before they actually occur.