Proactive CX Strategies That Delight Customers Without Overwhelming Them

How to Develop a Proactive CX Strategy that Enlightens, Not Aggravates, Customers

AI has made proactive outreach more timely and personal, and customers generally appreciate these updates—if done well. Gone are the days when a text ping was a rare, joyful surprise from a friend. Now, businesses reach out frequently, often with messages customized to your preferences and history, such as appointment details or tailored sale alerts.

This shift from reactive to proactive customer service is underway in nearly 60% of companies, according to recent studies. It demands that CX teams anticipate customer needs, deliver value before being asked, and respect customer preferences and business goals.

Why Companies Are Leaning Into Proactivity

Nearly 60% of businesses already proactively contact their customers, and another 20% plan to start soon. The main reason? Improving customer service by reducing effort, speeding resolution, and lowering friction. Companies see results: 81% report higher customer satisfaction scores, with an average 26.3% boost.

To manage this shift, businesses use communication platforms integrated with CRM, ERP, and AI tools. AI helps decide when to reach out, which channel to use, and how to personalize messages. For example, an investment firm’s AI learns what drives client investments—like market timing or news—and suggests personalized market picks through preferred channels, ensuring communications are helpful and relevant.

What Customers Actually Want

While 44% of customers say they receive proactive outreach, 69% want companies to reach out sometimes. But there’s a catch: outreach must be meaningful. Customers don’t want generic “just checking in” messages. They value contact for specific reasons:

• Preventing problems before they happen – Fixing issues early, like delivery delays or missing documents, builds trust.
• Saving money – Alerts about discounts or sales encourage loyalty.
• Sharing useful information – What’s useful varies by person; AI helps customize this.
• Saving time – Offering easy rescheduling or quick reordering appeals to busy customers.

The key is delivering clear benefits. Without value, outreach can annoy and drive customers away. Done right, it grows loyalty, referrals, satisfaction, and spending.

Channels That Work—and Those That Don’t

How you reach customers matters as much as what you say. Email and text messaging are the most preferred channels across age groups, favored for their asynchronous nature that customers control. Nearly 75% prefer email and over half prefer texts. Phone calls remain the preferred method for customers to contact companies but are less popular as an outbound channel.

Overusing any channel, especially texting, can backfire. On average, customers start opting out after about 3.7 texts per week. Ignoring this leads to blocks or unsubscribes, damaging trust.

Personalization: Less is More, When Done Right

AI shapes not just timing and channel but message content. By integrating with CRM and ERP data, AI can suggest the best tone, timing, and offers. For example, if a customer recently had a negative support experience, outreach should reflect that context.

Most customers (61.1%) want some level of personalization but dislike intrusive messages. The most appreciated personalization is remembering preferred contact channels (62.9%), followed by relevant promotions and local events. Notably, 29% say they’d spend more with companies that provide proactive, personalized outreach.

Keys to an Effective Proactive Strategy

Proactive outreach works best when part of a larger CX plan. Successful strategies are:

• Purpose-driven: Focused on clear customer value
• Moderately personalized: Reflect customers’ history without going too far
• Omnichannel: Delivered via customers’ preferred methods
• Timely: Triggered by real-time events or set preferences
• Scalable: Enabled by automation and AI

Customers receive numerous messages daily. To stand out and improve results, CX teams must be thoughtful, relevant, and well-timed in their outreach. AI and analytics are essential tools to help get this right.

For customer support professionals interested in expanding their AI skills to craft better outreach strategies, exploring courses on Complete AI Training can be a valuable next step.