---
title: "What Is Proactive Support and Why Do You Need It? - The Intercom Blog"
description: "Proactive support is a strategic approach to helping customers before they contact support, using tools such as outbound messages, banners, and Product Tours to deliver targeted assistance. By preemptively answering common questions, it reduces inbound conversation volume, frees support teams for complex queries, and improves long-term metrics like customer retention and satisfaction. A commissioned Forrester Consulting study conducted on behalf of Intercom in April 2021 found that 59% of support leaders and decision makers view a lack of proactive support as a barrier to conversational support at scale. Implementing a proactive strategy requires understanding the customer journey and pain points to deliver targeted, non-intrusive help via messenger-based channels at key moments. This approach creates a better customer experience while optimizing support team resources, making it crucial for a future-ready support strategy."
---

# What Is Proactive Support and Why Do You Need It? - The Intercom Blog

[Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom) · Oct 8, 2026

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

Proactive support is a strategic approach to helping customers before they contact support, using tools such as outbound messages, banners, and Product Tours to deliver targeted assistance. By preemptively answering common questions, it reduces inbound conversation volume, frees support teams for complex queries, and improves long-term metrics like customer retention and satisfaction. A commissioned Forrester Consulting study conducted on behalf of Intercom in April 2021 found that 59% of support leaders and decision makers view a lack of proactive support as a barrier to conversational support at scale. Implementing a proactive strategy requires understanding the customer journey and pain points to deliver targeted, non-intrusive help via messenger-based channels at key moments. This approach creates a better customer experience while optimizing support team resources, making it crucial for a future-ready support strategy.

## Context

Customer support has historically been reactive, but rising customer expectations and the importance of customer experience as a differentiator have driven the need for proactive support.

## Approach / What changed

Proactive support is implemented by using outbound messages, banners, and Product Tours to deliver targeted, preemptive assistance at key moments in the customer journey via messenger-based channels.

## Takeaways

- Proactive support reduces inbound conversation volume by preemptively answering common questions, freeing support teams for more complex, high-impact queries.
- It improves long-term customer metrics such as retention and satisfaction by showing understanding of the customer journey and addressing pain points proactively.
- 59% of support leaders cite a lack of proactive support as a barrier to conversational support at scale, according to a 2021 Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Intercom.

## FAQ

### What tools are used for proactive support?

Proactive support uses outbound messages, banners, and Product Tours to deliver targeted help to customers before they contact support.

### How does proactive support benefit support teams?

It reduces inbound conversation volume, freeing up support team time to focus on more complex queries that require human intervention.

### Why is proactive support important for customer experience?

It improves customer retention and satisfaction by showing customers that the business understands their journey and is committed to improving their experience.

**Tags:** [Customer Experience](https://yomu.fyi/topic/customer-experience), [Customer Support](https://yomu.fyi/topic/customer-support), [Proactive Support](https://yomu.fyi/topic/proactive-support)

- Source: [Intercom](https://www.intercom.com/blog/what-is-proactive-support)
- Source URL: https://www.intercom.com/blog/what-is-proactive-support
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-10-08T21:00:49.791Z

[Read original post](https://www.intercom.com/blog/what-is-proactive-support)