Co-authored by Mike Keutzer, Cisco Technical Instructor at Sunset Learning Institute, a Cisco Platinum Learning Partner.
Lessons from Sunset Learning’s own Proactive Customer Journey experience
Proactive customer journeys are often discussed as a future-state capability, something organizations plan for once the right tools, data, and integrations are in place. But perhaps proactive engagement should be less about solving the complex issue as a whole and more about intent: anticipating customer needs and reducing friction before it becomes a problem.
At Sunset Learning Institute, a Cisco Platinum Learning Partner, the Proactive Customer Journey is a concept we teach regularly. But a simple internal question challenged us to look inward at our processes:
We advocate for proactive engagement every day, but are we fully applying those principles ourselves?
That question became the starting point for improving our own Proactive Customer Journey.
The problem: A registration experience that works but isn’t seamless
Our class registration experience isn’t broken, but it’s not a perfect system either. When students sign up for a class, they receive:
- Confirmation emails.
- Calendar invites.
- Reminder messages for when class starts and how to connect.
If someone misses the start of class or has trouble joining, our team follows up manually via email and phone to assist as needed.
On the surface, this process works.
In reality, emails get buried, calendars fill up, and people juggle competing priorities—especially first thing on Monday morning when class starts. When students can’t easily find class details or access links, our team steps in to fill the gaps, but this, in turn, creates a ripple effect of inefficient time management.
This happens often enough that our team has become immune to it and generally expects to do some “cat herding” at the beginning of every class. But rather than acting reactively when problems occur, we should create a more proactive process for customers and our team alike.
For an organization focused on customer experience transformation, this challenge presents an opportunity: use the tools we advocate to make the first day of joining a class more timely, relevant, and effortless for our customers.
The Proactive Customer Journey defined with a solution
We’ll discuss and configure the specific Proactive Customer Journey options in more detail when you come to class, but the basic premise is simple enough: match the customer’s communication channel preferences with the business’s capabilities—as proactively as possible!
Keeping in mind the issue of unclear communication to students across multiple channels and Sunset Learning Institute’s need to fill the gaps with additional support, consider a conceptual example of how to improve the Proactive Customer Journey:
Students currently find information or register for classes online, by email, or by phone. For some, however, communication before and after registration can become confusing, overwhelming, or lost altogether. So, wouldn’t it be more effective and all-encompassing if students could also inquire about or register for classes via communication channels they may otherwise prefer, such as Chat, WhatsApp, Apple iMessage, SMS/RCS, and Facebook?
And what if Sunset Learning Institute could also proactively respond to each customer on these distinct channels, meeting their unique preferences?
Additionally, what if this innovative solution, which would allow for greater versatility by opening new channels of communication, could also integrate with our back-end customer relationship management (CRM) applications and third-party systems, or if AI agents could provide a seamless journey for both the customer and our organization?
Sounds like a great plan with an achievable goal that would result in many positive outcomes! You may be asking, “How long will it take to create that system?” and “How many technologists would work on this project?”
These are valid points, as our organization typically has no Contact Center environment (where you would likely find this omnichannel solution). We don’t need or want one either since we are a small organization using Webex Calling, Messaging, and Meeting services for our back-office environment.
Like all organizations, we don’t want a bunch of technologists to have to work on this one project. We care about costs, and we’d like to start simple with the ability to grow into this ultimate amalgamation of technology described above.
So, what solution can allow a typical organization to easily extend its communication channel capabilities to customers, including AI agent functionality, using a low-code/no-code solution that provides grow-as-you-go features and integrates easily with the rest of our existing Webex Services?
Webex Connect to the rescue!
Webex Connect is a cloud-based Enterprise Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) that helps businesses automate and manage customer interactions across multiple channels like SMS, WhatsApp, email, and voice.
It uses a low-code, visual-flow builder to create, test, and deploy automated communication journeys that incorporate native integrations with third-party solutions, as well as extensive API and Webhook functionality.
Starting the journey simple: SMS reminders
As with any journey, you should probably train first and plan things out. After all, it’s not an overnight trip; it’s a journey!
For us at Sunset Learning Institute, our first Proactive Customer Journey step is planned to be intentionally modest: sending SMS reminders on the first day of class, before class starts.
The simple message will be as simple as its name suggests. It will include:
- A salutary greeting.
- Information on class start dates.
- A link to join the meeting directly from the message.
- A friendly “Have a great week!” message.
By offering direct access to session details and connectivity information without including unnecessary promotional content, it keeps the customer informed without overwhelming them. A more direct approach with clear instructions should reduce the need for further support from our team.
Webex Connect makes this initial goal fairly easy to implement, as the interface allows for ordering SMS numbers and configuring branding and campaigns. The built-in Event Scheduler can help schedule SMS campaigns by pulling customer information from multiple sources. We can start simple and add complexity and functionality as we go.
The result of this initiative should entail a smoother experience for students and fewer last‑minute issues for our team. While this example directly applies to the problem we’re trying to solve at Sunset Learning Institute, it offers insight into innovative thinking that can improve the proactive customer journey in many situations.
We don’t need to “boil the whole ocean,” as the saying goes. Let’s start with a simple proof of concept to gain management buy-in and demonstrate that our resources are earning customer trust and simplifying processes for all involved parties.
What this experience hopes to prove about proactive journeys
While this proposed improvement seems simple, it should reinforce several broader principles that apply to any organization exploring proactive customer engagement:
- Start with friction, not features: The most effective journeys address a specific pain point instead of leading with technological capabilities.
- Timeliness matters more than volume: Proactive customer engagement is not about sending more messages; it’s about sending fewer, better-timed ones.
- Small changes can deliver outsized impact: Even a single, well-placed touchpoint can significantly improve the overall experience for customers.
- Proactive doesn’t mean impersonal: When messages are relevant and well-timed, automation can feel helpful rather than intrusive.
These lessons apply across industries, whether the journey involves onboarding, support, training, or customer communications.
Building toward more intelligent journeys
This initial step is only the beginning. As organizations like Sunset Learning Institute and their approach to proactive customer engagement mature, opportunities often expand to include deeper integrations, AI-assisted interactions, and true omnichannel orchestration.
What remains constant is the underlying strategy: designing journeys around customer needs, not internal processes. Technology enables transformation, but strategy makes it successful.
Mike Keutzer is a Cisco Systems Technical Instructor based in the Denver, Colorado, area, with over 30 years of experience in information systems and customer engagement technologies. He has spent decades teaching and developing Cisco Contact Center, Voice, and Routing solutions, including Webex Contact Center. Mike has authored and contributed to numerous Cisco Contact Center training programs and has received several Cisco Instructor Excellence Awards.
To learn more, explore Webex Contact Center training provided by Sunset Learning Institute, a Cisco Platinum Learning Partner.
