Proactive chat: triggers that work without feeling pushy

From waiting to nudging

Reactive chat waits for the visitor to seek help. But many visitors with a question never click to open the chat — out of hesitation, being in a hurry, or not even being able to put the question into words. Proactive chat reaches that group with a targeted greeting.

The difference is relevance: a good trigger feels like an attentive shop assistant; a bad one feels like a pop-up you close immediately.

Triggers that are proven to work

Start with the moments where doubt is measurable:

• Checkout or basket, after 60 seconds of inactivity: 'Running into anything at checkout?'
• Product comparison: the visitor switches back and forth between two product pages.
• Pricing page in B2B: 'Tell me about your situation and I'll point you to the right plan.'
• Returning visitor on the same page: the interest is there, just not the nudge yet.

What you should avoid

Proactive becomes pushy the moment it turns generic. A pop-up within five seconds on the homepage, repeated on every page, or triggered again right after being dismissed — that costs you more visitors than it wins. Cap it at one proactive greeting per session, and always have a real person ready to respond.

The greeting makes or breaks the trigger

'Can I help you?' is about the weakest opening line there is. Make the greeting specific to the page and the moment: 'Deciding between these two sizes? I'm happy to double-check the fit for you.' Specificity shows a real person is watching, not a script.

Conclusion

Proactive chat multiplies your conversation volume with visitors you'd otherwise never have spoken to. Start with two or three strategic triggers, measure both the number of conversations started and their conversion, and only scale up what works.