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List Management

At-Risk Customer

A customer showing warning signs that predict likely cancellation or churn.

Definition

An at-risk customer is one whose behavior indicates elevated probability of churning. Warning signs include declining product usage, reduced engagement, support escalations, failed payments, or negative feedback. Identifying at-risk customers early gives you a window to intervene before they cancel.

Why It Matters

Saving existing customers costs far less than acquiring new ones. By the time someone initiates cancellation, it is often too late. At-risk identification lets you act during the window when intervention is still possible. A well-timed email to an at-risk customer can recover revenue that would otherwise be lost.

How It Works

Define the behaviors and signals that predict churn for your product. Create segments that capture users exhibiting these signals. Trigger automated outreach when customers enter the at-risk segment. Track whether interventions improve retention rates for at-risk customers compared to no action.

Best Practices

  • 1Define at-risk based on data, not intuition
  • 2Act early when signs first appear, not when they accumulate
  • 3Start with helpful outreach, not desperate retention offers
  • 4Offer genuine solutions like product help or plan adjustments
  • 5Escalate to human outreach for high-value at-risk accounts
  • 6Track which interventions actually reduce churn
  • 7Remove customers from at-risk status when they re-engage

At-Risk Automation

Build automated sequences triggered when customers show churn signals. Sequenzy helps you intervene early with the right message.

Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions

Common indicators include declining login frequency, reduced feature usage, failed payments, support complaints, lack of engagement with emails, and negative NPS or survey responses. The specific signals depend on your product and how customers typically disengage.

Immediately. The longer you wait, the harder it is to recover the customer. Trigger automated emails within a day of entering the at-risk segment. For high-value accounts, alert customer success for personal outreach within hours.

Start by checking in and offering help, not by begging them to stay. Ask if they are having trouble, offer resources, and make it easy to talk to a human. If they are price-sensitive, consider offering a downgrade option. Save discounts for later in the sequence.