They started setup, then disappeared mid-step.

Connected

Last setup step, last seen, and time since.

Example eligibility rule

Treat setup as stalled when progress is greater than 0% but less than 100%, no meaningful setup event has occurred for 72 hours, and the account is still active. Exclude customers who chose "do this later," opened a support case, or have a scheduled onboarding session.

Setup is 40% done. No session in 72 hours. The default is either silence or a drip that recites features. Neither names the unfinished step.

Avoid this assumption

Day-3, day-5, day-7 emails with the same hero image are not intervention. One note about the actual stuck step is.

Intervention is not nagging. It is a specific, skippable reminder of the next unfinished step, plus a way to get help.

Reach

How many eligible people can you reach in the chosen channel and time period?

Cost

What will content, delivery, QA and ongoing maintenance cost?

Return

What incremental outcome would cover that cost, and what is it worth?

Planning inputs, not measured results. Estimate reach × incremental outcome rate × value per outcome, then subtract cost. Use a range and a consistent time period.

Example format: Sequence

In-product resume plus one message, with a "do this later" option.

Compare lighter and deeper responses

Choose the lightest response that solves the need.

Assist: Offer useful help

One message naming the next step. Then stop.

Adapt: Change a meaningful part

In-product resume plus one message, with a "do this later" option.

Transform: Tailor the journey

Resume flow plus a human assist offer if the account is high-value.

What to watch out for

• Restarting the tour from step 1.
• Five channels on the same day.
• Treating a cancelled customer as stalled.

Control

Default lifecycle or none.

Treatment

Step-specific resume for stalled setups.

Success measure

Resume rate and activation within 14 days.

Guardrail

Unsubscribes and "mark as spam". If you nag, you lose the ones who might have come back.

Win or lose, record what worked, for whom and why. What you learn becomes the next signal.

• Customer.io Event-triggered lifecycle messaging across email, push, SMS, and in-app, built on a customer profile and behavior-data layer.
• Appcues In-product engagement platform for building targeted flows, tooltips, checklists, and announcements without engineering.
• Braze Cross-channel messaging platform (push, email, SMS, in-app, WhatsApp, and more) that orchestrates sends off real-time customer behavior.
• Pendo in-app guides Product experience platform combining usage analytics with in-app guides targeted by user or account segments.

They paid. Then they never started setup. Give them one first step. Not a tour of everything.

The same setup step keeps failing. Give them another way through. Another tooltip won't fix it.