If you're swimming in Intercom data but still guessing why users get stuck—or leave—you're not alone. This guide is for anyone responsible for customer success, product, or support who wants to cut through the noise, actually understand user behavior, and make changes that help customers (and your team). No fluff, just practical steps.
1. Get Clear on What You Want to Know
Before you dive into charts, stop and ask: What really matters for customer success in your product? Not every click or message tells you something useful. Start by nailing down:
- What does “success” look like for users? (E.g., finishing onboarding, using a core feature weekly, reaching a milestone)
- Where do users usually drop off or get confused?
- What questions do you hear most from support or sales?
Write these down. If you skip this, you’ll end up measuring things that don’t matter, or worse, chasing vanity metrics.
Pro tip: Pick one or two goals to start. “Understand why users abandon onboarding” is a thousand times more useful than “analyze all user activity.”
2. Map Intercom’s Data to Your Questions
Intercom tracks a lot—conversations, events, product usage, custom attributes, and more. The trick is knowing what’s actually helpful:
- Conversations: What users say when they reach out (complaints, how-tos, praise)
- Events: Specific actions a user takes in your product (e.g., “Created Project” or “Invited Teammate”)
- User attributes: Metadata like plan type, signup date, or last login
- Product Tours or Messages: Where users interact with onboarding or in-app prompts
Match your earlier questions to these data types. For example: - Trying to reduce onboarding drop-off? Look at events tied to onboarding steps, and conversations tagged “onboarding.” - Wondering why paying customers churn? Pull attributes like plan, last activity, and recent support conversations.
What to ignore: Don’t get distracted by features your users don’t use or channels you don’t support (like WhatsApp, if you’re not using it). Stick to where real user behavior happens.
3. Set Up Tracking for Key Actions (Events)
Out of the box, Intercom tracks some things, but you'll probably need custom events for real insight. Work with your devs to send events for:
- Completing onboarding steps
- Using core features
- Hitting success milestones (whatever those are for your product)
How to do it: - Use Intercom’s event tracking docs to add events via your app backend or frontend. - Name events clearly. “Clicked Button” is useless; “Completed Profile Setup” is gold. - Don’t overdo it—track what matters, not every possible action.
Pro tip: If you can’t get dev time, focus on what Intercom already collects (conversations, basic activity) while you wait. It’s better than nothing.
4. Build and Save Useful Segments
Segments are saved filters—think “users who signed up in the last 30 days and haven’t finished onboarding.” These are your shortcuts for finding patterns.
- Go to the Users or Leads section
- Filter by relevant attributes and events
- Save segments you’ll actually check (e.g., “Active Users No Activity 7 Days”)
Use segments to: - See which users are thriving vs. struggling - Target messages or surveys (more on this below) - Track improvement over time
Don’t: Get lost in endless micro-segments. Focus on ones tied to your goals from Step 1.
5. Analyze Conversations for Pain Points
Your support inbox is a goldmine if you know how to dig. Here’s what works:
- Use tags consistently (“onboarding,” “bug,” “pricing question”). If your team isn’t tagging, start now.
- Search conversations by tags or keywords to spot trends.
- Export conversation data if you want to slice and dice in Excel or another tool.
Look for: - Common complaints or confusion—especially from users in your saved segments - Repeated questions about features you thought were obvious
If you see the same issue cropping up, that’s a sign your product, docs, or onboarding need work—not just your support responses.
Pro tip: Don’t ignore “positive” conversations. Happy users can tell you what’s working, so you don’t break it by accident.
6. Set Up Funnels (But Don’t Obsess Over Them)
Funnels track how users move through a series of steps (e.g., onboarding flow). Intercom lets you visualize these if you’ve set up the right events.
How to use funnels: - Pick a specific process (onboarding, upgrade flow) - Add each step as an event in your funnel visualization - Look for big drop-offs between steps
What to actually do with funnels: - Focus on why users drop off, not just where. Pair funnel data with conversation analysis. - Test changes (e.g., tweak a confusing screen) and watch funnel metrics over time.
What not to do: Don’t build funnels for every feature. Stick to flows that matter for user success.
7. Use Targeted In-App Messages (and A/B Test Them)
Once you’ve found friction points, use Intercom’s in-app messages to help users get unstuck:
- Trigger messages based on events (e.g., “Hasn’t completed onboarding after 2 days”)
- Keep messages short and specific. No one wants to read an essay inside your app.
- A/B test different versions to see what actually helps (Intercom supports this out of the box)
Be ready to turn off any messages that annoy users or don’t move the needle. More messages ≠ better experience.
8. Run Lightweight Surveys (and Actually Use the Answers)
Intercom lets you send quick surveys, either in-app or by email. Use these to fill in gaps that your data can’t explain:
- Ask users why they stopped at a certain step (“What stopped you from finishing setup?”)
- Keep surveys short—one or two questions is plenty
- Pair survey responses with user segments to spot patterns
If you get answers, act on them. Don’t just collect feedback for the sake of it.
9. Watch Out for Common Traps
There are plenty of ways to spin your wheels without getting anywhere. Here’s what to avoid:
- Chasing vanity metrics: Don’t pat yourself on the back for more messages sent or chat volume. Focus on outcomes (users succeeding, support requests dropping).
- Too many dashboards: You don’t need a dashboard for every metric. Just track the few that matter.
- Analysis paralysis: It’s better to act on a few clear signals than to drown in data.
10. Iterate—and Don’t Expect Overnight Results
Real improvements take time. Don’t expect a single tweak to double your retention overnight. The key is to:
- Make one change at a time (so you know what worked)
- Give it a little time, then check your segments, funnels, and conversations again
- Adjust based on what you see—don’t be afraid to roll back changes that didn’t help
Pro tip: Keep a simple changelog of what you tried and when. It’ll save you a lot of “wait, did we already test this?” moments.
If you take nothing else from this guide, remember: Focus on the few things that really drive user success. Use Intercom to spot real problems, not just pretty charts. Start small, act on what you see, and keep iterating. The goal isn’t perfect analytics—it’s happier, more successful customers.