Your competitors are everywhere.  Especially where you aren't. And often they're targeting your best customers.

Your products don't talk … meaning they can't represent you as well as the salespeople representing your competitors.  Not being in the conversation, by engaging customers on a regular basis puts your company at a real disadvantage when customers think of leaving.

Even if everything your competitors are saying is wrong, they're the only ones talking!

When a customer is getting ready to leave -- where are they going?

Most likely they are looking at competitors or they have considered a completely different approach which doesn't involve a product or service like your company's.

Either way, by the time you find they're leaving, that customer is well along the way in a thought process that is completely contrary to the one you want them to be on.

At this stage, what are your options?

It's pretty clear that you'll have to compensate for your late arrival to the game.  So what does that entail? usually it's deep discounting, upgrading the packages for free or other financially questionable tactics.

Why? because at that stage, it's not that easy for them to stay with your company -- they've invested time and committed to another company.  So your company will have to make it more "worth their while" than would have been the case earlier in the game.

Most companies don't get it

A recent AmDoc Study indicated that 65% of service providers only start retention efforts when signs appear the customer is leaving.  And 90% measure loyalty by churn rates (after the fact).  

So, back to our original question: Is ok to be reactive on loyalty?

It's a question of offence versus defense.

Judging by the factors your company is battling when customers are thinking of leaving and the limited and unattractive options that are available to your company at that stage, we'd say the answer is clear.

NO, it's not OK to be reactionary on customer loyalty.