The interactions between customers and companies can be one of the main points that push a person to opt for a particular product and business over another of the competition.
If we currently browse the Internet we will find video reviews, text reviews, comments on all social networks and specialized pages and even in the media.
In short, on the internet everyone has a place and a space to express their opinion on a particular product. In some cases this can be good, but in others it can be bad and can completely sink the general opinion of a product or company.
For this reason it is important to always be aware of interactions with customers, they can help us increase interest in one of our products or to try to make sure that the negative impact does not affect too much.
Here you will find some methods to track these interactions from different points of view. The more global your approach, the less likely you are to run into unexpected events.
What we talk about when we talk about customer interaction
Before we start looking at how to approach it, it’s important to explain what customer interaction is all about. By interaction we mean any exchange or contact that takes place between a customer or potential customer and the company.
By company we understand it can be a customer service agent, salesperson, community director sales agent or any employee representing the company to the public.
From a marketing point of view, it is one of the main goals that companies should have: to create interest in the product.
Interactions already imply a certain degree of interest. A customer who contacts us, whether to ask a question, ask for prices or request more information, is a customer who is obviously interested in that product.
However, this does not mean that you will automatically make the purchase. It may be that you are deciding between different options within our store or in relation to competing products.
Depending on how our response is and the overall interaction, we may be able to tip the scales our way.
A quick and friendly response that answers all of the client’s questions can be not only a great cover letter for the client, but also a way to generate interest.
Therefore, we must pay particular attention to how and in what way we interact with customers. Everything from tone and vocabulary to response time will affect the customer and the image they form of us.
There are many ways to control interactions, most of which can be done simultaneously, as they approach the subject from different points.Next, we leave some examples of ways a company can control and monitor the different interactions it can have with its customers.
Tools to monitor interactions with customers
CRM
And CRM, according to its acronym in English is a Customer Relationship Manager. With this name, we can already imagine why it tops this list.
It is a software in which all customer data and information is collected, it can be manual, automatic or hybrid, the important thing is that everything is available in the same database.
It’s not simply a matter of contact details to have a sort of old-fashioned agenda or register, in a CRM we can also find tastes, customs, old orders, evaluations and previous contacts and interactions. All the information that can be useful to us and that is relevant is collected in a CRM.
Regardless of the method you have chosen to contact us, you must appear registered in the program: call, text, email or even visits and meetings in person.
It works whether our clients are individuals or companies, in both cases there is a lot of information that we will have to manage and which can be useful to create a better relationship.
Thanks to this data we will be able, on the one hand, to offer a better and more efficient customer service. We will have the information available to know what problems you have had in the past and to anticipate them or find a solution quickly.
On the other hand, it helps us to know their tastes and customs and thus facilitate retention. Through personalized offers or by promoting products that may interest them, we will improve our image in front of them while we can increase sales.
If you are interested in using these programs, we leave you to Guide to CRM software so you can choose the option that best fits your business needs.
Social networks
In few years social networks They have become an essential part of businesses. Even more if we talk about the interactions and the relationship that customers have with them.
It is a channel in which they can find and contact directly, without intermediaries and immediately, the businesses and companies they need. Added to this is the convenience of already having a profile and the necessary information is already included.
From a commercial point of view, this is a challenge. In short, it forces them to have an attractive, interesting and, above all, active profile. There must be continuous interaction between the company and the customer, in order to create communities and retain them.
It is, therefore, also a great opportunity. Social networks provide us with a channel to be able to talk more deeply with customers but also to find out their opinion and their tastes and get an idea of who our average customer might be.
Also, thanks to the tools of social listening we can also get an idea of what the public generally thinks of our product or company.
Through keywords and special social listening tools, we can find an infinite number of comments that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.
In short, social networks have given people a huge speaker to express their opinions. In this regard, we cannot afford to ignore them. On the other hand, they are also a tool that can be very useful in retaining and improving the image we project.
Whatever our goals, as a company it is necessary to be networked, to listen actively and to try to make the interactions relevant and positive for both interlocutors.
reviews
The revision concept is currently very broad. Starting with Internet 3.0, for several years now customers have had thousands of tools at their disposal with which to express their opinion on a brand or product.
With a quick glance we find from specialized applications to profiles and entire pages dedicated to testing and giving your opinion on a particular product or service.
We shouldn’t see it, however, as something negative. On the contrary, companies are interested in customers giving their opinion after trying something, as it is the best way to know if it really works or if there are elements for improvement.
Furthermore, a company that asks for the customer’s opinion demonstrates that it is a company that really cares about the customer and what they have to say, something that improves its image substantially.
As a company we must, therefore, pay attention to the reviews. Mainly because they can provide us with a new point of view and find bugs or improvements that may escape our perspective.
But you also have to take into account the effect that one or more negative reviews can have. Above all in the image it projects towards the customer, in which it can generate distrust and doubts. On the other hand, in the general and statistical picture.If out of ten purchases, nine give us five stars, but only one person gives us a star, the total will no longer be the maximum. Statistics can be unfair at times and that review may perhaps not be related to the product but it will affect the overall result and what customers will see.
Although it is impossible to control the reviews that customers and users will give, the least we have to do is not lose sight of them, know how to manage the negative ones and try to improve based on them. Therefore, you must always take into account the customer’s opinion, be it good or bad.
Analytical
Through tools that collect analytics data from our website and social media profiles, we can also track customer interactions.
While less direct and more cryptic, since it’s not direct feedback, but rather data we need to understand, this data can reveal a lot about customers and, if properly interpreted, can help us find problems and bugs.
For example, if we see a lot of abandoned carts or a tendency to leave the order at some point, we can investigate, find and fix the problem before we get negative reviews or comments.
Unlike the other options, this tool implies a deeper study and continuous analysis of the situation, but it gives us the possibility to detect incidents in real time.
With comments on networks or other interactions, customers have already suffered the fault and report it to us ―in a better or worse way―, through the control of analytics data we will be able to detect them ourselves and resolve them before they become major.
Summing up, web analytics It is a more complex tool, but it can be life saving if we use it correctly.
