How the Pandemic Taught Us to Manage Customer Relationships Remotely with the Right Marketing Services
In-person customer interactions are a pretty major component of most business operations, and the pandemic certainly taught businesses the importance of remote customer management.
Social distancing parameters had different implications for different businesses depending on the industry in which they operate, but in most cases, technology played a leading role in almost every scenario.
eCommerce, teleconferencing, and other digital communications like email and chat helped businesses maintain customer connections and continue offering consultations or products and services.
Maintaining business continuity was been a top priority during COVID-19, and as we have emerged on the other side of the pandemic, we’ve learned a lot about remote customer management and how to make it work for the long term.
There’s no doubt that some of the changes brought on by the pandemic are here to stay. Remote or hybrid work is more popular than ever, and customers discovered that almost anything can be done online – and you’d think we knew that before COVID!
However, because remote customer management is something businesses had to master during the pandemic and, therefore, continue to master post-pandemic, we want to discuss an important component of remote customer management that goes beyond direct interactions.
Tracking Customer Behavior and Digital Performance to Provide Better Remote Customer Management
To ensure your business continues to respond to and service your customers effectively, monitoring and tracking specific metrics is critical.
In a non-pandemic world, this type of data helps inform the best ways for your business to communicate and interact with your customers. These metrics can be leveraged in different ways to help your business improve the relationships that can be formed as a result of remote customer management, even as we resume in-person interactions.
How’s Your Website Doing?
Not every company’s website was poised and ready to take on pandemic-level traffic and demand.
B2B technology companies experienced an influx of help desk tickets and customer service requests as businesses grapple with implementing remote customer management technologies for their employees and customers.
Other companies had to quickly implement eCommerce capabilities to keep products moving.
And still others scrambled to add chat features and update website information to keep customers informed during this time.
With those specific adjustments made to accommodate thr pandemic world, what’s next? We recommend paying attention to how your website is performing so you can better respond and better serve your customers in general – no matter what is going on in the world.
You should be tracking:
- How your customers are arriving at your site. Was it through search, from another site, from an ad, or from your social media platform? When you know how people found you, you can more easily capitalize on that information to drive more traffic.
- What content your customers are engaging with. Once they get to your website, what pages are they viewing and for how long? What content are they clicking on? When you know what content is most interesting to your customers, you can amplify it and help drive their journey through your site.
- Specific calls-to-action your customers are taking. If your customers download content, fill out a contact form, or make a purchase, you can track their path to making those decisions, and leverage the information they have now provided you to better serve them going forward.
When it comes to remote customer management, the more you can improve your customers’ experience and be present, the more they will engage with you and establish a brand connection that will continue past the pandemic.
And it’s not just about net new customers. Customers who already know you and have engaged with you before will expect your online experience to be an equal representation of the experience you would provide in person.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!
Brand should always find ways to communicate with their customers in ways that demonstrate empathy and a pivot toward helpful, educational intentions.
Email correspondence is a great way to maintain communications with your customers without overwhelming them, and if you send a newsletter or monthly email, track their engagement with your content to better understand what messages are resonating (or not).
You should be tracking:
- Open rates. How many emails were opened? Who opened them? If you have a low open rate, be aware of whether it’s associated with a specific type of content and make adjustments to increase opens with your next send.
- Click-through rate. Did recipients click on your email’s call-to-action to view content, visit your site, or initiate a download? If so, you can now use that information to track their behavior and follow up with a relevant communication to keep them engaged.
Your content shouldn’t be focused on your brand or making a sale, but on your customers. Educational information or purchase discounts can go a long way, and the more you know about your customers and their behavior, the more accurately you can serve them up content that they’ll appreciate.
Social Media is a Big Part of the Remote Customer Management Equation
Pandemic or no pandemic, social media plays a huge role in people’s lives.
If your company is already active on social, you likely were able to see some opportunities for greater communication with your customers during the pandemic. But people’s habits with social haven’t changed just because we’re back to our lives, and your business should continue engaging with your followers, whether by providing customer-centric updates about your business (hours, eCommerce opportunities, product sales, etc.), adding some levity with memes, or providing educational content.
Tracking your social media engagement is useful to understand how your content is resonating with your audience. Respond to comments, offer helpful information, and engage with new followers. Steps you take now will pay dividends in the long run.
We work with companies in diverse industries to track user behaviors, digital performance metrics, and other online activities to ensure they are reaching their customers in the right ways.
