Analysing Communication Media and Actions - Extending and Evaluating the Business Action Matrix

In this paper we analyse how different communication media affect, restrict and facilitate business actions. This paper aims to attain a further understanding of what consequences decisions about offering or relinquishing a certain medium would have for the company and its customers. We are also interested in finding feasible ways to make such analyses of business actions and communication media. For this purpose, we use a business action matrix to analyse three kinds of business actions in a Swedish mail order company. The studied business actions are placing orders, posing questions and making complaints. This is an important field to study since in distance selling companies, the more or less innovative communication media must be carefully evaluated from both the customers’ and the company’s point of view. Used in the right way, the business communication media might lead to a well-functioning customer communication, which facilitates closer customer relationships, customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. Used in an ad-hoc manner, without a proper communication media strategy, the company might lose its chance to offer media that satisfy both the customers’ and the company’s needs. In the paper we discuss what makes the business action matrix a useful tool for analyzing a company’s communication media portfolio.