Optimizing the Offline?

With so much chatter about engagement, and being I last posted about it, I have decided to give this magical word a different perspective. So you hear the news and forecast that online spend will exceed 10% of all advertising in 2008, for a total of $52.2 billion, and in 2010 account for 13.6 percent, or $78.2 billion. So with most of today’s articles focusing trends on the web and how to fully optimize online campaigns, web behavioral data, and online engagement, one can lost site (if your a reatiler) about optimizing the offline experience.
I had the pleasure of attending Dr. Kevin & Jackie Freiberg seminar, who wrote Boom!: 7 Choices for Blowing the Doors Off Business-As-Usual , one of the bestselling authors on building a work culture that is remarkably different. Dr. Kevin Freiberg is recognized in the business arena and on the speaking circuit as a thought leader and authority on Gutsy Leaders and Companies that Blow the Doors Off Business-as-Usual. The duo team highlight the unique cultures they have analyzed and unconventional business practices used to not only increase sales but engage the customer to become loyal shoppers. Bruce D. Temkin, from Forrester, wrote an article on The Enjoyability Factor and identified that consumers would switch companies if they thought it would provide a more enjoyable experience. So companies need to make interactions more useful, engaging, and desirable, seem like a broken record? Well to tell you the truth I sometimes forget that I myself go offline and like going to certain stores over others. I asked myself is it the product that draws me there, the environment, the people, or all of it?
So how exactly does a company start to create a work culture that offsets the offline experience? One tip that I picked up was that employers should know that when employees feel honored and served there is a reciprocal effect that causes them to provide extraordinary service to their customers. Another tip was by being creative with the pressures of sales points and being transparent with customers. Going above what the normal expectancies of just “can I help you today” mentality, which is not different from trying to engage users online.
For more information and some great material please visit the Freibergs and pick up their book if you’re a retailer trying to change your customer’s experience. As an online marketer I have to remember that in today’s world we should be working on becoming an integrated experience and be fluid within all of our channels.

Let me know what you think, do you have any tips on making an impactful change on experience?