I was chatting to a business colleague a few days about a retailer he has worked with (a big high street brand). We were discussing the massive disconnect between offline and online brand experience despite the fact from a customers point-of-view, there is no difference.

He told me that they were losing 94% of in-store back order sales because they do not create the joined-up brand experience. They were sticking to the processes they’ve always used.

I’m not sure about you, but I couldn’t afford to lose that much business!

The thing is, to your customers, there is no distinction when it comes to your brand. It starts with the initial contact, which may well be your website, then follows through to the day they come to your office, the politeness of your receptionist, the way you handle the project/sale; even the way your accounts person chase the bill.

Branding is so much more that just a logo, it should run through every part of the business and be all inclusive in terms of employees. But the Internet offers just another disconnect for many companies, with another channel in which to confuse brand perception.

In terms of retailers, I like the comment from this article at Retail Bulletin:

Customers don’t care about multichannel, integrated multichannel or cross channel. They want the same experience, availability and service from your brand however they shop.

The birth of the relationship

In my experience of complex selling in B2B, an initial part of the ongoing sales cycle started with getting newsletter subscribers. It was quickly apparent that when it comes to expecting people to take actions such as these they are:

  • Too busy
  • Too lazy
  • Too forgetful
  • All of the above

So. We used to do it for them. If I was on the phone talking to a prospect, rather than tell them about our great newsletter, I’d ask them if they’d like to sign up and do it for them there and then. Yes, I’d go to my own website and fill in the form as if I were a punter.

Of course, the same people that were too lazy to subscribe, very rarely actually read the newsletter itself, so you also had to push the information in different ways… all the while doing all the donkey work.

Customers are selfish

Of course they are – and should be. They are the ones handing over the cash. Why shouldn’t they put the onus on you? If you want the business enough, you should be the one working hard to keep them happy, even when the project goes really well and they take all of the credit!

Online, too many companies don’t try very hard to impress with their brand experience. Of course, the excuse is that it’s not their fault. It’s the competition, or it’s Googles fault or it’s the web team or the copywriter…. but I’m sorry – if you are a brand and you are not making headway online… it’s your own fault.

The Internet is just another channel too market. The same as advertising, tradeshows and Direct Mail. As such, it shouldn’t be seen as the be-all-and-end-all in terms of your marketing effort. But, in the same vain, it shouldn’t be disconnected in terms of brand experience.

If you need advice for your own online marketing strategy and how it should be working with your existing sales and marketing plan, why not contact me to see if we can join up the dots.