Get Out Of The Ivory Tower Every Now And Then

Experience The Customer Experience

By David Miranda

In his best seller, In Search Of Excellence, author Tom Peters talked about "management by walking around" referring to managers who got out there on the front lines to get a first hand look at what was going on in their companies - with managers, employees, and customers.

Interesting concept!

Today, it seems we could use a refresher course, particularly in the marketing arena. Let's call it "marketing by walking around". More often than not, marketers (and their agencies) are insulated and isolated from the reality of the marketplace. Marketing campaigns often create a vastly different expectation from the actual consumer experience. In addition, if more marketers got out of the office, they could experience the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the considerable sums of money they are investing in a plethora of media channels.

Marketers need to temper the second and third hand feedback they receive with first hand personal observations.

Get behind the counter, get out in the stores, walk the showroom, take some customer calls and emails, and visit the competition. Encourage your colleagues and agencies to do the same. Get out and see for yourself what's really happening - first hand knowledge that is unbiased, unspun, and unfiltered.

The personal knowledge marketers will gain from these excursions is invaluable.

Marketing by walking around - these are important steps to marketing success.