According to John Naisbitt, renowned futurist and author of the landmark book, Megatrends, we are living in a “High Tech” world, in which restoring balance with “High Touch” will become the key differentiator. That premise has never been truer than today, thirty years later.   This theme resonated at the 2013 Restaurant Leadership Conference last month in Scottsdale, Arizona where industry leaders came together to explore trends, innovative new ideas, insights and challenges.   A prominent topic throughout the conference was how technology provides the means through which to deliver a more personalized customer experience. Here are a few take-away…

The words "social" and "media" have become one united phrase that is commonly used worldwide. There is no question, social media has become a large part of the way we communicate, connect, find and share information, and collaborate with one another. We can now see it being used by businesses, governments, sports teams, and in almost every organization's efforts to better communication with its customers. According to the Nielsen Social Media Report in September 2011, social networks and blogs dominate how Americans spend their time online. It accounts for nearly 25% of their total time spent on the Internet. Looking…

A recent visit to a popular fast food restaurant had me thinking about the topic of feedback and if sometimes you should just let negative experiences go. I would bet if you ask any restaurant manager this question the response would be a resounding "we want to hear everything". I don't know though, because some days I think I would be giving feedback on service or product issues several times over.   After ordering lunch at the drive-thru I pulled up to the window to receive the order. The polite employee at the window asked if I would pull into…

As Apple is holding its annual Worldwide Developers Conference this week, it seemed fitting to post a blog on how tablets are changing the way we shop- a revolution that Apple helped to start.   A few months back I wrote a blog about how smart phones are changing the way we shop. With the tablet market (iPad, iPad 2, Motorola Xoom, H.P. Slate etc.) exploding, it is poised to do much the same. Many of today's largest retailers are now making–or have already made–web sites/apps specifically for tablet users.   Anyone who has used a tablet will tell you…

I had been thinking about switching internet providers for a few months. A few weeks ago, I saw a promising ad for a free modem and a free month of service followed by a low monthly fee. Sounded pretty good to me, but I wanted to see it in person. I went to one of the company's kiosks at a local mall, tested the connection on one of the laptops, looked at the coverage maps, and asked a few questions. Next came the sales pitch.   It turns out the online promotion was not being honored at the kiosks. Before…

Unless you have your own private plane we all have to deal with the airport experience if we want to travel. And typically you don't hear people talking about the wonderful time they had. Instead, you hear horror stories about delayed planes, TSA pat downs, canceled and over-booked flights, terrible food, and long security lines. Although these things are common and sometimes out of an individual airline's control, it doesn't change the fact that people want to be treated well. On a recent business trip I witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly of airline travel.   I'll start…

Finding new ways of communicating and connecting with customers is nothing new to the world of Retail. First it was internet, then email, followed by social media. Now it's smart phones.   With the explosion of smart phones, retailers have been in a bit of an app race– trying to create the most user friendly and innovative applications. In fact, many retailers are opting to have multiple apps in an effort to beat the competition. These apps vary slightly but most offer exclusive sales, store locators, product listings, reviews and some even have bar code scanners so you can be…

Webinar- Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again: A Holistic Approach to Customer Feedback Programs   Click here to register   I don't want to give away too much in advance of our webinar with Clarabridge at noon CST on October 14th—how's that for a plug?—but have you ever played those trivia games that are on the TV's at your local sports bar? The ones where you need the wireless game board and you compete against the other patrons to see who actually knows what song spent 10 weeks as the Billboard number one hit in 1981-1982?   Before you answer,…

That may be one of the most cliché phrases in the English language. Every time I feel forced to say it I cringe and think "here we go again". In addition, how does it feel to be the powerless employee that has to admit that they do not have the training or authority to help the customer? A recent experience of mine got me thinking more about how this ties into what Questar does to help employees and customers with this type of situation.   Going paperless when managing household bills is a good thing, right? Online statements are convenient…

This month, Questar celebrates 25 years in business. So when I ventured to write this blog—my first blog—I intended to write a list of 25 things I learned in the survey research business over 25 years. But who, I thought, would really want to read a list of 25 things? Not me. And how was I going to come up with 25 things that anyone would want to actually read? The answer to that was: I wasn't going to. So I scrapped the idea.   And then it hit me the other day. Tuesday. The day of our company-wide celebration event—a boat…