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…

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…

Here I am, Tuesday night at a major retailer. I'll be in and out in a jiffy, I tell myself—just need one thing, that's all.   "Can I help you find anything, sir?" a young employee asks me as I enter the store. "Nope. I'm good. Thanks." "Can I help you find anything?" another employee asks me twenty seconds later. "Nope. I'm good. Thanks." "Can I help you find anything?" Another employee. "Nope. I'm good. Thanks."   It was at that moment—thirty seconds before another "Can I help you find anything?"— that I asked myself "can there really be too…

Every encounter with a customer – whether it is face-to-face, over the phone, through the mail, in email, etc. – is an opportunity to build company credibility and put to rest any post-sale jitters that sometimes come with making a large purchase.   I recently bought a new vehicle. Putting on my customer experience management hat and reflecting on what I encountered, there were soooooo many missed opportunities to positively engage me as a customer. The whole experience turns out to be a great case study in how NOT to cultivate a positive relationship with a new customer and gain…

A few weeks back, Joe Stanton wrote a blog entitled "Return...I Don't Think So." He told us two stories of recent shopping experiences, one he had while returning a stuffed toy and one his friend "Mike" had while returning a blue ray player. Both returns were done at different national retailers. Mike had an awful experience with his return while Joe had a great experience. Would they shop at these stores again? Mike claimed he would never shop at the store where he had the poor return policy experience. Joe, on the other hand, said he would definitely shop at…