Do The Right Thing, Get High Marks

I have always believed that customer service is number one when dealing with consumers. At the radio stations we bend over backwards to do the right thing for our clients. When they have an issue, we do everything in our power to address it head on, make it right for them and then try to go above and beyond. It is the old adage of making lemonade out of lemons.

We are a small organization and don’t have the resources to employ a complex customer satisfaction program. Although, I do believe that we have a fairly decent pulse on what our customers think and we try to be proactive in ensuring that we are doing the best that we can.

I mention all of this because I am beginning to wonder how valid these costumer service surveys really are.

While in college, I cut my teeth in radio doing music and audience research, I went on to become the research director of a radio station, I worked for a radio programming consulting company and traveled the nation conducting focus groups and designed and analyzed customer service studies, I also worked for a national research company doing research for Fortune 500 companies. One of the major tenants that I learned and reinforced with clients was that you had to take great care in making sure that you do not bias the survey, because if you did, it would invalidate the research and prove it worthless.

When conducting research you don’t necessarily want it to tell you how great you are (although that would be nice), you want it to tell you how you can become better. It needs to be pure, honest and unbiased.

A couple of weeks ago the AC went out on my Honda. I took it to the local Honda dealer and had a less than pleasant experience. The day after I my car was repaired I received a telephone call from Honda (the manufacturer) requesting that I participate in a customer satisfaction survey. I agreed and answered the questions honestly.

The very next morning I received a phone call from the service writer at the Honda dealership asking me why I gave him and the dealership poor marks. I was honest with him and told him why. He tried to justify his position and told me that the issues that I had were with the dealer and the manufacturer and not him and that he was just following the rules.

He continued and inquired if during the survey Honda asked me to participate in a follow-up survey. I said they did. He then went into this long diatribe about how he gets evaluated and compensated based on the results of these surveys. He asked me to give him high marks; he told me he would rotate my tires and give me an oil change for free in exchange for my good words. I told him that would not be necessary and that I would answer the questions honestly if and when I took the survey.

Fast forward to yesterday. I called Sprint regarding some questions I had about my BlackBerry. I was on the phone with them for more than twenty minutes and as it turns out they gave me the wrong information. At the end of the call the customer service representative was sure to ask; “Is there any reason why I would not be able to give her high marks if I was contacted by Sprint for a survey”. Once again, I told her that I would answer the survey honestly.

In both cases, with Honda and Sprint I did get the surveys via email and I did what I said I would do. I answered them honestly!

Here is my question? Does everyone answer the surveys honestly when prompted, bribed and cajoled to ignore the facts and just give good marks? I don’t think so. While the customer service reps might get their bonuses for high marks, they are really doing their employers and customers a disservice. They are masking issues and biasing the studies.

Sprint and Honda actually think that they are doing a great job taking care of customers, but in reality, there are issues that need to be addressed. Are these surveys a farce and a waste of millions of dollars? Maybe, maybe not, you be the judge!

I have a simple philosophy. Just do the right thing and the surveys will come back strong!

Oh… by the way. The AC blows cold air again!

Main Street meets our Street

One of my favorite things to do at the radio station is to meet with our current and potential new advertisers. With everything that has been going on in the economy, I have made it a priority to get out of the office as much as I can to meet with these people the last couple of weeks. Let me tell you what they are telling me. This is "Main Street" talking.

"Unprecedented are the words I keep hearing over and over again".

"Auto dealer's biz down 30% and they've never seen anything like this, Furniture biz worst in five years, restaurant biz very slow, personal health spa biz down 40%, travel biz down due to high airfare".

The adversity in the economy is not only impacting "Main Street" but it is impacting our streets!

At the radio stations, we are doing everything we can to provide effective and affordable advertising programs to help "Main Street" get through the bumps in the road.

As one advertiser said to me, "It is important for me to keep my name out there, when the economy turns around, I want them to remember me".

I think that we as broadcasters have a responsibility to help where we can.

Why Radio Advertising Works For The Auto Industry

Paul Jacobs had a great post today about why the auto industry is making a big mistake shifting their ad dollars out of radio and into the Internet.

Paul asks....

"What's the best place to reach someone who needs a new car?" In their office? In their bedroom? On their phone?

He goes on to say....

"You can't read the newspaper when you drive. And you shouldn't watch TV. Or text. And for now, you don't have WiFi so that eliminates the Internet in your car. But radio owns the automobile, yet it's clear that the automakers haven't made this connection".

As much as things changes, traditional terrestrial radio still controls the car, just as it did in the early 1930's when it was introduced!

Read Paul's entire blog here:

I Downgraded! ... Save Money on Gas

Over the weekend I Downgraded! I downgraded from a six-cylinder Infiniti to a four-cylinder Honda. I could not be happier. It is a great car that is very fuel efficient. Hopefully, I will get around thirty miles per gallon on average as opposed to the twenty (which is not bad) that I get on my Infiniti.

Evidently, I'm not the only one making the switch. J.D. Power reports that the auto market is shifting and that "smaller rides", four-cylinder vehicles had one of their strongest months on record during June.

Conversely, "In contrast, sales of eight-cylinder vehicles dropped industry-wide to just 13 percent in June, driven in part by a shift to six cylinder powertrains in the large sedan market," the report noted.

Read about it here:

Cars with poor gas mileage are having a huge impact on media sellers. With gas prices well over four dollars per gallon, the cost of doing business is increasing exponentially. More fuel efficient cars are the way to go.

Although, not everyone is in a position to buy a car right now. Here's a tip to save on gas.

Tip: Sellers need to be smarter about the way that they plan their day and week.

Sellers should divide the market into four quadrants (North, South, East and West). Each day they should focus on one quadrant and see clients and prospects in that area. For example, on Monday they should focus on the West side of town and Tuesday they should be on the North Side etc. This will eliminate huge drive-times between appointments and eliminate the need to drive back and forth across town wasting time and money on gas.

I'm reminded of the Five P's of selling that my friend Bruce Olson the National Sales Manager at Sandusky Radio in Phoenix always used to talk about.

"Poor Planing Promotes Poor Performance"

In today's economy, poor planning costs you MONEY in more ways than one!

UPDATE 7/21/08: I just filled up for the first time (regular not premium) and I'm getting 28 miles per gallon. Very Excited!!!

Reality is Reality and it Works

I’m a simple guy and I admit that I love reality television shows. I first got hooked on them years ago when the Biography Channel was launched. In recent years I have been a big fan of the celebrity reality shows like The Osborne’s, Breaking Bonaduce, Run’s House, Rob and Big, Little People Big World, Growing up Gotti, MTV Cribs, Hogan Knows Best, Snoop Dog’s Fatherhood, Dog the Bounty Hunter, The Anna Nicole Show, Scott Baio is 45 and Single, Celebrity Rehab and my favorite, Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

Of the professional reality shows, I like Dr. 90210, Miami Ink, American Chopper, The Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers and Dirty Jobs.

Reality is huge. Just look at YouTube!

The one thing that all of these shows have in common for me is that in some way, shape or form, I can relate to almost each and every one of these people. We all have issues! They have the same issues, problems, joys and challenges that we have.

On a recent episode of Gene Simmons Family Jewels, the Simmon's dog Skippy runs away and the family is in a panic. Who can't relate to this? When you cut through it all, are these people really that different than us?

They might be rich and/or famous but other than that, they are just like us. Viewers can relate to that and I contend that is why these shows are popular. People, by nature are nosy too and they have a voyeuristic side to them. We like to peer into other peoples lives. Also, the shows are produced just like a soap opera. You get hooked and can’t wait until the next episode to see what happens. All of this is why I enjoy watching them.

In our business of radio, we are seeing an increase in testimonial commercials, or in today’s vernacular, “Reality” ads. A Reality ad is when you craft a commercial around interviews with customers and they speak about the GREAT experience that they had at a particular business. These ads work for the same reason that people enjoy watching reality shows. The listener can relate to the person giving the testimonial because it is a regular person just like them.

My friend Michael Crawford the General Manager/Partner of Peoria KIA is a master at this. He gets testimonials all the time from his customers. He puts the customers in his radio ads, TV ads and even includes them in his infomercials. Why? Because it works, and Michael can sell more cars because of it!

This is how it works.....

Suzy from Glendale hears the Peoria KIA ad on the radio with Tina in Tempe talking about how even with her bad credit Michael Crawford and Peoria KIA figured out how to get her into a new car and how nice the whole buying experience was. Suzy could relate to what she was hearing Tina say in the commercial, because she too has bad credit and furthermore, she was not treated so nice at another dealership because of that. So what does Suzy from Glendale do? She heads down to Peoria KIA to see if they can help her out of her credit jam and get her into a new car.

Reality/testimonial ads can work for any type of business, not just the automotive category. The one key to a reality ad is that it must be real and not contrived. The listener or viewer is to smart for that and can sniff out BS a mile a way.

So get real, It works!