I just returned from a long weekend of combined business and pleasure.  It is always interesting to notice how different organizations treat their customers.  Most of the time it is obvious that the way customers are treated by front-line staff is reflective of both the information they are given about customers and how they have been trained to use that information.  I’ll share with you some of my “Dreams” and “Nightmares” from my recent trip to San Francisco and the nearby Napa and Sonoma

Case #1—Marriott ClubSport (DREAM) The staff mantra was, “I’m delighted…” More importantly, they really were delighted to help with everything we needed…at least I believed they were and isn’t that what really counts? From the easy check-in to the dining service to sending a driver to rescue me halfway across town after the trolley driver mistakenly recommended I disembark at the wrong stop, the staff was gracious, friendly and “delighted” to go the extra mile. Everyone I encountered was smiling. Probably the most telling moment came when I found myself far from where I needed to be (and 30 minutes from when I needed to be there). I called the hotel with a combination of embarrassment and distress, explained my situation and gave them the address of the building where I stood. After just a few minutes the hotel shuttle driver called back to let me know he was on his way. He arrived and quickly escorted me to my destination. During the drive, I realized that I had not planned for appropriate tipping cash.  I asked his name and explained that I would have to drop a tip at the desk upon returning to my room. “Don’t worry about it,” he said sincerely and with a smile, “I enjoyed getting out of the hotel on such a beautiful day. I should tip you.” Of course, he did get that tip.  Customer Service Grade=A

Case #2—Bungalows 313 (NIGHTMARE) Right from the start this visit wasn’t going well, which honestly is a surprise as smaller enterprises generally provide better customer service due to their smaller staff. We arrived at the quaint bungalows and followed the signs to the office. When asked about dinner reservations, the woman in the office said she could use Open Table to make them. When I said I, too, had an account and could I put the reservations in my name to earn points she said no. Then she and the other woman in the office proceeded to argue about how the one was “stealing” Open Table points from the other. The argument ended when the second woman walked out the door and told us to follow her to our room. The door opened to a musty smell and although the room was clean (except for the slug I found crawling down the bathroom wall the next morning and the refrigerator that leaked water on the floor) things sort of went downhill from there. Because the dinner reservation was not in our name, the restaurant could not find it and therefore was unable to accommodate our original reservation time. We ended up waiting another half hour. The hostess came to our table halfway through dinner to apologize and to say that this sort of thing happened all the time with Bungalows 313 because they insisted on making the reservations using their name/log-in on Open Table. The next morning I was disappointed yet again when what was touted on the website as an “en-suite gourmet European breakfast” turned out to be two muffins in a tin bucket left hanging on the doorknob sometime after 9AM.  Customer Service Grade=C-

Case #3—Southwest Airlines (DREAM and NIGHTMARE) I travel on Southwest a lot and usually have found the staff to be excellent. This held true on my trip to San Francisco, through

When we arrived in Phoenix, a rainstorm had the airport in full-on chaos mode. A glance at the Departures screen showed that our flight was still scheduled to depart one hour after our arrival but that it was “Subject to ATC delays.”  Several other flights were already showing delays. Signs at our departure gate were still showing a flight that had been scheduled to leave an hour before our flight but was now delayed. We decided to ask the staff member at the desk if there were any updates. She informed us, in a tone not becoming a Southwest employee, that our flight was still ‘on time.’ She did this without so much as a look in the computer. Given our now expected short layover, we grabbed take out and returned to the gate. We waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally we returned to the gate desk and asked if there had been any updates (it was now about 30 minutes past our scheduled departure). There were now two staff members behind the desk. The original staff member again informed us our flight was “on time” without checking the computer. When asked how the flight could be “on time” 30 minutes after it was to have departed she did not respond. Instead, the other staff member checked the computer and informed us that our flight had been delayed an hour and a half.  Customer Service Grade (to San Francisco)=A, (from San Francisco)=D

With the earlier than ever start to the Primary season, I got to thinking about the future of political polling.  As a polling company, The MSR Group uses a traditional telephone methodology when contacting registered voters in a given state.  Based on the current environment and voter populations, I believe that for the current Presidential election the methodology is still valid…but what about for the next one?

In other survey research, we have already seen a drop in the number of young people (under 25) we can reach by traditional land line.   Anecdotally, it seems that cell phones are replacing land lines among this generally more mobile population.  Several of my younger co-workers use only cell phones.  When my daughter moved into her college dorm she didn’t even bother to learn the phone number to the room.  Now that she has moved off-campus to an apartment she again has forgone the land line and sticks with her cell phone exclusively.

However,  in reading other research related to the land line vs cell phone only dilemma, I have found conflicting evidence.  Many homeowners feel a land line is necessary.  That feeling appears to increase substantially in households with young children.

My question to you is this:  Is the lack of a land line a function of lifestyle that will change as lifestyle changes or are the under-25s early adopters who will continue to avoid land lines even when they buy a home and start families?

The answer will be of utmost importance to telephone researchers and anyone who uses telephone research.  Please let me know your thoughts.  If you have research you’d like to share, please send that along as well.

The other day I started thinking about the popularity of blogs and web communities like myspace and Facebook. Most of us are social beings. We love to connect with one another and share our personal stories.

I started to wonder if there would be people out there in cyberspace who would be willing to keep a journal or answer questions about topics of interest to researchers. Perhaps we should start a journaling group on our site. We could ask consumers to keep a journal of say, their food purchasing, banking or health care experiences over a specific period of time—maybe one month. Then, we would analyze the journals and provide insight to marketers.

It is sort of like a focus group, only on a quantitative scale and over a longer period of time. A reality show without the hidden cameras. Let me know what you think about the idea.