Rich Hanks has a favorite among the more than 100 million customer surveys that Utah-based MindShare Technologies has gathered on behalf of its clients, in 25 industries in more than 125 countries.
"The clam chowder was lukewarm at best," said the customer in a phone survey, "and there were no clams to be found."
"Here’s why I like that one," said Hanks, chairman of MindShare of Murray. "More than anything else, it tells what we do."
What the 9-year-old company does is provide almost instant customer and employee feedback to businesses, which include Comcast, McDonald’s, Great Clips, Firestone, Arby’s and Hertz, and locally, Cafe Rio, Costa Vida and Gastronomy.
So in the case of the clam chowder call, Gastronomy (MindShare’s first client) had a new employee at one of its restaurants who had not been properly trained how to ladle soup into a bowl. The customer’s complaint was quickly forwarded to the manager, who then made sure the employee knew to stir the chowder before ladling in order to capture the clams that settle to the bottom. No more clamless clam chowder.
MindShare Technologies made Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 fast-growing companies in 2008, at 429. Since then, it has made the top 5,000 list, at 1,052, in 2009; 1,723 in 2010; and 2,559 in 2011. Its three-year growth rate from 2007 to 2010 was 91 percent, going from $7.1 million in 2007 to $13.6 million in 2010, according to figures the company supplied to Inc. Revenue in 2011 was $19 million, Hanks said.
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‘We could automate this’ » The tepid clam chowder complaint was among the first 300 that MindShare gathered after it was launched Nov. 15, 2002.
Founded by CEO John Sperry and Chief Technology Officer Kurt Williams, Sperry said the idea came to him shortly after the company in which he and Hanks were working closed down earlier that year, during the dot-com bust.
Casting about for a job, Sperry had lunch with a friend who ran a mystery shopping business. Mystery shopping companies contract with other businesses to send in people anonymously to buy products and test services. The Mystery Shoppers then fill out reports that go to the clients, who are looking for feedback on their operations.
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"He was telling me this, and I said, ‘And you do this by hand?’ " Sperry said. "He goes, ‘Well yeah, it’s a valuable service.’ That’s when the idea hit. We could automate this … and that’s when the idea of MindShare was born."
Hanks was the company’s first outside investor and joined MindShare as chairman and president in 2004. He retired as president last week but remains as chairman.
The company inhabits a space in the marketplace that had been dominated by mystery shopping companies for 70 years. Another traditional way of getting customer feedback had been placing comment cards on counters with a box where customers can deposit them.
MindShare founders believed that technology, and today particularly mobile devices, could deliver more and better customer feedback, quicker (nearly instantly) and throughout all levels of an organization.
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Finding the problem » But the path to becoming a viable company was rocky, Sperry said.
At one point early on, angel investors said the company couldn’t get the rest of its promised funds without changing the terms of their agreement, even though the company was negotiating a big agreement with Great Clips, the chain of hair care shops. MindShare owners met with workers and asked whether the company should negotiate for more money on new terms or have everyone go without pay in order to continue.
"They went without pay for six to nine months," Sperry said. "Some employees went without pay for up to 14 months."
Then the Great Clips contract came through, and other angel investors put in more funds.
Things have been smoother since.
MindShare’s clients solicit customer feedback in several ways. A call center may ask if the customer will take a survey at the end of a call. A restaurant can use the receipt to offer something free for participating or place a card posted at a table soliciting comments.
Georgette Vlangos, Costa Vida’s director of training and communication, said her company entices customers at its 39 restaurants in eight states to participate in the surveys with freebies such as chips and salsa.
Although customers are mostly uncomfortable giving feedback face-to-face, they are less reticent when they can take a survey on their phone or over the Web, she said.
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