This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.

If I owned a business, I would want to know immediately if a customer was dissatisfied with my product, my service or my employees. Mindshare Technologies of Salt Lake City provides top companies across the world with valuable real-time customer feedback.

While some companies hire "mystery shoppers" to pose as customers and file lengthy reports on their shopping experience, Mindshare executives believe the most effective feedback comes from genuine customers. CEO John Sperry and President and Chairman Richard Hanks formulated a simple survey to collect business feedback from these customers.

When patrons make a purchase at a retail establishment, their receipt is printed with instructions on how to take a survey from a touchtone phone or on the Web. I recently left a fine Salt Lake City restaurant and noticed a request on my receipt to call the number. I was promised a free dessert on my next visit if I completed the short survey.

Customers rate both the product and service using their phones or the Internet. Voice comments can be captured directly from a Web browser. Reports are updated immediately so management can incorporate customer insights directly into their operations.

Richard Hanks explained to me that Mindshare's system is called Connect and that's exactly what it does — it connects frontline employees directly with customers. He told me about an incident where a restaurant received several real-time customer surveys complaining of no clams in their clam chowder. The store manger was able to fix the problem the next morning by having servers stir the soup before serving individual bowls. Why? Because clams sink to the bottom of the pot. One minor change made a huge difference to the business.

Mindshare Technologies' feedback system has been used by local companies as well as major hotel and restaurant chains and other international corporations.

For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.

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