Think of a research author, think of a great research presenter, think of a great researcher. And now think about someone who has given so much to this great industry. For me, when I do that exercise I have a list of four people. Included in that list is Bill Neal. In the eighties I remember going to a few conferences and seeing Bill present. I was mesmerized and frankly intimidated with his presentation style, depth of knowledge and big smile. I remember saying to myself that I hope that I can be half of the presenter that Bill Neal is – from the second he walked in a conference room he had total command of the group and had the respect from every attendee in the room.
It is with great pleasure and an honor that today’s interview is with Bill Neal.
MD
You have been in the market research industry for about 35 years. How did you first get started?
BN
That’s really a long story. But here’s the short version. When I graduated from Drexel in 1966, I was planning on a career in the military. After my second combat tour in Vietnam, to my utter surprise, the Army sent me to graduate school at Georgia Tech. The inside joke is that the Army probably felt I wasn’t ducking bullets too well, so maybe they could educate me. After two years at Tech, I found out that building statistical models and doing marketing research was a lot more fun then getting shot at. So another grad student and I started SDR. A year or so later, a third grad student, Dave Feldman, joined us, and Dave and I have been at it ever since.
I am sure that everyone who is reading this blog can think of a time where you either wanted a second chance or gave someone a second chance. I am sure there were times in high school where you asked your parents for a second chance. I am sure there were times were your company made an error and asked a client for a second chance.
I was having lunch with a co-worker, TA, and of course dropped off and my dry cleaning. A few days past and I went to pick up my clothes. I use the drop off service so I didn’t have a receipt. When I asked for my clothes she responded with “we don’t have clothes here for you.” When I questioned her again I got a look of disbelief like I had three heads and she was wondering if I heard her. Quickly she got a few more co-workers and they were chatting and two of them came over to me and responded with the same message “we don’t have clothes here for you.” Although I give them an “A” for having a consistent message, I knew they were wrong. I even described two of the shirts which were brand new and I have never worn. I gave them my cell phone and asked them to look around and give me a call.
So after losing clothes that I knew they lost, losing clothes that I didn’t know were missing, and charging me the wrong amount–what do I do? I thought long and hard about never using them again but they are very convenient. The one change I have made is now I ask for a receipt.
In September my son Justin started to play soccer. It was 3 on 3 co-ed soccer on a small field with no goalie. I was so excited that Justin was about to play a somewhat organized sport. When I was a kid I did play a number of sports but soccer wasn’t really popular so, I really never played organized soccer. I couldn’t wait to see him in action. If you haven’t seen 5-year-olds playing soccer, it is very funny and really cute. The ball goes to the left 6 people go to the left. The ball goes in the other direction and guess what… 6 kids (with smiles on their faces) go in that direction.
So today is the day of the big interview, the day that your life is going to change for the better. You have done all your homework on the company and feel very prepared for the interview. You know exactly where the company is located, (actually you took a dry run over the weekend to make sure) and there aren’t any traffic issues today. You put on your best interviewing suit and the rest is easy.
The good old days, when you went to your mailbox with that excited look on your face and reached in and pulled out stacks of mail. From time to time you would get a survey–a mail survey to fill out with a crisp $1 or $2 dollar bill. Some respondents loved the experience; some filled it out because they felt obligated because of the crisp bills that were sent to them. While others filled it out because they had interest in the product or service.
Eight of the top ten chose Harvard! Fourteen of the top twenty chose Harvard! All the students with the exception of two are attending colleges or universities in the northeast! That’s right 90% – yes I said 90% are attending schools in the northeast!
I will admit I do like watching a good football game on a Sunday afternoon or Monday night. The game will really keep my attention if the two teams are evenly matched and it is a high scoring event or one of my favorite teams is pounding another team.
Brian’s Song, Remember the Titans, and Rudy are my three favorites, with Brian’s Song topping the list. I still get all choked up watching Brian’s Song. Growing up I lived in Chicago for a very short time and really liked the Bears. In fact my favorite player of all time is Walter Payton. The synergy between the actors who play Brian Piccolo (James Caan) and Gale Sayers (Billie Dee Williams) is special… in fact very special. I love the cinematography and enjoy how the director weaved in real footage into the movie. For me, I could really feel how much the two players cared for each other and Gale Sayers was deeply sad when Brian Piccolo become ill.
I am confident that every guy has said to his significant other one of these phrases:
After reviewing Kelly’s website and marketing materials I was very surprised on most of the data but found the information absolutely fascinating.
They say the greatest form of flattery is to quote someone. So today let’s flatter some writers of movies. Often when I am presenting at a conference I will toss in a movie quote to drive home a point. I really like using movie quotes because they can break up a speech and often the audience can relate to the point through the movie. There are so many movies and so many great quotes.
Growing up in Boston, you don’t root for the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact you root against them, their players, and their owner and hope that when they came to Boston once a year my beloved Celtics would put on a show for the world to see and “kick some butt.” Growing up, those games were always on the biggest stage–on national TV many times prior to the Super Bowl.
