I had a car accident last week. I was stopped at a traffic light when a landscaping truck pulling a piece of heavy equipment plowed into the rear of my car. I was on my way to a funeral so it was the perfect end to what was already a bad day.

Company 1: Unnamed

After making my way home after the accident, I called my insurance company. I received a recorded message before a person got on the line asking if I would participate in a survey following my interaction. My company specializes in cross-channel marketing, and we have to develop questions for respondents who visit Web pages in order to respond to a direct marketing initiative. Hoping to turn the terrible experience of my accident into a learning opportunity, I volunteered to take the survey. I looked forward to comparing their process to one of ours and perhaps even uncovering a best practice that we could incorporate into our projects.