tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, first a conversation david power iii, better known as the founder of a power and associates, pioneer conducting consumer satisfaction research on automobiles, and in the process just about transform the entire industry. then we turned to a conversation with singer lani hall alpert. we are glad you have joined us. those conversations coming up right now.

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: jd power and associates --t about revolution dies revolutionized how consumers buy cars. he may be industry sit up and take notice. the man who devised this breakthrough marketing business is james david power iii. a new biography has just been

published about him. have you, and honor to on this program. >> thank you for having me. tavis: i feel like i know you. we have never met, but i see your name in your work all over the place. i was just saying i was on two planes yesterday and walking the jde jet bridge i saw power ranking in they were bragging about their on-time bridge, andone jet in another bragging about customer service. it might have started with automobiles, but you do this for so many different industries. you're were telling me that you actually sought out lobbying industries. to comethey asked us and provide the same type of information we were doing for the automobile industry, and it just grew and grew. >> how does it feel to have people not really seeking your

opinion, because you are getting the opinion of customers for them, but there's something about your brand that they value so much that they want you to do the research for them? >> i think it's because of our independence. showhat we don't favorites, we just show the facts, and let the facts determine themselves. tavis: over these years, how have you maintained that independence? i can give a litany of examples of people who started out that way, and then somewhere along the way they got compromised. >> yes, we had to really work at it, and remember, it took us 30 years to finally get the brand image we needed. tavis: what were the biggest obstacles to getting that rant image over those three decades

-- that brand image? the automobile industry was production driven, and the people in charge were those that and it wasduction, very difficult for them to do independent market research. it was always geared to what they felt the management wanted to hear. and i worked in that industry thomas so i knew what it was like. i left detroit to get out of the automobile business and ended up in california. point, i said i'm going to do it myself, and that's the way we got -- looked at it. tavis: there are number of stories in the book, what do you

recall as one or two of the significant breakthroughs where the brand is concerned that let you know that this brand had the power -- no pun intended -- to be relevant? several things happened over the years. when we first started, we started working for one car company, which was toyota, and it took time to get through to the japanese executives. we had a little stonewalling by their american counterparts. that was the first one. the second one was when we were doing an independent survey for the mazda rotary engine. results to project all the manufacturers.

mazda didn't buy it, but 14 others did, and before we knew it, one of them released it to the wall street journal, against , and i got a call from the wall street journal in detroit. he started going through the report. hope you would entertain using my press release on this study so that you have a balanced picture. he said ok, get it to me right away, and we did. and that was my first press release. [laughter] tavis: and the rest is history. i have always wondered -- i want to get into the book of bit more and just walk us through the lessons you have learned along the way.

we know what jd power does as a company, but am curious as to the lessons you've learned as a manager and entrepreneur down through these years. process that jd power and associates isn't just a company, it is your given name , and it seems to me there is a lot riding on you as an individual. when you pull out your credit card and make a reservation somewhere, navigate through the world when there is that kind of expectation and credibility and integrity is wrapped all up in your given name. >> yes, it is. but i would say 80% of the people think that it's a phony name, there's no such guy as jd .ower, and even today what we did was, we emphasized the trophy that we give out as

the brand. tavis: right. stay inhat way i could the background. i did not want to favor any one manufacturer over another. so we had to remain independent and say it like it is. tavis: that must make it difficult when you are pulling out of the garage in the morning to figure out what car you want to drive. they are like, what is jd power driving? i don't drive -- i'm not a car nut. i'm more of a statistician and analyzer. i currently drive a mercury murata, and it is 11 years old now, and i only have 50,000 miles on it. tavis: you sound

like war and buffet. you don't like new cars and you don't like to drive the ones you have. >> i always try to drive a car was perhaps being on the bottom of our list. i had an oldsmobile diesel, i think you remember that fiasco. audi when they had the unintended acceleration, i got that model. get it, but why is it so important for you to drive a car at the bottom of the list? >> everyone thought i would be driving a lexus or bmw or , and it dawned on me that i should not be driving one of those vehicles, because that was getting -- those were

getting the top ratings. so i purposely would buy one that wasn't rated very high. 1982, theyback in asked me to drive it. of course it was on the very low end of the ratings in those days, and i drove that and had an accident -- not an accident, but i was driving to the airport and the engine stopped. i pulled over on the side, and i missed the flight. toot on the next flight washington, d.c., where all the and thees were meeting, head of jaguar saw me come in. of ased the better part

cocktail party, but i got there in time for that. he said dave, how is the jaguar running? [laughter] i said, it isn't. and i had never seen anyone's in front of all his competitors. tavis: i like the way you did that, though. the way you decided which car you're going to drive. obviously you're taking your life in your hands driving a car at the bottom of the list. >> i didn't drive a yugo, though. tavis: that is your own sort of him. goal data for the company. >> i wanted to set the standards for my staff. my family, my wife doing a lot of the work, and we put the children to work, too.

they were in their way pre- teens, and the four of them would help mail out the questionnaires, stuffed the envelopes, put a quarter incentive on it, and so forth. then we started getting more and more business, so we started , and we called all of them associates. jd power and associates. everyone was an associate, even the janitor. tavis: it's a great way to run a company. i time with you is up. i could do this for hours. let me just highlight, if i can, a number of things in the top 10 list that mr. power had a things he has learned in business along the way. true tohe list is stay your values. i love number five, have

empathy, be kind. the world seems to be lacking these days in infancy. i love number two, remember who the client is. it is amazing to me that in this world that is so driven by customers, driven by consumers, that some companies still don't get it about listening to the client, listening to the customer, the consumer. it seems basic enough, but people still don't seem to get that all the time. >> right, you have to keep emphasizing it. in it's changed dramatically the 40, 50 years i've been involved. i think that one thing i want to point out is that the customers improve thers quality, the customers expectations increased as well. it is an unending battle for the thatcers to understand when you raise expectations, you

have to meet them. it's an ongoing change that's going throughout our whole industry. tavis: and we have you to thank for all that. [laughter] if you are one of those persons whites so many others who thinks that -- one of those persons like so many others who think that jd power isn't really a person, jd power is a real person, and he sits in front of us tonight. there's a new book out about his experience in over these years of experience and lessons he has learned. i have only scratched the surface. i think you will enjoy reading it. mr. power, and honor to have you on the program. nice to meet you. >> thank you for having me. i want to thank the consumers that filled out the questionnaires, millions of them over the years. that's why i wrote the book. tavis: let to have you on, and

it was our honor to have filled them out. i have done one or two of them in my life. ask did you keep the quarter? tavis: yes i did, absolutely. coming up, a conversation with singer-songwriter loni hall alpert. tavis: grammy-winning singer loni hall alpert began writing songs over 40 member -- 40 years ago when she was a member of sergio mendes and his group. she has gone on to record dozens of albums with her husband of 40 years, herb alpert. continued writing prose as well as lyrics and now onto memoirs.ries and good to have you on this program. click such a pleasure to see you. i didn't know that you

were a writer of short stories. i knew you wrote lyrics and stuff. >> just for 30 years. [laughter] tavis: i am slow catching on. forand when did this start you, the idea of writing short stories? >> well, i always wrote. i wrote your extended points and in the early 80's, i started writing short stories. come rain or come shine was the first short story that i wrote. i really enjoy the process. i would write a story and put it in my drawer, and write another story and keep putting them in my drawer. i really wasn't thinking of what to do with the stories until about a year and a half ago, a friend of mine was sick, and i thought that she might like a story that a wrote about me being sick. so i gave it to her, and she was so encouraging to me that in inspired me to re-examine what i had written and try to put them together.

writing thevered narrative that connects all the stories, it made sense to me. that was kind of the clincher for me. you describeuld the distinct difference for you from writing songs and recs and short stories? well, my song lyrics are more abstract. sometimes i can hear one of the songs i wrote. i'm not exactly sure what i'm trying to say here. [laughter] but they are pretty abstract. the short stories are not abstract. there is a little give in there when it comes to ambiguity and was thelly happened, character dreaming or did she really murder someone? mix fiction and reality. >> yes, i do. and i enjoyed that.

it gave me an opportunity to pieces of myself in the fictional stories, and it was exciting to me to have these conversations with these characters and see where they were going. it's very much like singing jazz. , and iry improvisational just kind of let the story take me. tavis: why just pieces? gone full force in one direction. >> i did in three stories and in the narrative. there are seven short stories that are fiction. i just played around with it. tavis: the first story, when i got into a couple of days ago, it was clear to me pretty quickly that chicago, your characteris as much a in your work as is the other living, breathing individuals that you write in as characters. that the lighta

, andicago was so specific so locked in me until i started writing about it. i was very surprised to write so much about chicago. i wasn't that conscious of it having such an effect on me in my life. tavis: positive or negative? >> very positive. i really kind of adopted the city as a family, and those buildings meant something to me. the strength of those buildings with the wind whipping them, day day, but they still day, but t. it was inspiring for me to see and to be around, and the architecture, the trees, the constant season changes, the

changes in the city. it was dependable for me. when did you make the that you had written enough of these to string them together for a text? >> when i started writing the narrative, and i realized that i could relate all the narrative to each story, and it just came piece, thisthis single piece. it just felt like it was finished. tavis: i'm curious, do you see yourself now as a writer, or are expressions?ni's because, if you see yourself as a writer, then i suspect there may be for this to come -- more of this to come.

>> there is that aspect, it is about getting it out of me, or else they just keep winding around in their, and this is a way to release them. .ut i've always written singing and writing have been best friends to me, and so i can't really imagine not doing that. what does the writing specifically -- we talked about your singing before, but what does the writing do for you, when you say they are two of your best friends, what do you get out of that friendship? >> well, i get a lot of nurturing, and i get understanding. they both listened to me. writing is very much like singing. when i sing a song, i see the lyric in front of me. i can see it visually.

when i write, it's like i'm watching a movie, and i'm just writing what i'm seeing. tees these ghosts -- empties these ghosts that walk around inside of me, and part of it is the imagination that i inherited. you know, i have a very vivid imagination and an active mind. so it is moving all the time. tavis: that always helps for a writer. you suggested a moment ago that as of your friend, the writings listen to you. do they ever speak to you? >> the writings verify what i'm thinking. i don't really know fully how i feel about something until i'm either singing about it or writing about it, and then i understand it more. conclusion,to the and that's exciting. tavis: in the time i have left,

i'm going to put you on the spot and ask you to pick one of these and just tell me about it. pick one of these short stories that is especially meaningful and talk to me about the story. that the first story that comes to mind is "inland," which is the last story in the book. most of the stories in the book or about women who just can't continue doing what they've always done, and they just don't know how to define themselves anymore. they don't know how to find their truth and find their own voice. this last story, which is about me being sick, having epstein- barr virus in the 1990s and having to stop singing, and what that was like, and also i had breast implants that i felt were

making me sick, and then i had them removed, without anesthesia. [laughter] that the was so afraid anesthesia would start a whole other problem in me. but that story comes to mind, because in that story, i find my voice. i find my truth. i started asking myself, instead of all the stockers, what's wrong with me him and how can you help me? no one could, so i started to ask myself, and i started to get answers. to me, it was a very hopeful time in a very dark place. so that's one of the stories. tavis: is it your hope or your expectation that people will be able to situate themselves in your narrative? start ofvery writer wants that.

>> sure, i think that is why every artist does what they do, to connect. that connection is everything. that's the whole purpose. tavis: >> the book is called loco emotional memoirs and short stories." a wonderful collection. i think you will be able to situate yourself in the narrative. , congratulations, and i suspect we may see yourself in the future with another one of these. tell her we said hello. .hat's our show for tonight thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation with oscar-winning film composer hans zimmer whose voice can be heard on "12 years a slave."

that is next time. we will see you then. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. >> be more. pbs.e:

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