If you already have a mystery shopping program, you are actively working to improve your business. But, do you really know if your mystery shopping program is being implemented effectively? Are you maximizing its potential to improve your business?
When it comes to measuring the Customer Experience, many organizations have preconceived ideas about what does and doesn’t work. Let’s look at some of these common Customer Experience Management problems and learn how each one can present a unique set of issues to the retailer.
What has Best Buy changed about the way they provide great service to their customers that has put them in such a enviable position? The article continues, “Analysts say Best Buy is executing well on all fronts. Its rapid expansion and earlier investments in its Geek Squad tech support service and high-end Magnolia home theater segment – all part of its “customer centricity” strategy – are paying off.”
It’s the first in the industry, and David Rich’s new blog, Mystery Shopping Matters, is already a valuable tool for retailers who have or are considering having mystery shopping programs.
Rich, President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services, created Mystery Shopping Matters, located at www. mysteryshoppingmatters.com, as a forum for retailers to discuss how to use the data they’ve collected through mystery shopping and make their profits grow.
“What’s most exciting about Mystery Shopping Matters is that it’s the first forum of its kind in the industry to cater exclusively to end users,” Rich said. “Until now, retailers had no tools to learn how to improve their programs beyond their current provider. We’ll use the blog to help them turn information into income.”
In addition, Rich has also made his content available in podcast form on iTunes. In the future, these podcasts will expand to include interviews with other industry experts who will share valuable insider perspectives on driving revenue with mystery shopping data. For more information visit www.mysteryshoppingmatters.com.
Customer service is like fat. Everyone talks about it, but no one seems to want to really do anything about it. With the exception of star performers like Starbucks, Whole Foods, Talbots, etc., we have, by and large, come to accept poor service in almost every industry as a fact of life.
That’s why my biggest frustration in this business is the lack of foresight on the part of most organizations when it comes to spending money and time on what really matters. Great service is no accident. Money and time are the two key ingredients needed to take your organization from providing good service to hitting a home run with GREAT service. But it requires a long-term commitment of time and an investment of money to truly change your corporate culture and begin to see measurable results.
Most customers who have unsatisfactory experiences will not complain…they will just never come back.Shopping programs can identify areas of training that need improvement and can identify areas of training that are working particularly well.
As I’ve mentioned, mystery shopping is beset by myths and mischaracterizations that lead many companies to draw inaccurate conclusions on what mystery shopping is and what benefits it can provide for them.
But in my view, if you’re not using a mystery shopping program ““ or if you’re not using the one you have to full advantage ““ you could overlooking a powerful competitive weapon.
Think about your last restaurant meal. Chances are you remember what you ate, who you were with and whether or not your server was pleasant. And if your service was slow or less than satisfactory, you’ll probably remember that, too. (In most instances, people remember bad customer service more than good customer service.)
Good businesses are always measuring progress – - sometimes in the unlikeliest instances. Years ago, retail magnate Marshall Field was walking through the original store that bears his name in Chicago. In doing so, he overheard a clerk arguing with a customer.
He stopped and asked: “What are you doing?”
The clerk answered: “I’m settling a complaint.”
Field shot back: “No, you’re not. Give the lady what she wants.”
Marshall Field, a notorious “floorwalker” at his landmark store, was way ahead of his time. He knew that giving customers “what they want” is the heart and soul of any commercial enterprise. He also knew that the key to boosting both his company brand and his bottom line was by constantly measuring progress, not just as a customer service barometer, although that’s obviously critical to any company’s success.
In businesses that are constantly trying to attract and keep a faithful clientele measuring customer satisfaction has become a barometer for success. Understanding a customer’s experience in a store””whether it is a service station, food market, clothing store, or bookseller– in relation to satisfaction with the product, store, workers, and other elements, can be assessed via various tools. The common triumvirate of customer satisfaction indicators is composed of mystery shoppers, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Web surveys, and customer focus groups. Alone each of these tools offers a unique perspective on customer satisfaction. Taken and analyzed together they create a total picture of the customer experience.
A long-held misconception exists that mystery shoppers supply businesses with information similar to that drawn from ordinary customer feedback. In fact, mystery shoppers provide a much different service, especially to those businesses aiming to be among the “best-in-class” within their industry. When used in combination with customer feedback, mystery shoppers are very powerful in helping businesses achieve their customer service objectives ““ which ultimately are responsible for driving revenue by keeping customers satisfied and wanting to return.
Customer feedback, typically obtained through customer feedback mechanisms, such as interactive voice response surveys (IVR), allows companies to define their own unique brand of customer services that answers the demands of their markets. Mystery shoppers, on the other hand, help to ensure the proper implementation of these customer service strategies through ongoing self-evaluation and troubleshooting. By taking an unbiased, qualitative measurement of a store’s operational habits, mystery shoppers can pinpoint which revenue-generating behaviors need to be reinforced with employees, allowing the company to respond accordingly ““ whether it is additional training, policy modification or even employee admonition.
For example, while a regular shopper can tell you whether or not their experience was pleasant, they are not likely to report how quickly the sales associate greeted, whether the sales associate suggested additional merchandise, and if the correct merchandise was displayed. Mystery shoppers are equipped with a pre-determined set of criteria from which to evaluate a store’s ability to execute its own unique customer service model. It is through mystery shopping that a company can find out exactly where it falls short and where it excels.
1. Correlate to other initiatives like C-Sat.
2. Post shops at the store.
3. Develop a diagnostic tool to help turn a "no" into a "yes."
4. Randomly shop a 10% sample. This way locations are always on their toes, even after a shop is completed.
5. With caution, make part of the compensation plan (there is a right and wrong way to do this).
6. Shop the competition. Nothing gets your team more motivated then seeing what "the other guy" does better than you.
