Choosing a Mystery Shopping Provider can seem like a daunting task. There are many to choose from who all seem to offer more or less the same services. What are the best criteria to use when making your choice? Are there specific points to consider? Of course there are. Here are the top five mistakes many companies make when choosing a provider.
1. Conducting an RFP
In this case, the company turns over the job of choosing a provider to purchasing. Why not? They buy supplies, negotiate deals, handle vendors. But this is different. Purchasing does not have the necessary background and understanding of the mystery shopping process to take on this task. Your mystery shopping program, when done correctly, will literally touch every person in your organization AND your customers. This isn’t the same as purchasing pens in bulk or negotiating a maintenance contract. Most programs with high turnover rates are ones in which RFP’s are involved. Bottom line? Some things are just too important to leave to an RFP”¦your mystery shopping program is one of them.
2. Going with the lowest price
As the saying goes, “the cheapest option is the most expensive.” Check for hidden costs, upfront fees and changes to reports and management structure. Sometimes, the lowest cost alternative will end up costing more in money and headaches than you ever imagined.
3. Over Emphasis on Reporting Capabilities
Great reports are nice, but all of that pretty data means nothing if it is not “good data.” Do not be fooled by fancy reporting. What really counts is data integrity and a provider that not only collects that data correctly, but can show you how to apply it to achieve the improvements you’re going for.
4. Being wowed by claims of hundreds of thousands of shoppers.
As is true in other areas of life, it is quality, not quantity that counts. Hundreds of thousands of shoppers can sound impressive, but it doesn’t speak to how those customers feel about your products and services and what kinds of interactions are taking place with your frontline staff.
Hot tip: Your mystery shopping provider should be able to cover all primary, secondary and tertiary areas with qualified shoppers. Additionally, they should have a process in place for tracking shopper performance, and should be able to tell you about each shopper’s talent for adhering to stated guidelines.
5. Not checking ALL references
Will your potential provider allow you to call other clients besides the ones they offer as references? If not, this is something serious to consider. What are they hiding?
When speaking with the provider’s clients, find out how long they’ve been with that provider. Big retail names may have an influence on you, but a long-standing, loyal client list is far more impressive. Any provider can pull it together long enough to build a short term client list.
