Mystery shopping programs are an excellent way to measure frontline staff performance, recognize those who are providing stellar customer service and uncover potential services issues that need improvement before they become big headaches. However, a mystery shopping program can be sunk before it even starts due to misaligned expectations.
One of the Most Frequently Asked Questions that I hear about setting up a mystery shopping program deals with, “What should the frequency be? Should we choose once a day, once a week, once a month, or once a quarter?” My answer is always the same: it depends on your program goals and your budget. Let’s face it- all retailers want to meet or even exceed their goals, but not all have the budget to support daily or even weekly programs. So while my standard answer to the Most Frequently Asked Question may sound overly broad, it’s actually based on what I like to call the principle of “Maximization vs. Optimization.”
If you’re using surveys to measure employee behaviors, are you asking the right kinds of questions? Are your questions objective or subjective? When it comes to mystery shopping surveys, how you ask is almost more important than what you ask. Mystery shoppers provide objective observation, as opposed to subjective opinion (customer satisfaction surveys). Asking objective questions will deliver more consistent, measurable results. This approach also provides clear, actionable training indications, helping associates to understand which behaviors need to be modified to improve scores, and ultimately, business results.
Further proof that the scope and advantage of mystery shopper programs extends well beyond that of a perfunctory customer service evaluation is their effectiveness as a tool for conducting competitive audits - and for building a body of competitive intelligence that can be used to inform your own product, staffing and service-based decisions as well as long-term strategic development.
Have you ever had the experience of going online to order something, only to discover the web site wants to play Twenty Questions before you can complete your transaction? Frustrating, isn’t it?
We’ve often talked before about the components that make for a stellar mystery shopping program. In my May 31, 2007 blog, Five Mistakes Companies Make When Choosing a Mystery Shopping Provider, I talked about the importance of choosing a provider who offers quality, trained shoppers:
” 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.”
Can you imagine what it would be like if your mystery shopping company sent the same person to your store every month? It wouldn’t be long before your frontline staff would catch on, and the effectiveness of your program would be lost.
That’s exactly what happened to a bank in Vermont. Everyone in the bank knew who the mystery shopper was, because the same person came in month after month. Not only did this completely defeat the program, but it turned the concept of mystery shopping into something of a joke among employees.
So the bank decided to change providers, with these two goals in mind:
• Find a mystery shopping provider who could provide shoppers who seemed like regular customers.
• Gather reliable and accurate data on employees’ abilities to provide high level service.
If you walked out of your office to find your building burning down, would you grab the first extinguisher or call 911? Similarly, if your company’s revenue is decreasing exponentially, staff turnover is high, your reputation is sinking, and you’re dreaming in red ink, are you going to blame it on your mystery shopping program? Some companies do.
What was it that Shakespeare said….”a rose by any other name would smell as sweet?”
William might be surprised to know that his famous line also applies to mystery shopping. The term itself still strikes terror in the hearts of frontline staff. But how did mystery shopping, such a productive growth strategy for so many excellent companies, get such a bum rap in the first place?
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.
While some people may say retail is retail, there’s actually a marked difference between outlet stores and traditional retail stores in terms of traffic, customer relationships and frontline staff performance.
The typical outlet shopper isn’t as much interested in assistance from staff as they are in finding the good bargains. They’re more willing to search through merchandise for good deals and don’t expect to receive the same level of personal attention as when shopping in a retail location.
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