Companies who use mystery shopping programs to boost productivity and revenue often incentivize employees who attain good results. After all, mystery shopping goals are met by people, and people enjoy being rewarded for a job well done. There’s nothing inherently wrong with rewarding top performers, and it can certainly go a long way towards motivating other employees as well. To be effective, however, incentives must be awarded correctly, and that begins with analyzing the data.

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Many times, market research departments are put in charge of finding a mystery shopping vendor. Marketing often requires extensive reporting, because they look at things from their viewpoint. However, in the end, it is the stores and the store management team
(the District & Regional Managers) who have to use the information. Report overkill can actually hinder their effectiveness.

Having 100 reports to choose from, and access to a big bank of data you can slice and dice a million ways, might seem like it would be helpful. But at the end of the day, is that really going to change staff behaviors and drive results at the store level?

My suggestion is to keep things simple. A few targeted reports with meaningful, useable data (like basic trending and top opportunities) is enough for most management levels. If market research needs multiple reports, it can certainly be accomplished. But be careful not to get so bogged down in gathering data that the rest of the organization is hindered.

“Less is More’ is the buzzword when it comes to reporting. Gathering lots of different data might seem useful, but in the end, things can get messy and the ability to use data to effect any real frontline staff change is minimized. If marketing wants reports, they can have them. Help managers do their very best on the floor by providing the targeted data they really need.

Mystery shopping is an excellent way to uncover whether your efforts at sales training are effective. While finding a quality vendor to implement the right mystery shopping program can be a daunting task, choosing a vendor with specific experience in your industry will likely yield more positive results. If the mystery shopping vendor you’re considering is a member of a marketing research association, they may be the specialists you’re looking for. Certainly, membership in the Mystery Shopping Providers Association is key.

A big mistake some institutions are making is using existing customers to serve as mystery shoppers. The last few years have seen this trend, because it is a less expensive option. But this method has drawbacks. How would a customer evaluate an employee’s sales skills if that customer does not know how the company has trained its employees to sell? If real customers are used to evaluate employee performance, how does the company ensure those customers can make fair comparisons, or even possess the background needed to evaluate employees? How can the company prevent ‘popularity’, or personal likes and dislikes, from coloring the opinions of customers? Overall, the opinions of customers are far too subjective, whereas professional mystery shoppers understand exactly what to look for and how to report on that measurable criteria.

Additionally, a good mystery shopping program should ‘fit’ your corporate culture. The program that might work for a bank would likely fail for a grocery store. Questionnaires used to evaluate employees must reflect the goals and objectives of that culture. Some companies are more concerned with compliance, whereas others are more interested in pure customer service.

Bringing employees in on the process of designing a mystery shopping program is crucial for its success. A training program, wherein employees are briefed on what will take place and receive instructions on how to meet the program’s criteria, is important. Managers must take the program seriously as well if they expect employees to do the same. When employees know rewards and recognition will be available to them for meeting the program’s standards, employee motivation to comply will be high.

Do your homework when choosing your mystery shopping provider to find the best fit. David Rich, President of ICC Decision Services, explains, “ICC/DS offers clients a coordinated single source partnership for all CEM measurement needs. Our comprehensive portfolio of custom designed management tools can measure all aspects of the customer experience from mystery shopping and competitive shops to customer satisfaction surveys, employee surveys, and compliance audits. Our expert professional staff monitors multiple input data streams to help our clients maintain a competitive edge in today’s marketplace. And our top management team is fully engaged and meets frequently with clients to provide insight, recommendations and share industry best practices.”

How can mystery shopping help you give customers what they want? Here are 6 tips to get you started:

1. Long-term employees are an asset- Regular customers are often more comfortable dealing with employees they recognize, especially if they have a problem or a grievance. The best mystery shopping programs encourage excellence, rewarding motivated employees to continue doing a good job, and feeling proud of their customer service skills.

2. Encourage customer loyalty- Good service is great, but a coupon toward the next purchase is better. Teaching staff how to speak with customers and encourage future sales can really boost your bottom line. And mystery shopping can be a wonderful training and teaching tool to accomplish this goal.

3. Keep your word-If you say you are going to do something for a customer, follow through. Employees who are trained to understand store policies and procedures are better equipped to deal with daily issues effectively. Mystery shopping can accurately assess how well your frontline staff is doing.

4. Treat Your Customer as if he/she is the best- How your employees feel about working for your company begins at the top. Motivated employees who value teamwork create a store atmosphere shoppers love. Happy shoppers stay longer and spend more money. A good mystery shopping program can uncover where your store is weakest and strongest. Fix what’s wrong. Reward what’s right. Watch your sales soar.

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With so much attention given to customer service, is it getting any better? Apparently retailers still have a long way to go.

A new report from Yankelovich, Consumers in Control: Customer Service in the Age of Consumer Empowerment, highlights the exasperation customers continue to feel about poor customer service. Here are some facts:
• 27% are even willing to pay just to have their needs met. And customers who don’t find what they want in one place will simply move on to the next place, making the customer experience an integral part of brand loyalty.
• 62% believe staff “don’t care much” about customer needs. That’s a high number. More frightening, only two years ago that number was 52%.
• 66 % believe companies would rather sell existing products instead of offering items that address the customer’s lifestyle and needs. In 2004, this figure was just 58%.

People are getting it. And stores that refuse to care about customer service simply won’t survive over the long haul. What can retailers do to turn the tide? Mystery shopping is one pivotal tool in turning things around for some retailers who believe they are offering what the customer wants, but aren’t seeing that reflected in their bottom line.

A mystery shopping program measures your customer service and product quality in the most objective manner, observing new or currently existing policies in practice.
When conducted company-wide, mystery shopping paints a dynamic picture of what your operation’s strong suits are and where improvement is needed. It works for the top retailers. It can work for you.

Amidst complaints from shoppers about bad service, and from staff about bad customers, Best Buy continues to get it right. How did Best Buy get so smart? In part, with a survey measuring customers’ most important holiday shopping factors including:

• return policy (92 percent)
• speaking to a live, not automated, operator when calling the store (91 percent), stepped up customer assistance in-store (89 percent)
• a helpful, easy-to-use Web site (70 percent)
President/COO Brian Dunn explains, “We start holiday planning 11 months in advance so we can provide the very best experience possible. Our holiday approach is focused on bringing our customers complete gift solutions by offering a wide range of products, knowledgeable sales associates, and premium service to customers whether it’s in store, online or through our phone channel.”

From survey results, Best Buy has improved the shopping experience with:

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As outlined in our first look at “strategic uses of mystery shopping”,” evaluating the effect of additional staffing on service levels and sales is a top priority for retailers. Putting together a program to meet that need, however, can feel like a daunting task and may keep some retailers from seeing this objective through.

Let’s look at how one top retailer met this challenge through the concept of “Spotlight Stores”:

A major clothing retailer wanted to improve service levels in consistently under performing stores. Using mystery shopping strategically, they increased the frequency of shops, and advised the “spotlight” stores of the new plan. This allowed them to more closely monitor performance, and provided more opportunities to deliver feedback, retraining and evaluation.

The additional frequency, coupled with retraining and reinforcement, resulted in the under performing stores actually outperforming the balance of the chain.

The use of more frequent shops to help change behavior was used successfully, highlighting these two distinct mystery shopping strategies as excellent methods evaluating and measuring important data.

When considering all of the valuable ways to strategically use mystery shopping to build brand loyalty among your customer base, evaluating the effect of additional staffing on service levels and sales is the first thing to come to mind.

Let’s peek in on a familiar scenario to see how one top retailer handled this need:

A well-known women’s retailer wanted to test the effect of adding additional payroll hours on service levels and sales. They focused their attention on the fitting room area, as that was a prime opportunity for up selling their customers. The additional payroll dollars allowed a dedicated associate to assist in the fitting room at all times.

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If you’ve read Part 1 on this topic, you are aware that some retailers choose to stop their mystery shopping programs during the prime holiday season, a perfect time of year to really use these programs to their fullest.

Of all the holiday months, perhaps January is most important. Customers are chomping at the bit right after Christmas, just waiting for January to come, with its incredible bargains. Your stores are sure to see a surge of activity, not to mention the opportunity to resell or cross sell to those who wandered in to make a return.

The impression you make on these customers, many of whom are not your regular or loyal customers, is of the utmost importance. Consider implementing a relationship based survey vs. a transactional survey during this time period.

No matter what you choose to do to change up your operations during these months, do not stop your scheduled shops simply because business is a bit soft in January. You’ll be missing out on a great opportunity to create loyal customers and build your brand.

Sounds obscene, doesn’t it? Well, forgive the play on words, but now that we have your attention….

For most retailers, the holiday period presents a sizeable increase in store traffic and sales volume. Retailers have their greatest opportunity to provide superior customer service during the holiday season, yet many retailers put the brakes on their mystery shopping program during this time when their sales are the greatest. Does that make any sense? This is the time when retailers need mystery shopping programs most! What would one additional item per purchase be worth to your bottom line?

Companies can use mystery shopping to their advantage to help maximize sales during this crucial period. Here’s a plan for retailers to consider:

- Discuss with store managers customer service expectations during the holiday season
- Solicit your store managers for input in the development of a “holiday” survey
- Scale down your survey to focus on key selling behaviors only
- Ensure that the new survey maintains corporate objectives, achievable by store personnel

Your organization has worked too hard to ignore monitoring and measuring during this key time of year.