Education Learns Something New
Retail chains have long been the leaders in utilizing mystery shopping as a means of measuring employee effectiveness and customer satisfaction. Recently, the medical industry has taken note, with some medical systems employing mystery shopping as a way to report on patient care and patient satisfaction.
Now, education is jumping into the mix. As education becomes more customer-oriented, the practice of using mystery shoppers is becoming more common among online and offline colleges who want to measure the quality of the admissions recruiting office. This growing segment of mystery shoppers are paid to “shop” educational institutions, recording their subjective observations about service quality based on a specific set of criteria such as:
• Was the phone answered in three rings?
• Were you asked your name at the start of the conversation?
• Did the representative ask questions to gauge your level of interest?
• Did the representative inquire about your timetable for enrollment?
• How much time elapsed before you received a call back or followup email?
• Were your questions answered sufficiently?
• How friendly and professional were the advisors?
According to John Swinburn, executive director of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA), “It’s not substantially different from mystery shopping conducted in the retail sector — it’s an effective way for management to get a clear understanding of the extent to which they’re fulfilling promises.”
As the college admissions process becomes increasingly competitive, educational institutions seek forward-thinking methods they can implement to put their best foot forward. Mystery shopping has proven to be an effective training tool for universities who use the feedback as a reward for those admission counselors who perform well. Admissions counselors who do not score as well are not humilated or chided, but rather the data is used proactively to highlight the need for further training.