Customers visiting retail and restaurant establishments care primarily about walking out with what they came for. In the case of retail, it is whatever consumer good they were seeking. In the case of restaurant, it is a good meal and a full stomach. If they get their product, they aren’t as worried about what happened on the journey to it.

Unless of course, they had a really bad experience. Unhappy people tend to be the loudest. It is those unhappy people who had their feathers ruffled that will fill out the customer satisfaction surveys provided to them (often on their receipt.) The people that felt that their overall experience was “as expected,” — whether good or bad — are less likely to share their feedback.

This, of course, is unhelpful to business owners. Customers may feel that their experience was status quo, but that does not mean that they don’t have valuable information to share. There is always room for observation and improvement.

So what needs to be done to get the much-needed feedback?

There needs to be an incentive. After all, if the customer is going to help out a business, they need to feel as though there’s something in it for them. A couple of dollars off, the opportunity to have two-for-one appetizers, bonus points added to a store rewards card; these are all things that can encourage participation.

There are ways for businesses to get something out of these incentives too. Businesses can control who, what, when, where, and how the incentive can be used. This can allow them to drive in traffic during slow periods or sell products that are not meeting sales goals. It ends up being a win/win for all involved!

A mystery shopping company can also help facilitate the survey process and/or work with customers to learn what incentives and programs may appeal to them.

Who said TV can’t teach us anything?

If you watched Grey’s Anatomy over the past few seasons, then you were probably introduced to their “patient care” dummy, Stan, commanded by the chief in one episode. The goal was to deal with a frustrating patient — one who wasn’t effectively describing his symptoms — and to provide a diagnosis while keeping the patient calm. It may have just seemed like a learning opportunity turned prank on the show, but it was actually a lesson in how mystery shopping can be used in medicine.

Mystery shopping is most often associated with retail and often takes a creative mind to envision it branching out to other industries. It is not just businesses selling a specific product that can learn from the experiences of their customers; it’s any industry that is selling a service that relies on returning customers.

How patient care can improve with mystery shopping
Bedside manner does matter to patients. It puts them at ease, helps them feel doctors care and allows them to better communicate their issues when they feel as though they have a captive, non-judgmental audience. Patients get more out of the experience when good bedside manner is exhibited by their doctors. Unfortunately, that’s an element of a doctor’s visit they just can’t control themselves.

In the Grey’s Anatomy episode, the dummy had a few near-death experiences because the doctors treating him couldn’t focus on their bedside manner (they felt ridiculous treating a robot) Although the example may be an exaggerated one, (the same technology is actually used in US hospitals) there are parallels to the real world of medicine.

Through mystery shopping, doctors can learn what their patients expect of them so every visit care is delivered with at a consistent, optimal level.

Sometimes, the way customers treat employees is just a reflection of their own bad days. Other times, they’re extreme reactions for justified reasons. For example, said Walmart cashier said that customers often get upset at her when a sale item doesn’t ring through on sale. When they mention it and act like the cashier should have caught the mistake, she thinks to herself “well how would I know that?”

In fairness, a retailer like Walmart sells thousands of products. But they do put out a weekly flyer with  all of their markdowns. It may be too much to ask that cashiers memorize the prices of all of their markdowns, but it’s clear that customers would appreciate them taking note. According to Yankelovich, Consumers in Control: Customer Service, consumers are generally displeased with customer service and this is just one example.

• 62% of consumers believe that most retail employees just don’t care about their needs. It could be interpreted that this example falls into this category. After all, an employee looking out for their customers may try and look out for pricing errors on sale items…so says the consumers.
• 66% of consumers believe companies are about sales, and don’t care what the customer thinks provided they’re seeing profits.

What these statistics indicate is that customers have no brand loyalty – if they don’t feel a business is looking out for them, they’ll go anywhere. When a competitive market often means offering competitive pricing, strong customer service is what can help a retailer stand apart and get the repeat business.

Companies that want to prove to their customers that they do care about customer service can consider mystery shopping as an option, because a program can identify the areas that need improvement.

As a provider of mystery shopping services, I get a bit anxious every time a story about our industry appears in the press. When words such as “stealth” appears in a headline and mystery shoppers appears in quotes, the media is unwittingly contributing to further degenerating the perception of what mystery shopping is. It’s not their fault; our industry itself may be contributing to the mis-perception with titles like “secret shopper.”

Mystery shopping is not “stealth.” It is not employing “gotcha tactics” to expose anyone. It is gathering objective, measurable data so an organization can make decisions based on what is really happening rather than on what they think is happening. As it relates to the story that appeared in the Times, most of the doctor shortage we hear about is anecdotal evidence. A quality mystery shopping program could have helped establish an objective view of the availability of doctors.

An objective survey is necessary because we don’t know what new patients are being told when they call and ask, “Are you taking new patients? Are you taking new patients with Medicaid/Medicare?” Today we can guess at the doctor shortage issue by calculating the number of doctors per capita and slice and dice those numbers, but suspecting we don’t have enough doctors is not the same as knowing we don’t have enough doctors available who will take new patients.

Under the Affordable Care Act, there are an estimated 30 million new patients who will need a primary care doctor. Measuring the ability of the medical industry to accommodate the additional demand is the responsible thing to do. Scaring patients and getting doctors riled up about distrusting government is not. A quality mystery shopping program for health care would benefit the medical provider industry as much as it would the government.

In 2014, the ACA will become law. It makes sense that the medical industry would want to be structured to reduce the stress an additional patient load of 30 million would cause.

Change is hard for everyone. But going into change without knowing what you are up against is irresponsible at best, reckless at worst. Mystery shopping helps gather objective data so responsible decisions can be made at all levels; from the patient through the health care providers to the universities who train them.

It may be time for us in the mystery shopping industry to take a realistic view at how the retail and other service industries view our services. In the end analysis — through an objective lens — we may find that we’re contributing to our own worst public relations.

Editor’s note: Volition posted a link to this article and mystery shoppers are weighing in on the discussion.

It is important to look at all areas of brand identity and how it is being received by your customers. Ensure that your mystery shopping service focuses upon the following:

• Your return policy
• The availability of product
• The kind of customer service that is offered when a shopper walks through the door
• How you troubleshoot problems that occur
• The cleanliness and overall appearance of the environment
• The consistency with the level of service provided in multiple franchises
• The availability of customer service by phone, email or other online methods
• Your brand values
• The perks you offer to your employees

You want to be consistent in all of the above areas if you want your customers to know who you are. But the brand identity that you establish must also adapt to fulfill the needs or those customers.

There is a bit of a stigma in the retail world – that mystery shopping is used as a spy tactic so that companies can see how badly their employees are screwing up when they’re not looking. This just isn’t the reality, at least not in companies where the right values are instilled in employees.

I have a history in retail. During my high school and university days I was a clerk, supervisor and later a manager at a number of different establishments. One of the first places I worked truly shaped my customer service values and it relied heavily upon the use of mystery shoppers. We were trained to treat every person that walked through the door like they might be a mystery shopper. It was not to instill fear, but to teach us to do our best. It became a bit of a rush learning your scores and then trying to improve upon your personal best. It really became a game, but is there a better game then one that depends upon customers winning?

Some of the retail jobs I had after this first one weren’t as focused on mystery shopping, but the ideas stuck. I may not have been trying to improve my personal scores, but I would focus upon the challenge of pleasing the most difficult person ever rather than grumbling about them!

It all goes to show you how a mystery shopping service can transform the people who are directly responsible for your customers’ experience!

If the corner market is a microcosm of a bigbox retail store, then a parking lot is a petrie dish where the DNA of all business can be examined unencumbered by the trappings of normal corporate life.

In the film, The Parking Lot Movie, directed by Meghan Eckman, we are given almost 90 minutes of raw examination of the nucleus of business; the exchange of goods or services for money.

The Parking Lot Movie follows a select group of parking lot attendants who work at The Corner Parking Lot in Charlottesvile, Virginia. The eccentric brotherhood of attendants consist of grad students, overeducated philosophers, surly artists, middle-age slackers and more.

Located near the University of Virginia and tucked in behind a number of bars, the assortment of overeducated attendants who work at The Corner Parking Lot have to deal with throngs of drunken frat boys, vandals, and SUV-driving jerks (I have a SUV but probably like you, am not a jerk) who either take off without paying or fight them over sums as low as $0.40.

What makes this lot different from other places of business is the customer is not always right. There are rules, expectations and boundaries. And they are clearly posted so the customer knows what they are. So do the employees.

And the employees are given the authority to enforce these boundaries. Without exception.

Pull into the lot? Pay. Park? Pay. If there is any doubt how much you owe, there is a giant sign with the rates posted in plain view. And the math is simple and universal.

If you’re thinking this is a chance for companies to “stick it to the customer like they have been sticking it to us” kind of approach, you would be wrong. This is about setting clear and communicable expectations. For your money, this is what we will do for you. The boundaries are set, your employees are told what they are and just as importantly, your customers are told, whether you use a big sign, a menu board, a verbal conversation or a legal contract.

And things change. Culture changes. Business changes. Laws change. Technology changes. Having service with boundaries doesn’t mean these boundaries are inflexible. But when they do change, it is because there was a business reason to make that change, not because of “feature creep” or slippage.

It’s important when you reframe your relationship by setting new boundaries, they are clearly and simply communicated to the customer and employees. For service with boundaries to work for your business — whether you are running a parking lot or a big box retail chain — everyone must know and accept the boundaries as the foundation of the business transaction.

SERVICE WITH BOUNDARIES is a service mark of ICC/Decision Services

In any business, it can be tempting to give people what they want. After all, if they’re coming to you asking for something that you can deliver — even if it’s not what you do — and you can make a transaction. Every business likes revenue, but you’ve also got to stick to your core values or you are going to lose your image outright.

David Rich, CEO of ICC/Decision Services, left a comment on this article using Costco as a great example. He said that Costco simply wouldn’t be Costco if they offered to bag your purchases because it’s not who they are. Costco manages to keep costs and labor low by avoiding offering these services, and if they made changes to those things, they’d be straying far away from their whole business model. Sure, at the threat of losing one customer they could theoretically offer up a plastic bag — but then it’s a slippery slope when everyone starts demanding it. The next thing you know, Costco’s prices will be on par with a major department store or specialty grocery store because they’ve had to change the core of who they are.

If customers don’t know what to expect from a business, they’re also never going to be satisfied. Their expectations need to be aligned up front. While there can be some leniency, too much “give” from a retailer is only going to lead to disaster.

You’ve got to set the standards of your business. If you’re going to make changes to your model, do it across the board based on demand. Otherwise, you’re going to lose your image, have no core values to abide by, and have a very confused and generally distressed clientelle.

To recognize why this matters, let’s explore what coupons and promotions should accomplish:

• They create buzz because you’re daring to do something exciting or different
• They create awareness about a new business or new products offered by an established business
• They increase the number of customer/sales during slow periods

While all of the above is great, there are some ways that promotions can backfire if not used to market to your customers in the right way. You need to be careful not to overdo it; if you are always offering the same promotion, it becomes expected and loses the ‘wow factor’. You’re also going to find you have some unhappy customers once that promotion is snatched away from them. It goes back to the concept of setting expectations; set that bar too high and there’s nowhere to go but down.

There’s also the potential to seriously hurt your sales.  To illustrate this point I’ll draw on personal experience. My husband is in the restaurant industry and currently works for a popular chain restaurant. Late last year, there were a series of promotions rolled out and implemented all across the brand to help boost business. For many of the locations, it was an effective tool and it increased their sales. This is because the restaurants hadn’t been full on a nightly basis and more people started piling in for the promo.

One location, however, was hurt greatly by the promotion. Why? Because the restaurant was already full each and every day of the week with people purchasing full-priced menu items. Once the promotion was rolled out, the same number of people still came in; they just started ordering the promotional items instead. The promotion was directly responsible for cutting store revenue in half. For a store like this one, some kind of one-off loyalty incentive would have been more appropriate  to reward those keeping the tables full night after night if something needed to be implemented.

The point is, businesses need to look past the idea of making customers happy by offering promotions and ensure that what they’re doing is in the best interest of their establishment too. It’s easy to get lured in by the hype that sites like Groupon create. But remember, there is such thing as a happy median that looks after the best interests of everyone.

The New York Times also put out an interesting article on how the Groupon phenomenon throws some businesses off the mark; so check that out too and share your thoughts on the subject with us!

One thing you’ll notice if you login to the Facebook page of any major retailer is that there is a lot of dissatisfaction being voiced. This is because unhappy people tend to be a little louder than those who are satisfied. In a way, this is a good thing.

An open outlet for consumers to share their feedback means it’s easier to see where changes to policies and procedures could be beneficial. It also helps determine exactly which questions to ask your customers so you know where to start drawing that level of service line in the sand.

People by nature want it all, but the reality is that they can’t always have it or something else may be affected. For example:

• Issues with return policies - people don’t like it when retailers have shorter return periods. But a return policy that’s longer than 30 days means that old stock will be cluttering shelves for an extended period of time. Those that shop at a high end clothing company, for example, may not appreciate this. So, the boundary drawn needs to lean one way or another because these two things aren’t compatible.
• Price vs Manufacturer - with more of a demand for locally manufactured items (again, a great example in clothing retail) this is a common debate among consumers. Manufacturing overseas is cheaper so when people want local production, the costs increase. Of course, consumers don’t like to see costs going up either. So, it often becomes an either/or situation here too.

The industry may have an attitude that the customer is always right, but there are some circumstances where catering too much to demands can make things go terribly wrong.

Implement the policy you feel best fits your brand values, set the boundaries and see how your customers respond.

Where are the gaps in your brand promise to your customers? Do you know?

Mystery shopping lets you know and gives you the tools to help correct the gaps.

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Using social media for this purpose can have both pros and cons.

Pros of Using Social Media for Customer Experience Feedback

• Social media encourages individuals to be open and voice their opinions
• When one consumer voices an opinion in a public forum, others are apt to jump in
• Word of mouth created by consumers may cause businesses to share best practices
• Consumers can ask questions and reach out to consumers and get an assessment from real shoppers
• When negative experiences are shared, retailers have the opportunity to publicly resolve the issue

Cons of Using Social Media for Customer Experience Feedback

• There’s the risk that dirty laundry will be aired, and social media users may only see one side of the story
• Competitors might be aware of weaknesses

As a retailer, it’s up to you to determine where you draw that line. You may choose to air it all online to benefit from social media, or you may encourage customers to provide extensive feedback in a private venue.

What’s your opinion on this?

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A women goes into Nordstrom to return snow tires and they take them back without a receipt. Right now, you are probably not questioning the “without a receipt” part. But you are probably scratching your head over the snow tire part.

I didn’t think Nordstrom sold snow tires

You are right, they don’t. But they took them back anyway.

Now, I’m not sure if the story is true or when it began, but this is pretty extraordinary. The snow tires and woman may be fictitious, but the return policy at Nordstrom is true. Stories like this make me feel comfortable that if anything goes wrong with anything I buy at Nordstrom, it will be taken care of without a hassle.

That is what I call service without boundaries. No doubt, it is good for business. But more often than not, these scenarios backfire because most store associates are not empowered to provide service without boundaries.

A different approach
I recently took a trip to Switzerland. The weather was beautiful one day and we decided to sit outside at a local restaurant. The only problem was the tables available were directly in the sun. I didn’t feel like squinting the whole time I was eating, so we asked the hostess if we could sit on the other side of the deck.

The only empty tables needed to be dried a bit since they were not in the sun and some ice melted on them. Her response was: You can sit here (sunny table #1), here (sunny table #2) or leave.

Was I insulted? No. And if I was, I was quickly won over by the wonderful food.

Part of this conversation could have gotten lost in translation. English was not her first language. But as days passed on my trip, I noticed it more and more in other situations. The Swiss have a reputation for quality, order and timeliness. They have a system and that system works; partly because they set boundaries. Even in service.

One more story…
When we were in Zurich, we went into a restaurant. They said they could seat us, but we only had one hour. To underscore this rule, they gave us a card to remind us when we had to leave. We understood the rules. The service was super-fast; the server understood the rules as well.

The food was delicious and we finished in thirty minutes. What did we do then? We had an hour and only spent half of it. So, we ordered another entree, which we split, and another round of beers. That food also came quickly. After we finished that round, we saw we still had another fifteen minutes. So, we ordered two desserts and two cappuccinos and we paid our bill with three minutes to spare! Oh, what fun. And the restaurant increased our tab by 40% because they set boundaries. We left feeling like we won a prize. Next time, we’ll beat that three minutes.

How this differs from American service
One of the cultural expectation that is hamstringing US companies is this: Companies say “do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer.” The problem is that people — both the company and their customers — don’t know what that means.

Service with boundaries not only helps associates understand what they can and cannot do to help customers, but also the companies themselves. When they know the rules, customers will never be disappointed. The problem comes when everyone has different expectations of what the experience should or shouldn’t be.

Creating alignment in your organization begins and ends with the customer. But you and your associates are the bond, the glue that very specifically defines the perfect customer experience for everyone to see.

And then measure the heck out of it. And be willing to change if needed.

SERVICE WITH BOUNDARIES is a service mark of ICC/Decision Services

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There is some truth there, but only when you link up with the right mystery shopping company. You hear the bad press on businesses getting taken by the less than reputable mystery shopping firms; but it can happen to those that work for them as well. Before signing on the dotted line to become a mystery shopper, ask the company the following questions:

1. Do I have to pay to join? Some mystery shopping companies require candidates to pay in order to get added to their roster. You should never have to pay anyone anything when you take a job. Particularly not when work is not guaranteed.
2. Do I have to pay for my purchases? Many mystery shopping companies will have you shop at the stores that you’re already familiar with. As a regular customer, they believe you’re in a better position to make a judgement. Just because you’re on a mystery shopping assignment at a store you’d purchase from already doesn’t mean the purchases should be entirely on your dime. Purchase guidelines should be set before you start shopping.
3. What am I responsible for? The workload requirements vary with regards to your deliverables as a mystery shopper. Get your responsibilities in writing, plain and simple.

Even if you aren’t a prospective mystery shopper reading this and happen to be a business looking to hire one, recognize the importance of the above.

Happy, satisfied mystery shoppers will be a much greater asset to the integrity of your shops.

1. Mention exciting promotions using social media – particularly during tough economic times, consumers are more focused than ever on finding a bargain. Social media takes coupon clipping to all new levels! If you’ve got a promotion coming up in store or online, post it on Facebook or Twitter. You can even create exclusive coupon codes for individuals that follow you or like your business page. This will keep existing customers in the loop and help draw in all new ones.
2. Share resources that appeal to your consumers - don’t just focus on direct brand promotion with social media, share other resources and information that are relevant and interesting to your target audience. This helps to establish your customer-focused values, and enhances your online presence in other ways. It’s likely that other social media accounts will pick up and share those resources around, putting more focus upon your brand.
3. Interact with customers - it is important to draw the line on how much customer service you’ll offer online, because some face-to-face interaction can still be beneficial. But, social media is a great way to address questions or concerns customers may have. It’s also value feedback that can help you determine which areas of your business require more focus as you strategize for your next mystery shopping mission.

There are a whole host of ways that you can use mystery shopping to your advantage in this business – and improve the overall experience that customers receive when they choose to shop with you. But the above are among the simplest, and most effective ways to establish your presence online fast!

Ultimately, social media is about relevance and respect. Brands want it as well and social media allows them to grab their fair share in a voice that speaks to their customers the way they want to be heard.

That is power.

That is power for the generic cereal that gets relegated to the bottom shelf. That is power to traditionally seasonal products like @BrucesYams that people may forget about except during Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. That is power for almost any other brand that struggles to get noticed with one facing in a crowded category.

Social media allows small brands to muscle into the arena with the big boys. They do this by creating a small but very loyal following. Those fans tell their friends and those friends tell others and so on and so on.

Mostly using social media like Facebook, Twitter and Yelp.

Take Nutella for example. For years, it was a quiet, unassuming chocolate spread, sitting on the shelf between peanut butter and jelly. Maybe it gets a couple facing in the categoy. A couple years ago, grocers starting noticing it turned at about twice its normal rate, then triple and pretty soon, the spread was flying off the shelves. It turns out that hipsters “discovered” the chocolate spread that was mainly served in Europe and it become the next cool thing to eat. The word spread (pardon the pun) mostly through Facebook.

The one question that gets asked a lot by brands is; “It social media the chicken or the egg?” Gerard McLean of Rivershark Inc answered this succinctly with his recent blog post here, but to put it bluntly — it is both.

I look forward to seeing you at the confernce. If you can’t make it, I will also be live-tweeting so be sure to follow me at @davidjrich and on this blog as we explore more about using social media at retail.

1. What would have created greater sales potential - a mystery shopper can tell you what might have increased their desire to buy your products or services. That could mean pushing a different product with an upsell, for example.
2. The level of customer support that is most appreciated – in the retail world, service employees should be somewhere between accessible and in your face. Consumer requirements in this area depend entirely on the store environment, so your customers are the best ones to dictate this! Mystery shoppers can provide great insight on your sales tactics.
   
3. Productive product merchandising - the positioning of your hottest products can really play a role in sales. If your mystery shoppers are able to walk straight in the door and grab what they need without so much as glancing at another display, there’s a better approach you can use. Mystery shoppers will let you know what merchandising and placement techniques caught their eye!

These are just some of the actionable quality metrics that you can walk away with after a mystery shopping experience. What else would you hope they’ll help you identify.

Toys ‘R Us came out on top, followed by Target and then Walmart. We buy gifts for everyone at the holidays, but who do most of us focus on? Kids if we have them. Toys are a ubiquitous holiday purchase. So why in the world did our secret shoppers find the toy category rating so low on service and sales? What’s wrong with this picture and better yet, what’s the opportunity we see in this?

The opportunity is for any of these retailers to make a small effort toward improving in both these categories and standing head and shoulders above the competition, bringing them more business and ideally increased profits by improving the customer experience and helping people to buy more toys. Pointing out specials, helping people find promotions, being educated and in turn educating the retail customer is absolutely win-win.