Using Compensation To Drive Mystery Shopping Results

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.

The best mystery shopping programs work when the data collected remains unskewed; that is to say, management accepts the numbers for what they are and uses them, not to humiliate staff, but to bring about positive change. If the data is ignored or, worse yet, used incompletely, the results will likely be less than a positive force for change. Using data to catch or fire a ‘bad’ employee is not the focus of mystery shopping. Using the data to demonstrate to that employee where they are falling short of expectations, and offering strategies for improvement, helps to build a strong, loyal staff, leading to higher morale, less turnover and bigger profits.

What kinds of rewards can be given? The choice is completely up to you. Restaurants, for example, might offer free meals. Some also tie manager’s compensation to mystery shopping results, bringing everyone on board in the effort to motivate staff with positive incentives. No doubt you know of the types of rewards that would work in your industry. In most cases, it’s not the reward itself, but the act of rewarding and the proud feeling of being recognized for good work that makes all the difference.