Mystery Shopping

Mystery Shopping
Mystery Shopping
Mystery Shopping
Mystery Shopping
Mystery Shopping

Can You Mystery Shop Your Way to Overnight Success?

In the perfect world, we could snap our fingers and get whatever we want when we want it. But here in reality, we have to work and wait for those things we want to happen.  It is a philosophy to live by in life and in business — it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to obtain and maintain success. Unfortunately, some businesses seem to think that  a mystery shopping company has the ability to bypass the hard work and launch a company in jeopardy to success overnight.

A mystery shopping service can help a company turn itself around, but the process takes time. The assessments completed can help identify procedures that could be improved to deliver a better customer experience. A program like this looks at the big picture as well as all of the minor details that they encounter along the way. When the mystery shopping service has worked their magic,* the store, the staff, the management and the atmosphere all have a positive impact upon every customer that walks through the doors.

Of course, this takes time so the mystery shopping service can gather all of the required data, advise the business on the changes they could make, and then complete additional review. Those that expect that hiring a mystery shopping service to dig them out of a hole fast, are never going to get what they expect.

All good things are worth waiting for, and the mystery shopping route is a journey, so this applies.

*When we say magic, we really mean a time-tested formula based on objective data and experience.

Obtaining Measurable Data With Your Mystery Shopping Survey

Mystery shopping surveys help your mystery shopping service identify the specific data that you would like to obtain. In order to accomplish this, you’ve got to put pen to paper and draft out some questions. Asking the right questions can make all the difference — no matter what you will get answers — but with the right questions, you will get the answers you need.

To help you accomplish this, here are some tips on developing your mystery shopping survey questions:

• Avoid questions that could be subjective. You don’t want your mystery shopper to make assumptions; because that does not give you reliable data to improve your business. For example, asking if the staff seemed to be enjoying their job leaves too much room for interpretation. Instead, use your question to obtain more information about the level of customer service provided.
• Be specific with your questions. The example used above already has one flaw (as outlined), but its second flaw is that it’s far too vague. What are you really asking with that question? Get specific and instead ask things like: were you greeted upon entering? What did the staff seem to be doing (helping customers? Stocking shelves? Making personal calls on the phone?) ?
• Focus on things a customer would know. Your mystery shopping service may be familiar with some of your specific policies and procedures, but an average customer entering the business environment may not be. As a result, it is more prudent to ask only about those things a mystery shopper would judge based on observation alone.

Even if you have questions about the things happening at your business when you’re not there, your mystery shopping service should only focus on objective data that allows you to make improvements. After all, if you want measurable results. You can’t gather data that is intangible.