It's everywhere you want to be
With this issue’s spotlight on mystery
shopping, we contacted the Mystery Shopping Providers Association to get
input from member companies on some of the issues and topics currently
affecting the industry.
In general, mystery shopping focuses on gathering
real-time insights about competition, pricing and positioning and
consumer path-to-purchase that will enable clients to quickly modify
processes and enact change. Over the years, it has taken many forms and
undergone numerous transformations. Most of the transitions have been
centered on advances in technology. For example, more and more mystery
shopping companies now rely on mobile devices for in-the-moment
reporting. “We’ve incorporated mobile technology into our Web-based
reporting system, as have many providers, allowing shoppers to complete
their shops while they are still in the field. As technology continues
to advance, we speculate this will become a standard operating system
for all shopper companies and a standard expectation from our clients in
the future,” says Charles Stiles, president of Mystery Shopper
Services, Arroyo Grande, Calif.
“In the old days – 15 years ago – we relied on the mail
to send out shop forms and fax machines and telephone calls to receive
reports from the shoppers to retype and compile reports to send to the
clients. If clients could receive a shop back within seven to 10 days of
the interaction, they were happy. With today’s technology, we can
deliver much faster results - in many cases, the same day,” he says.
In addition to speed of reporting, technology now also
allows the capture of multiple forms of information, beyond the data
contained in the individual shopper’s report. “Mystery shopping is not
only about shopping and evaluating process and protocol but also about
evaluating how a store is maintaining brand integrity and about how the
individual brands within a store are being positioned,” says Kimberly
Nasief, president of Measure Consumer Perspectives, Louisville, Ky.
“Audio-recorded mystery calls; video capture and digital
images and photo snapshots of product displays and associate
interactions are not uncommon. All customer-facing roles can now be
monitored, measured and coached to ensure every company develops brand
loyalists,” says Marci Bikshorn, president of Service Excellence Group,
St. Louis, Mo.
Customer experience measurement providers can now
present views from all touchpoints in every imaginable industry,
including government agencies and assistance programs, religious
congregations, as well as entertainment venues such as casinos,
theaters, baseball parks and more, says Bikshorn.
In addition, mystery shops are evident in the health
care industry, from pre-patient through medical treatment to home, as
well as auto and life insurance compliance audits.
Sophisticated scams
As its use grows, the industry continues to be
plagued by increasingly sophisticated scams targeting unsuspecting
consumers looking for flexible income opportunities working as mystery
shoppers. “Scam artists use the names of many reputable companies in an
attempt to trick consumers into disclosing their personal information in
exchange for high-paying ‘mystery shops,’” says Stiles.
These scammers post multiple advertisements on online
job boards affiliated with reputable news stations and on Craigslist and
steal the identity of many reputable firms’ Web sites, says Bikshorn.
The Mystery Shopping Providers Association, as well as
member companies, are working with the FBI, the Better Business Bureau
and Western Union to inform the public about these scams and to catch
individuals running them but they are typically
internationally-developed, making it difficult to protect the public.
The smartphone class
One of the main ways the Digital Age has
impacted mystery shopping is by creating the so-called smartphone class,
says Bikshorn. “These individuals are always on, consuming content and
information straight from their mobile device, so utilizing a smartphone
on a mystery shop assignment certainly is not a blatant give-away, as
it might be if a mystery shopper entered a location with a clipboard and
printed form.”
With Internet access from anywhere, the smartphone class
continues to frequent the Web, both in store and out, allowing
integrity of data capture and accuracy; credibility and proof-of-visit
through geo-verifying tools; and visual and audio recordings and image
capture. “Smartphones always know where they are and when they are,”
says Andy Walker, president of iSecretShop, Mercer Island, Wash. “You
can’t easily falsify that data. We now have the ability to verify if the
shopper was at the right location, at the right time, on the right day,
in a way we never have before. The ability to deliver this level of
accuracy significantly increases shop quality and greatly reduces the
risk of fraud.”
A shift in industries
Beyond the usual retail and service-based users
of mystery shopping services, more research firms, insurance companies,
law offices and manufacturers are utilizing mystery shopping as a way
to validate claims, document patent infringements and conduct
competitive market and product audits. “We are starting to see a shift
in industries utilizing mystery shopping as a means of data collection
because of the speed that data can be delivered,” says Stiles.
While new industries are turning to mystery shopping and
employing new tools to do so, its status as a tool for monitoring
employee performance endures. Mystery shopping is great for auditing
specific behaviors and service cultures, as well as determining if
employees are providing the type of service a company expects. “Unlike
general surveys, where customers are reporting or providing information
about their personal perspective of the experience, mystery shopping
allows the client to outline and measure the exact performance criteria
they are expecting out of their employees,” says Stiles.
The most effective use of mystery shopping is dependent
on the purpose of the shops and how the information is delivered, the
MSPA members agree. “In regard to the most common use, which is driving
employee behavior and company compliance with expected service offerings
and the service culture within the organization, the most effective and
critical component is in how the information is delivered. In order for
the information to make a difference, it has to be shared with the
associates who are interacting with the customers,” says Stiles.
There must be both accountability and recognition for
the service experience that was reported, Stiles says. If it was a bad
experience, the results must be shared with the associate and coaching
and training must be incorporated to correct the deficiencies. If it was
a positive experience, then recognition for a great job should be
communicated so they understand they are appreciated. This makes them
feel part of the team and encourages them to continue to deliver on the
experience rather than just receiving bad news when something is not
right.
Question the credibility
Another persistent issue is the managing of
feedback from field-level associates who question the credibility of
mystery-shop results by saying things like “We knew it was a shopper” or
“I never say that.”
“One of the most difficult coaching moments is to throw
the ball back at the field and take the stance, ‘If you knew it was a
shopper, why weren’t you compliant to your trained best practices? Why
did you fall short of your company’s standards? Let’s listen to this
recording or watch this video so that you can understand the mystery
shopper’s perception of your delivery,’” says Bikshorn.
Individual analysis of mystery shop results and a clear
outline of performance assist in identifying a team’s competencies and
disparities. With this information literally at a team’s fingertips,
they can quickly target development plans. Automating these painstaking
processes – which had been done manually for decades – that are tied to
customer experience evaluation and training, streamlines the entire
accountability piece of an organization’s training regimen, which in
turn, benefits each level within the organizational structure.
“When effectively put into action, employees, middle
managers and the executive team benefit from this type of customer
experience management solution,” Bikshorn says. “Creative, automated
processes such as this help performance management and action planning
by letting associates assess their own behaviors by clarifying
expectations of each associate while providing an ongoing review process
of performance and by building a strong foundation for career growth
and future job placement.”
By Quirk's Staff
Editor : reprint
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