What is a Mystery Shopper?
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mystery shopper (also called a secret shopper) is someone who gets paid to visit a store or restaurant and secretly evaluate things like customer service, store cleanliness and product quality. After the visit, the secret shopper fills out a brief questionnaire (shopper report) describing their shopping experience and gets paid for their time and opinions. The business owner then uses the information the mystery shopper has given them to make any necessary improvements in their store or service.
Methods of a Secret Shopper
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ecret shoppers are often given assignments to simply test the service skills of the employees. Some of the common things secret shoppers will be looking for include:
- how long it takes before the secret shopper is greeted
- how was the secret shopper treated during their visit at the location
- cleanliness of location and employees
- quality and taste of meal served
- selection of products/food and prices
- speed and efficiency of service
After the visit, the secret shopper will then submit their opinions about their shopping experience. That information is then reviewed and analyzed by the business to find areas in their service that need improvement.
The concept of a shop program is also a powerful motivational tool for employees. The thought of a mystery shopper checking in at any time encourages the staff to be more likely to provide excellent customer service to each and every customer knowing that they may be evaluated.
Gain Insight into the Customer Experience
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n ongoing mystery shop program provides the benefit of invaluable information with regard to how your business is functioning as a whole. Implementing a shop program enables the collection of 1st hand data on how to move your business forward and can evolve with your business to meet changing needs of your company and your customers.
Mystery shopping is a valid tool as part of any overall strategy formed to gain insight into the customer experience that is difficult to get in any other way. Mystery Shopping is a valuable stand alone tool, but when coupled with your guest and employee survey data, its value grows exponentially as you now have a full picture of cause, affect and results. Implementing a program that correlates customer satisfaction to other key measures enhances your organization’s ability to increase their top and bottom line.