Do you need to know what makes that fruitful trade so uncommon that it is taking absent your clients or what is the most competitor of your foundation? Do you know that something is off-base along with your deals and client benefit forms but you can’t figure out what it is?
Do you need to know which of your employees deserves a promotion or could lead the sales team given their excellent skills and the perfect application of the established protocols?
There is a simple way to answer all these questions by obtaining the data you need to make a decision and an improvement action based on objective data: Mystery Shopping.
What Is Mystery Shopping And How Does It Work?
Mystery shopping is an investigation technique that consists of impersonating an ordinary customer or user in order to find out, without influencing the behavior of the employees, certain issues that are the object of the study, such as the customer service provided, the monitoring of commercial protocols, discounts offered or simply the opinion of sellers on a specific product.
The great objective of every company must be, in order to be able to maintain and survive, profitability. In this sense, to be profitable it is essential to have customers, those who consume their products or services and pay for it so that the company recovers the investment made and can continue producing and maintaining the sales cycle.
For all these reasons, we must consider that one of the basic parts that a company must pay attention to is the client and, subsequently, their fulfillment and dependability.
This technique allows you to know from the point of view of a client, but with an objective focus, what is their real vision of your business, providing data that you would never be able to know or what, knowing it, has gone unnoticed in your sight due to your involvement and influence over them. I encourage you to read more about this blog here: Market Segmentation: Why Is It Essential For The Success Of Your Business?
Benefits Of Applying Mystery Shopping In Your Business
Now that you know what the mystery shopper technique consists of, let’s see the different benefits it can bring:
- Identify strengths and weaknesses: Mystery Shopping can help identify both the strengths and weaknesses of the business in relation to customer service, the consumer experience, and compliance with quality standards. This will help the company focus on improving the aspects in which it is not performing well and capitalize on those in which it is excelling.
- Increment client devotion: By making strides in the quality of client benefits and buyer involvement, clients are more likely to feel fulfilled and steadfast in the company. This will increment client maintenance and make strides in the notoriety of the company.
- Knowing the customer’s viewpoint: It is additionally a great way to urge the customer’s point of view on the trade since it permits the company to see the business from the eyes of the consumer. This can be key to being able to form vital choices that meet the desires of clients and increment their fulfillment.
- Differentiate from the competition: Using this technique can be an effective way to differentiate the business from the competition. By providing exceptional customer service and a memorable consumer experience, the business can stand out from the competition and attract and retain more customers.
How Is A Mystery Shopping Assessment Carried Out?
Each evaluation is unique, as it is adapted to the specific needs of a business and the objectives they want to achieve. However, we could summarize the process in the following steps:
- Identify the objective: The first step is to identify the objective of the evaluation. We will have to think about what exactly we want to evaluate, what are the quality standards that we want to meet and what are the weak points that we seek to improve, among other things.
- Design the scenario: Once we have identified the objective, we can design the Mystery Shopping scenario. What specific task will the Mystery Shopper perform? What information do we want you to collect? What questions should this practice answer?
- Select the Mystery Shopper: The selection of the Mystery Shopper figure is essential for the success of the study. This person must be carefully selected based on her experience and skills and it is important that she is not recognized by the employees of the business.
- Train the Mystery Shopper: Once selected, it is important to train him so that he knows how to perform the technique effectively and objectively. The training should include information on the purpose of the assessment, the designed scenario, and the way in which the collected information should be presented.
- Carry out the evaluation: The Mystery Shopper must carry out the specific task according to the designed scenario. During the activity, she must pay attention to important details, such as the quality of customer service, the consumer experience, compliance with quality standards, etc.
- Report the results: After completing the evaluation, the Mystery Shopper must report the results to the company using a checklist or a detailed questionnaire. The information collected can be used to provide feedback to the company and help them improve their customer service.
Which Companies Can Apply Mystery Shopping To Your Business?
There are infinite applications of this technique in all kinds of businesses, from a virtual store selling computer software to the Post Office where you collect the traffic tickets that arrive.
Nothing limits its application to a specific sector or business model, quite the contrary, the technique has a place in all of them without exception, simply due to the fact that whenever there is a business, there is a client, be it a user. or final consumer or intermediaries, and having a client, it is necessary to know the latter’s perception of the service provided, and this perception must be objectively assessed in order to improve localized defects as well as enhance the available competitive advantage.
What Information Should A Mystery Shopping Collect?
As we have commented, the information that this professional figure should collect will depend on the results we want to obtain, but the most sought-after are the following:
Customer Service Quality
First of all, the Mystery Shopper must pay attention to the quality of the customer service that is offered. This includes aspects such as the kindness and courtesy of the staff, the willingness to help and solve problems, the speed in serving the client, etc.
Compliance With Quality Standards
Second, we have compliance with quality standards. This person should verify if the business is complying. With this term, we refer to aspects such as the cleaning and maintenance of the physical store, the quality of the products or services offered, compliance with safety and hygiene regulations, etc.
Consumer Experience
On the other hand, you should also evaluate the consumer’s experience when interacting with the business. This may include aspects such as the ease of navigation of the website or the physical store, the availability of relevant information, the quality of the products or services, the ease of payment, etc.
Competition And Differentiation
Another important aspect is to evaluate the competition and differentiation of the business in relation to other companies in the same sector. This may include aspects such as the variety and exclusivity of the products or services we offer, the quality of customer service compared to the competition, the innovation in the marketing strategy, or the value-added offer.
Additional Observations And Comments
Lastly, you will also need to provide any additional observations and feedback that may be relevant to the business. This could include aspects that have not been considered in the previous evaluation or additional information that may be relevant to improve the consumer experience.
In What Aspects Of Our Business Can We Apply The Mystery Shopper Technique?
As we have discussed in the article, there are multiple areas where you can apply the mystery shopping technique. The most common are usually measuring the quality of customer service or compliance with brand standards at distribution points, but it is also possible to apply the technique to help us set prices or promotions for our products or to Being able to make human resources decisions such as the training to give our employees or who deserves a promotion within the team of one of our stores.
Last but not least, is it possible to apply this technique to a small business that does not have large resources to invest in it, either because it has just launched on the market or because it is considered a local business?
The answer to this question is emphatic: not only is it possible, but it is necessary, precisely those businesses that are starting out and that have a smaller field of action are the ones that most need the application of the technique.
The loss of a customer does not affect a large business, such as a hypermarket, in the same way as a small one, such as the bakery where we buy bread in our neighborhood. For this reason, it must be this small business that analyses, from an objective point of view and adapts to its circumstances, the reason for the loss of the customer:
If you have decided to change the place where you buy the bread because the person who served you last week did not treat you correctly, if it is for a question of the price if in the other business, they give you a free donut with each loaf of bread purchased or if it is because our competitor’s bread tastes better.
The Mystery Shopping technique can be applied to many areas of a business, or of the competition, and in many ways, all depending on the objective that we seek with the realization of it, be it concrete or simply a control system and continuous improvement to be implemented in our establishment.
What do you think of the Mystery Shopping technique? Leave your comments and share! And if you want to learn how to manage marketing teams and lead the digital environment, take a Master’s in Marketing and Sales, a program with which you will achieve a comprehensive vision and be ready to assume leadership roles, as well as to anticipate changes in the business world. We will wait for you!
What kind Of Data Collection Technique Is Mystery Shopping?
Mystery Shopper is a data collection process that involves sending trained people, called Mystery Shopper, to businesses or organizations to evaluate the quality of available services or products. Mystery Shopper masquerade as regular customers and carefully observe and record their interactions and experiences with employees.
These systems are used to gather information about customer service, product quality, pricing, and other aspects of our business that can be used to improve operations. Mystery Shopper is an important tool for businesses to understand their customers and make the necessary improvements to increase their reputation and customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Mystery Shopper may be an important method that can offer assistance to businesses accomplish victory by giving important bits of knowledge into client encounters and recognizing ranges for enhancement. It permits businesses to pick up a competitive edge by understanding their customers’ needs and inclinations and conveying extraordinary client service.
By actualizing Mystery Shopper programs, businesses can upgrade their brand notoriety, increment client loyalty, and eventually, boost their foot line.
With the proper approach, secret shopping can be an effective instrument for businesses to remain ahead of the competition and flourish in today’s competitive commercial center.
Learn More About Mystery Shopping: Achieve Success In Your Business With This Technique From businessjohn
