5 - Operations

Contents

1. Services
2. Using Independent Mystery Shoppers
3. Rates of Pay

1. Services

Keep in mind, Mystery Shopping Companies are not limited to mystery shopping services alone. You become in essence a Customer Relations Firm, a Customer Service Consultant, an Employee Trainer, and many others. You can provide many other helpful services as well.

SERVICES TO OFFER

As you work your way into the Mystery Shopping Business, there are a number of services you may provide. The following are just a few.

Anonymous "Point-of-Sale" or "Telephone" Customer Service Evaluations

This is the 'standard' service provided by Mystery Shopping companies. Working together with the Client, an evaluation form is prepared for the Shop, looking at those areas in particular that the Client wants to check on.

When talking with a client and working up the evaluation form, the two most important questions are:

1. What specific thing do you want checked?
2. What constitutes acceptable performance.

For example, instead of saying "Customers should be treated well" a more useful topic might be "The customer should be greeted by eye contact or a verbal greeting within 6 seconds of entering the store?"

The Shop evaluation would then include two questions:

1. Were you greeted verbally or by eye contact shortly after entering the store?
2. How much time (in minutes and seconds) did it take before you were greeted verbally or by eye contact.

Observations may be made in the areas of service time, attitude, quality, and cleanliness.
 
Other questions to be cleared up when talking with the potential client include how many Shops are to be conducted over what period of time for each store or outlet, and whether there should be interim reporting of each shop and/or a complete report at the end.

Each question, category, and overall report might be scored based on a business's operational standards. At the end of each shopping period, a detailed report can be provided consisting of: overall score, narrative comments on individual performance, and rankings (if more than one location).

Factual results might also be summarized in performance graphs and charts. On-going feedback is provided to create a system of accountability, which benchmarks performance from a customer's perspective.

Employee Workshops

Sales and customer service training can help a client improve their sales and customer service quality by providing target training, using the weak evaluations as a guideline.

A specifically designed training program can coach employee's of specific company standards and thereby, improve guideline compliance and overall performance. A workshop can be conducted to help employees improve in their weak areas. The topic of one training program might even be "How to Score High on Your Secret Shoppers Reports".

Since you are now an expert on customer satisfaction, you will be able to conduct workshops that can improve the profitability of the Store. For example, how a waiter interacts with a customer can make the difference between that customer buying a $9.97 dinner and a $29.97 total dinner.

Award Programs

The best way to continue to get the most out of employees is to recognize their achievements.

Monthly recognition programs can be implemented to ensure continued and optimum performance. On-the-spot award certificates should be presented during special promotions (i.e., one-day sales).

Competitor Shopping

Every business has a competitor. By examining the competition, information is gathered that will enable your client to identify their own weakness in an effort to ultimately gain the competitive edge.

Your client may want mystery shopping done not in their Store, but in their competitor's.

When looking at a competitor, you might be asked to look at the competition's service, pricing, and existing specials. This information will allow companies to keep prices competitive and be sure to offer the very best service in the market

Customer Satisfaction Follow-Up Phone Calls

Calls are made to client's customers to thank them for they're past business and to inquire about their satisfaction and any suggestions that they may have to ensure their return visit. This information enables your client to make proactive improvements based on the customer's needs and wants.

On-Site Surveys

Intercept services/onsite surveys enable pertinent information to be gathered as the customers leave a store or other business location.

A survey can be conducted to gather the opinions and suggestions of customer's exiting your clients business location in order to ensure their return.

Manufacturer Checks and Balance

A manufacturer wants to know how a product is doing in the retail stores.

Your report explains how their product is being promoted in the stores, how prominently it is being displayed, and how skilled the salespeople are in presenting it.

Temporary Customer Service Help

You might even provide temporary customer assistance to a Store to serve as an example to existing employees and to help them during a special occasion or busy season.

2. Using Independent Mystery Shoppers

It's fun doing Shops yourself, and I recommend that you do them from time to time to keep your interest up and to rotate with Independent Shoppers so they don't become too familiar to the Store staff.

However, even if you are very efficient, you can only do so many Shops per day yourself. If you want to dramatically improve your income, you'll want to start using the labor of others instead of your own.

When it comes time to hire and evaluate Independent Mystery Shoppers, you are looking for several important things:

1. Are they able to expres themselves?
2. Are they dependable (you won't know this until you try them probably, but you'll keep notes - the dependable Shoppers get far more assignments)
3. Where are they available? If they are traveling, are they willing to do shops in cities they are passing through?
4. What hours are they available?
   

You'll need to set clear standards for the Independent Shopper with regards to appearance, Shop performance, required documentation, and reporting of the Shop results.

The easiest way to both recruit Independent Shoppers and to have them file their reports is to create the appropriate forms on your website.

contract employees (shoppers), it is very important to be selective. Remember the work that your shoppers perform for you is a reflection of your business. Many companies hire shoppers through the Internet, which is a great way to automate the business, however, it is harder to be selective. If you choose to hire your Mystery Shoppers via this method, be very particular. Have each applicant complete an application and a common sense service quiz (see sample enclosed in Chapter 3). Then have them e-mail the answers back to you in addition to a resume if they have one. Being able to interview people in person and get a sense of the kind of employees they'll make is a talent that will come in handy. Also, having them hand write the application enables you to see the quality of their penmanship and their organizational skills. Knowing how to manage and supervise people is also a plus, but more importantly in this line of work, being able to organize and schedule staff so that all of your assignments are covered is the key to being successful.

3. Rates of Pay

The amount earned per each individual Shop varies widely, and is largely a matter of individual negotiation with each Client.

It also varies with the amount of time that an individual Shop should take.

Realize that an Independent Shopper will probably not be very interested in doing a Shop for less than $10. While the Shop may take less than 10 minutes, there is time involved in going to and from the Store, filling out the report, etc.

On top of what the Independent Shopper is paid, you will want to make about the same. You need to cover your overhead, your website and marketing costs, and make a bit of a profit as well. Of course, if you are a skilled negotiator you can come away with a higher percentage - if you are not so good maybe you'll end up with less.