Mystery Shopping:

From 1999 - 2008, our firm conducted over 23,000 mystery shops and we're still going strong. Whether you've used mystery shops before, never mystery shopped or would need more information about it, here are some facts:

• We receive hundreds of calls every year from companies inquiring about mystery shop services, generally, wanting to know why they should use Mystery Shops and why they should use us as the service provider.
  
  
• The inquirers, inevitably, are concerned about the level of customer service that is being delivered by their team, their ability to attract and retain customers and for a way to measure a baseline standard to improve the results.
  
  
• Customer acquisition, increasing services, increasing customer profitability and increasing customer retention couldn't be more important than today.
  
  
• Years of studies state a range of percentages about why customers leave a company and most target poor customer service. No matter what the study reports, the fact of the matter is when service is NOT exceptional and consistent - customers will move to another company. You can play the 'what if' margin game on various products and services and it isn't difficult to see that losing profit because of poor or unacceptable customer service is unacceptable.
  
  

• Mystery shops can be used to measure a baseline of customer service. Once a baseline is measured, it is easy to see why business is leaving. You can see which employee, which location (if you have multiple locations) and the overall score based on 24 checkpoints. You also see what was said on the mystery shop call. Now that you have evaluated the current state of affairs as it relates to the customer experience, you can do something about the skills needed to improve.
  
  

• As the old saying goes, "what gets measured gets improved".
  
  

  Here are a few other reasons to use Mystery Shops:

  1. Test Product Knowledge skills
     
     
  2. Operationally, are callers getting to the right person
     
     
  3. Customer engagement skills -- are callers getting accurate information, but more importantly, are their needs truly being taken care of?
     
     
  4. You can even have a case for compliance reasons
  
  
  

  We've also found that an advantage to calling is getting an added bonus of finding out who knows how to use your telephone system and how efficiently calls are handled from the customers' view-point. We find out how long your callers have to wait on hold or for an answer or go into the 'black hole' of voice mail. We find out if the staff takes ownership of a call and how skilled they are at engaging the customer for their business, and of course, how they handle the stress of the phone ringing with a customer in front of them. Knowing what callers are experiencing is one of the keys to retaining your customers.
  
  

  It doesn't take a lot of calls. We suggest conducting two calls per quarter to each location using your published phone numbers. You'll be investing a smaller amount of money and have all the information you need to see what people calling are experiencing. We have clients that conduct one call per location per month and others that even have us making a few calls to their competitors. There's no need to make a ton of calls to get a solid evaluation. Random calls give you the best true picture.
  
  

  If this is a resource you'd like to take advantage of and schedule for your company, learn more about, or discuss options, please contact us. Use the Ask Us link to contact us with any questions.
  
  

  Pricing
  

• First 10 - 30 calls:   $45 each

• Next 31 - 50 calls: $40 each

• Next 51 - 75 calls: $25 each

• Calls over 76: $25 each