10/ 01/ 2007
by Tamara E. Holmes
If your employees interact with customers, you may want to utilize a mystery shopping service.
Mystery shoppers pose as customers and actually evaluate employees to make sure they're doing their jobs efficiently. They then report those results to management.
The information gleaned from a mystery shopping report can help you determine whether to reward or promote certain employees, improve training procedures or, in drastic cases, dismiss employees.
Some companies ask mystery shoppers interact with all employees just to get an idea of the experience a new customer would have. Other companies use mystery shoppers to interact with a specific employee. For example, if you've received negative feedback about someone on your staff, you can have a mystery shopper evaluate the employee to see if the shopper reports a negative experience. Likewise, if you're considering promoting a certain employee, a mystery shopper can help you determine if that employee does, in fact, go above and beyond the call of duty.
There are a number of mystery shopping companies, some of which specialize in certain types of businesses.
The Mystery Shopping Providers Association is a good place to start. The organization, at http://www.mysteryshop.org/, offers a listing of mystery shopping companies, along with a searching tool that lets you find ones in your region and those that specialize in your industry.
A mystery shopping company will work with you to determine your company's needs and help you come up with scenarios that mystery shoppers will use when engaging with your employees. For example, if you own a retail establishment, you might want to have a mystery shopper come into the store to return damaged merchandise to see if the employees handle the task adequately. You can also have mystery shoppers interact with employees at set intervals or on a monthly or weekly basis to determine how often customer service is up to par.
Mystery shoppers will submit a detailed report that you can use to evaluate your employees or share with employees as part of their training.
While it costs money to have a mystery shopping company set up a program for you, you can sidestep that by developing a mystery shopping program of your own. If money is a concern, have friends or colleagues agree to mystery shop your business and report the findings to you.
When setting up a mystery shopping program, consider the following tips:
- Make sure scenarios are realistic. Have the mystery shopper do things that regular customers do all the time. If a mystery shopper comes in making unusual requests, your employees may suspect that something is up.
- Provide detailed instructions. Let mystery shoppers know what you want them to look for. Do you want to see if your employees are professionally dressed? Let your mystery shopper know what you consider to be acceptable. Do you expect your employees to smile and greet customers within 10 seconds of them walking in the door? Let your mystery shopper know. Do you expect the phone to be picked up within three rings? A mystery shopper can be told to look out for whatever you deem to be important.
- Create a plan of action. What will you do with the results of your mystery shopping reports? Will you share them with employees as a method of training or use them to help with employee evaluations? Figure out what you will do with the results before implementing the plan.
- Reward your shoppers. Mystery shopping companies typically award shoppers a small amount, ranging from $5 to $50 for more time-consuming tasks. You can also reward mystery shoppers via free services. For example, if you own a restaurant, reimbursement for the meal may be sufficient. Likewise, if you own an auto body shop, you can reimburse shoppers for a minor job in exchange for them doing the report.
Every business owner wants to make sure employees are doing good work on company time. By implementing a mystery shopping program, you can put your employees to the test.
