Have Your Own Staff Mystery Shop Your Competition

July 11, 2012 By

Most large retail chains and restaurants employ mystery shoppers. These services can be helpful for evaluating if frontline associates are following proper procedures, being polite and treating customers in a professional manner. But while they can be wonderful measurement tools, they are not necessarily effective at improving the establishment’s processes or training programs. Getting your own associates involved in the process can reap many rewards and also result in more engaged employees.

If you own a business that deals with customers face to face, I would suggest that you select a few associates who would be willing to mystery shop your competition and report back on what they learn. I might also suggest that you include associates who you consider to be very welcoming and some that may appear to be robotic or indifferent. Mixing up the team might help some of the weaker staff see how they deliver service to your customers and how they themselves could become better in their own interactions.

Here are some hints to help make the process more effective:

  1. Inform your associates during one of your regular store or restaurant meetings that you are looking for volunteers to mystery shop 5 of your closest competitors. Tell them it will be fun and that your company will provide a budget to actually purchase some products which they can either share or keep themselves.
  2. Pick a small team of 3 or 4 associates and have them develop the specific criteria to evaluate. It could be things such as – Did they give you a big smile? – Did they provide their name? – Did they try to engage you in a conversation other than just take care of your transaction? – Did they use your name at any point in the conversation?, etc.
  3. Develop some specific scenarios such as, “I just moved into the neighborhood and want to see what types of merchandise you have,” or compliment the merchandise the store has and see if they ignore your comment or thank you for the compliment. Tell them that you have been purchasing at their store for a long time or eating at their restaurant quite awhile and see if they “thank you” for your past patronage.
  4. Have them call your 5 closest competitors and ask them for their hours. If they reach a live person, assess if the person just answered your specific question about the hours or if they also tried to engage you in a conversation. Did the associate make you feel that if you went to their store or restaurant they would welcome your business or not care at all?
  5. Have the groups meet and share their findings with the rest of the team at the next upcoming staff meeting, allowing each team member to communicate what they learned, what made them feel special and/or what completely turned them off. Be sure to leave extra time for discussion.

Using outside partners to mystery shop your company can be valuable. Having your own associates mystery shop your competitors and learn from their experience is priceless.

 

Filed Under: Blog, Contact Center, Customer Service, Hospitality, Retail Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

What is Your ‘Customer at Risk’ Ratio?

June 27, 2012 By

Every company has a “customer at risk” score or ratio. Your “at risk” score is the percentage of customers who only frequent your store, restaurant, hotel, etc., out of convenience, not because they are loyal. Having a large number of customers who are not loyal is risky business.

One of best ways to determine your establishment’s “customer at risk” score is to have a conversation with a random sampling of your customers. I would suggest that you have someone from your team speak to at least 100 consumers over a period of two or three months. Here are some questions which will elicit the information you need to assess their interest and loyalty to your business:

 

  •  What made you decide to walk into our business in the first place?
  •  What do you like best about doing business with us?
  •  Do you feel that we appreciate your business?
  •  Have you built up a bond or relationship with any individuals working at our establishment? If so, who?
  •  If a competitor opened up another location close to ours, how likely would you be to check it out?
  •  If you were to describe how we treat our customers in one sentence, what would you say?
  •  If you owned this business, what would you do to insure that customers became loyal advocates and not just shopped there out of convenience?

Finding the answers to these questions will help you to assess your “customer at risk” factor. This exercise requires having a conversation with your customers; ask these types of questions via the telephone or face-to-face. If you decide to use an Internet survey or IVR to solicit this information, you have missed the point.

 

Filed Under: Blog, Contact Center, Customer Service, Hospitality, Retail Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Are You Too Busy for Customers?

May 7, 2012 By

Today I would like to share with you a guest blog post from Joe Rawlinson

Here in Texas we have to get our cars inspected every year to make sure they are still safe to drive. One year I needed to get my wife’s car inspected so I returned to an auto shop that had done the inspection the previous year.

My Experience

I walked in and said that I needed a state inspection. My conversation went as follows:

Guy behind counter: “It’ll be 45 minutes to an hour.”

Me: “So you’re saying I’ll be out of here in an hour?”

Guy: “There are no guarantees. My inspector is out and I’m the only one that can do the inspection.”

Me: “When does your inspector get back?”

Guy: “Next week.”

Me: “When is a better time to come by then?”

Guy: “Around 7:30am. Before the phone starts ringing and things get busy.”

The employee/manager never made eye contact with me during this conversation. I jumped into my car and left.

I know you’re busy, but…

If you are busy, don’t blow off your customers. Why did I have to ask 20 questions? Even after the questions, I was left with the impression that the guy behind the counter just wanted to get rid of me.

All businesses get busy times. However, just because you are swamped doesn’t mean your customers will quit calling. To ensure that you still appease your customers you need to remember these steps when you are super busy:

  •  Explain why you are busy.
  •  Express sympathy for the customer and still show you care even though you can’t service them right now.
  •  Give the customer some options. Offer different times the customer could return or call you.
  •  If you know you can’t help them, don’t send them away empty handed. Refer them to another company you respect.

By taking care of your customers’ perceptions and needs even when you are busy, you’ll be sure to make the good impressions that will keep you busy for years to come.

Your Competition is Waiting

After my distasteful experience trying to get my car inspected, I got back in my car and drove a half a block down the street to another auto service station.

Upon entering the office, I was promptly served and was done in a mere 15 minutes. The staff was cordial and friendly. This was in complete contrast to the shop up the street I had just left.

Remember that your competition is everywhere. They are conveniently located just down the street. They can be reached by a simple phone call. Their website is just a click away.

You must treat your customers with the respect they deserve or they’ll jump in their car, leave, and give their money to your competition.

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To learn more about Joe Rawlinson, please visit his website http://www.returncustomer.com/ or connect with him on Twitter @joerawlinson.

 

Filed Under: Best Practices, Blog, Customer Service, Guest Blogger, Retail Tagged With: , , ,