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Mystery shopping has emerged as one of the best methods to gauge customer experiences, assess employee performance, and uncover operational weaknesses. From retail to hospitality, banking to healthcare, and automotive services, to name a few, businesses in various sectors have turned to mystery shopping programs to learn more about their customers' impressions of their brand.
The fact that they are mystery shopping evaluations doesn't mean they'll succeed, though. Too many organizations don't get the best out of their programs because they make unnecessary mistakes when designing, implementing or monitoring them. These are some common mistakes in mystery shopping that can result in false conclusions, wasted resources, and opportunities for improvement missed.
This article delves into the common pitfalls of businesses with regard to mystery shopping, as well as what to avoid.
Why Mystery Shopping Programs Fail
Mystery shopping is mainly done to collect unbiased data regarding customer experience and operational performance. If done correctly, mystery shopping gives a business the actionable insights needed to improve their service and overall business performance.
Unfortunately, not many companies view mystery shopping as a continuous improvement exercise, but rather a one-off thing. Even the best evaluation can be pointless if there are no clear goals and followup.
The first step in creating a successful mystery shopping program is to know what the most frequent problems are.
Mistake #1: Setting Unclear Objectives
One of the most common mystery shopping mistakes is that they start a program without clear objectives.
Organizations carry out evaluations for several reasons, including to keep up with competitors or to get feedback generally. But if one has a general aim, then one may achieve only general results.
Companies need to know their goals and objectives before launching a mystery shopping program.
Common objectives include:
- Evaluating customer service
- Assessing employee performance
- Identifying the problems and requirements within the company
- Improving sales effectiveness
- Enhancing customer experiences
When goals are clear, then the focus of the mystery shopping evaluations is directed towards areas that affect business performance.
Mistake #2: Using Poorly Designed Questionnaires
Evaluation criteria, if poor, can lead to poor mystery shopping results.
There are some businesses that develop questionnaires that are:
- Too long
- Too complicated
- Not relevant to business objectives
- Avoids taking things for granted
If questionnaires have too many unnecessary or too many questions, the mystery shoppers might be unable to give any useful feedback. The purpose of evaluation forms should be to measure the performance indicators and the customer experience factors related to the organizational goals. Good questionnaires provide more accurate information and more actionable insights.
Mistake #3: Focusing Only on Compliance
Many companies employ mystery shoppers for compliance monitoring mystery audit purposes.
Although policy and procedure adherence are important, it is essential to not only measure compliance but also the overall effectiveness of the program.
For instance, a store can have a 100% compliance score if they have made every effort to comply with the operational guidelines, but provide a poor customer experience.
Compliance tests should be weighed with customer-centric assessments such as:
- Employee friendliness
- Communication skills
- Product knowledge
- Problem resolution
- Overall customer satisfaction
Compliance monitoring and customer experience evaluation are complementary and give a more comprehensive picture of performance.
Mistake #4: Conducting Audits Too Infrequently
There are some companies that run their mystery shopping evaluations just once or twice a year. This method is often not helpful for identifying current service problems or changes in service performance. Customer expectations, employee behavior and conditions of operation can vary rapidly.
Regular evaluations are useful for organizations to:
- Track performance trends
- Identify recurring issues
- Measure improvement efforts
- Maintain service consistency
Companies that do mystery shopping often have a better chance of resolving issues before they impact customer satisfaction and bottom line.
Mistake #5: Ignoring Customer Satisfaction Measurement
The other mistake that is needed to be addressed is not linking the results of the mystery shopping to larger customer satisfaction measurement programs.
While mystery shopping offers insight into the delivery of services, it should not be used alone.
Organisations need to correlate mystery shopping data with:
- Customer surveys
- Online reviews
- Customer complaints
- Net Promoter Scores
- Social media feedback
Multiple sources of information provide a more accurate picture of customer experiences. Without measuring customer satisfaction, businesses can lose out on valuable information that could impact their future customer loyalty.
Mistake #6: Failing to Act on Findings
But arguably the most expensive of all the mistakes that can be made when doing mystery shopping is gathering information without taking any action.
Numerous businesses conduct mystery shopping evaluations and get comprehensive reports but don't make any changes. Even the best of reports are of little value if nothing is done.
Once the mystery shoppers have reviewed their results, they should:
- Identify priority issues
- Develop corrective action plans
- Train employees
- Update operational processes
- Monitor improvement progress
The real magic of Mystery Shopping is making observations that translate to quantifiable changes.
Mistake #7: Treating Mystery Shopping as a Punishment Tool
Some managers utilize the outcomes of secret shoppers just to look for staff errors and fault. This is often detrimental to program effectiveness and results in staff resistance.
Mystery shopping isn't necessarily an opportunity, but it can be a threat for employees. Rather, businesses should view mystery shopping as a chance for development and learning.
The aim should be to enhance performance, not to punish employees. Constructive Mystery Shopping can lead to better employee engagement and service results within the organization.
Mistake #8: Choosing the Lowest-Cost Provider
While cost is important, choosing a provider of mystery shopping services just for the price could mean you have substandard evaluations.
There are some things low-cost providers may lack:
- Experienced mystery shoppers
- Industry expertise
- Advanced reporting capabilities
- Quality control processes
It is important to consider providers by the value they offer the business and not just the cost.
Data and reporting that is reliable and meaningful can yield a much higher ROI.
Best Practices for Successful Mystery Shopping Programs
To prevent common errors, businesses ought to:
- Establish clear objectives
- Design-centered assessment criteria were developed
- Conduct regular assessments
- Design focused evaluation criteria
- Employ findings for employee growth
- Track compliance and customer experiences on par.
- Take action on evaluation findings promptly
- Monitor over time how well they are doing.
These methods put into practice enable us to make the most of mystery shopping efforts.
Read Also: Top KPIs to Track in a Mystery Shopping Program
Frequently Asked Questions
Are employees able to guess who is the mystery shopper?
Mystery shoppers are trained to be anonymous, making it less likely that they will be detected.
What happens if employees know when the audit is going to take place?
The results of scheduled audits can be unrealistic because staff members often adapt their behavior for a short period of time.
Should businesses all share all mystery shopping results with staff?
It is important to share relevant findings, in order to increase transparency and promote employee development.
Can bad mystery shoppers impact outcomes?
Yes, anyone who is not trained or inexperienced can make inconsistent and incorrect evaluations.
Does mystery shopping work for small businesses?
Absolutely. Objective customer experience evaluations can be beneficial even for small businesses.
Conclusion
To ensure the success of your mystery shopping efforts and to maximize ROI, you need to avoid common mystery shopping pitfalls. The companies that have a clear vision, effective compliance monitoring, regular assessments, and continuous customer satisfaction measurement are more likely to see sustainable improvements.
But most importantly, the organizations should make the findings of mystery shopping meaningful and action oriented to bring the change. With the right approach, mystery shopping is not just a tool for assessment; it's a catalyst for enhanced customer experiences, empowered employees, and a thriving business. In the right hands, mystery shopping is more than just an assessment tool; it's a driver of better customer service, better employee performance, and better business growth.
