Serving customers consistently well
is an unrelenting challenge. Understanding exactly what happens
to a typical customer during a typical visit to your business is
key to meeting your customer service challenges.
Meet
Confero: a marketing services firm specializing in field evaluation services
(mystery shopping), customer satisfaction consultation and training for consumer
service businesses.
A leading provider with a reputation for quality results,
Confero offers customer service mystery shopping evaluations,
consumer brand support services, customer satisfaction research,
on-the-spot reward programs and training services.
Our mission is simple: Help our client companies provide outstanding service to their own
customers.
Consider
your own organization and ask yourself the following questions. If
your answer to any of these questions is No, we're here to help.
Whether
your business is a multi-unit franchised operation or a single-unit, if you
serve consumers, Confero can
help you serve your customer better.
Do your unhappy customers really complain?
Most customers who have an unsatisfactory
experience at your business will never complain to anyone in the business, they will
simply never return. This deprives your employees of an opportunity to correct errors
--and thus strengthen--their relationships with customers. In addition, the unhappy
customer will tell up to 15 others of their experience with your business, depriving you
of the opportunity to increase business. Statistically, 10 customers must be dissatisfied
before one will bother to complain to an employee. Essentially, customers "complain
with their feet" by going elsewhere next time.
Are you able to manage more with less?
Many companies have reduced the field staff
which assists, coaches, monitors, and supervises their units. Since regional and district
managers must attend to more locations, they must manage their time effectively. Reports
from mystery shoppers describe how well the business presents itself to customers, a
valuable tool for directing district and regional managers’ time toward locations
which would benefit most from extra direction.
Are you rewarding the right behaviors?
For companies with incentives or bonus programs,
shopping programs provide an effective link between the incentive and performance
standards. Since Confero is an impartial, independent firm, and since shoppers remain
anonymous and provide candid feedback, there is less likelihood for perceived favoritism
in bonus programs.
Are you training service staff to perform specific,
identifiable behaviors?
Shopping programs identify areas of training
which may or may not have been as effective as first believed. The purpose of training is
to change behavior. Shopping programs examine the behaviors exhibited toward customers and
provide data on how well employees learned the behaviors taught during training.
Are you regularly inspecting what you expect?
Shopping programs have greatest impact when the shops are conducted regularly.
For this reason, shopping visits must be conducted at least monthly to ensure
the greatest value for the program. If competition is intense, if employee
turnover is high, or if your market segment is volatile, we recommend more
frequent shops.
