Confero Blog

What Would You Do With This Mystery Shopper Feedback?

Jul 27, 2010 by Confero Inc.


Mystery shop results help you understand, in detail, how your locations perform in terms of appearance, timeliness, and customer engagement through greeting, customer service and sales behaviors, product knowledge, friendliness and other factors. The results also provide invaluable information through mystery shopper comments. Open-ended comments reflect mystery shopper observations about what they saw and heard during the mystery shop visit. They include details that explain a low-scored area or in-depth comments on overall impressions about the visit.

Here are a few shopper comments from reports we have received in the past week or two. As you read them, consider what you would do if you read these comments about one of your own locations. Reward and recognize, or meet to discuss improvement?

  • I appreciated that I did not have to hunt for someone when I had a question. I was very impressed with the salesperson’s knowledge and willingness to help.
  • When I asked Sue for assistance, she was short with me and seemed annoyed that I interrupted her personal conversation.

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Confero Retail Compliance Audit Case Studies Show Reliability and Speed

Jul 27, 2010 by Confero Inc.

Over the years, we’ve been asked to conduct research with some very specific and interesting requirements. For example, Confero recruited smokers with specific types of health insurance policies in order to test and compare the effectiveness of public quit smoking hotlines. Often times, it’s not the project itself that is the most difficult for us, but the tight time frame that is the most challenging. Here are some examples:

  • Confero delivered results for a retail reset study involving 2,000 locations within 3 days, with only 2 days notice.
  • For a compliance project requiring quick turnaround, Confero deployed shoppers to test coupon acceptance at 900 convenience stores. Confero completed the work within the requested time frame, and delivered the final results to the client just 24 days after the project began.

If you would like to learn more about the types of projects Confero conducts and the time frames that we can deliver them, please visit our case studies .

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FTC Issues Warning About Mystery Shopping Scams

Jul 14, 2010 by Confero Inc.

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a new warning about mystery shopping scams. This particular warning is intended to caution recent college graduates about potential scammers targeting young people looking for work. Check out the FTC new release .

Scammers are not only targeting recent college graduates. As we have noted before in previous consumer alerts, all sorts of consumers are targeted. Here are some tips for avoiding these scams:

  • Legitimate mystery shopping companies do not require potential mystery shoppers to pay a fee to become a mystery shopper. To find legitimate mystery shopping companies, visit the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) website .
  • Never deposit a check from someone you do not know. Scammers often send fake checks to consumers as part of a fake mystery shop. The consumer is instructed to deposit the check into their bank account and wire a small amount of money to third party. The check will bounce and the consumer will be responsible for paying the bank back for the money withdrawn. For more on fake check scams, check our alerts here .
  • Often times these scammers are based out of foreign countries. Be sure to do your research before signing up for a mystery shopping company.

Confero has compiled a long list of resources to help consumers identify and avoid scams. Please take a few minutes to read the articles and watch the videos below.

  • The FTC released these videos about mystery shopping scams.
  • Confero’s president, Elaine Buxton sat down with the Better Business Bureau for an interview about fake check scams .
  • We have compiled a list of scammers who have claimed to work for Confero; none have ever worked for Confero.
  • Check out this short segment on NBC’s Today Show about fake check scams.
  • Have you been a victim of a fake check scam? This blog post explains what you should do if you receive a fake check in the mail or are contacted by a scammer.
  • Scammers have used fake names to pretend that they work for Confero. They claim to hold positions as “Human Resource Manager”, “Evaluator Coordinator” or “Head of Recruitment.” These positions do not exist at Confero.

A vigilant consumer sent us a copy of the fake check and fake letter they recently received in the mail. If you read closely there are a few typos and poorly worded sentences that should be a red flag. Also, notice there is no return address on the envelope. We have heard from some consumers that the envelopes are postmarked in Canada, but the letter lists Confero’s Cary, NC address.

One of Confero’s staff members called the phone number listed in the fake letter and recorded the call. These people sound legitimate! Take a few minutes to listen to the recorded phone call . One of the biggest red flags is that the “evaluator coordinator” says the shopper can visit any Western Union location and any Wal-Mart location. Legitimate mystery shopping firms require mystery shoppers to visit a specific location at a specific time.

If you are interested in legitimate mystery shopping opportunities, here are a few tips:

  • Do your research! Check out the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) website for a list of legitimate and reputable firms.
  • Check out a company’s rating with the Better Business Bureau .
  • Never pay to become a mystery shopper. Any companies requiring an application fee or new shopper fee are a scam.
  • Mystery shopping companies DO NOT issue checks for hundreds or thousands of dollars. If you receive a check in the mail, it is fake.
  • Mystery shopping companies DO NOT mystery shop Western Union or other money transfer services.

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Three Myths About Mystery Shops - Don’t Believe them!

Jun 23, 2010 by Confero Inc.


Many people, both shoppers and clients alike, tend to make assumptions about the mystery shopping industry. We are not sure how some of these myths began, but we hope to clarify some of them. In this issue, we expose the following three myths:

Myth #1: The best mystery shoppers are “professional” shoppers who specialize in your industry.

With the right firm and the right quality control mechanisms in place, professional mystery shoppers are not necessary. If you’re seeking to gain objective information from a typical customer, look into a mystery shopping firm that deploys mystery shoppers with various backgrounds. A good mystery shopping firm selects shoppers with a demographic profile that matches that of your typical customer in terms of gender, age, language and other factors. Mystery shoppers with the right demographics and various backgrounds provide a more objective view of what the customer experience is really like at your stores. Those mystery shoppers who specialize in a certain industry can become just that – specialized – making them mediocre choices as shoppers who pose as average customers. If you seek critical feedback from an expert, send an auditor.

Myth #2: To exceed the competition, you need to compare your own results to your competitor’s results.

When you set up a mystery shop program, you need to consider your own unique employee standards. A mystery shopping company that works with you to create a customized survey will prove to be your biggest asset. Competitive information is critical; however a comparison of your results to a competitor’s results can sell your company short.

Why? Company standards vary, so chances are, no two surveys will be exactly alike in terms of questions asked and weighting of each question. You would not be making an exact comparison if survey questions or weightings vary in the slightest. And consider the possibility that your competitor may have standards lower than yours. If your firm exceeds the competitor’s results, it would be meaningless if you did not consider their standards high enough in the first place.

A more effective way to rise above the competition is to use customer satisfaction surveys to gauge the type of service that customers want, then adjust standards and measure them through use of a mystery shop program.

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Five Often-Missed Customer Service Focus Areas

Jun 23, 2010 by Confero Inc.


Sometimes the simplest task is the hardest to do. Through our decades of experience and knowledge measuring the customer experience, five key areas stand out when thinking about areas employees frequently miss. These five may seem simple, but they can be difficult to execute consistently across an organization. Consider these areas within your own organization to see if your company is where it should be:

1) Welcome and Greet Customers to Establish a Personal Interest
Companies train employees to use strong and inviting greetings, but sometimes employees miss significant elements of the greeting. The most effective greetings are sincere, timely and welcoming. When we see results where the employee does not meet the standard, usually the employee has rushed through the greeting, doesn’t appear friendly, or greets the customer in a mechanical way.

2) Build a Connection Using the Customer’s Name
Standing out among competitors is an ongoing battle, and an even tougher one in today’s economic climate. To do it, you need to make sure that employees make the extra effort to connect with customers and prospects, so that customers feel good about doing business with you. Using the customer’s name is an important way to connect. Many companies don’t want employees to overuse the customer’s name (it seems forced and unnatural), but they do want them to use it more than once in a conversation.

Despite the expectation, employees frequently do not repeat the customer’s name twice. The employee may not want to mispronounce a name or forgets to mention the customer’s name again. Whatever the reason, some companies could benefit from training or incentives to ensure employees meet expectations regarding the use of the customer’s name.

3) Use the Connection to Learn about the Customer’s Needs
When employees take time to know the customer and make them feel welcome, they ask questions about what the customer needs or wants, and don’t just take an order. At a fast casual restaurant, an employee may explain different menu options that meet dietary requirements, whereas at a retail store an employee can talk to the customer about desired features of a certain product.

In any employee-customer interaction, employees need to listen to needs and provide information and recommendations tailored to the specific customer. One reason that some employees don’t do this is because they are focused solely on the transaction at hand. If this transaction-only-based interaction is happening within your organization, sales potential goes down. Think about ways to motivate and encourage employees to take the conversation to the next level. Better yet, consider more specific ways to communicate this expectation before you make your next hire.

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