Confero Blog

Why Organizations Use Mystery Shoppers

by Elaine Buxton

When I tell friends that I work for a firm that provides mystery shopping services, I am surprised by the responses. They are intrigued with the idea of mystery shopping and want to become mystery shoppers themselves. Most have experienced positive and negative interactions in buying situations and have wanted to convey feedback on their experiences.

Aside from an interest in mystery shopping on a personal level, the average consumer does not think about why companies choose a mystery shopping service as a way to measure the customer experience. Consider the goals of those companies that use them:

-Deliver excellent customer service consistently. Most companies do not have the ability to monitor employee service behaviors on a day-to -day basis. As managers review mystery shop reports over time, they gain insight on how employees are living up to company service expectations. They can use this ongoing information to ensure that they give their employees the right tools and coaching to provide great service on a regular basis.

-Expect a high level of customer service from every employee. In a company with a well-run mystery shopping program, employees know that managers will commend those employees who perform well when shopped, and work toward improvement with those who don’t make the grade. Mystery shops contain specific behavior expectations for each position type, making them a great way for companies to move all employees to the same level of customer service delivery.

For companies that set goals like these and work hard to meet them, mystery shop programs are well worth exploring.

[0] Comments

Confero Mystery Shopper Newsletter July 24 2009

by Confero Inc.

Confero on Facebook!

Confero has joined Facebook!!
Become a fan of our company page today! We are hoping Facebook will allow us to better our communication with shoppers. Look for daily updates from our schedulers and exciting new information and contests!

Monthly Mystery Shopper Payments

Shopper payments for July have been posted. Check your PayPal account if you conducted a shop for Confero in June. As a reminder, payments are issued on or around the 25th of each month following the month of completion.

IVR Surveys vs Mystery Shops

by Elaine Buxton

Interactive Voice Response Interviewing (IVR) and Mystery Shops are both effective ways to measure customer experience quality. When looking at a choice between the two methods or a combination of both, it’s important to consider three key areas:

1. How is the client experience information gathered?
With IVR, customers call an automated system and answer survey questions about their most recent experience. A big advantage is that the company can listen to actual customer comments. With a mystery shop program, shoppers pose as customers and report on their observations. The company benefits by receiving shop information on the exact employee behaviors that they are interested in gathering data about.

2. How many customer responses are collected?
In an IVR scenario, customers dial into a phone survey at their convenience. With this method, firms frequently offer rewards for survey participation, which translates into higher response rates in comparison to other survey methods. With mystery shop programs, there’s no need to worry about response rates. The company determines the number of shops and the frequency, and receives a pre-determined number of completed shops by a specified date on a regular basis.

3. How do the questioning methods in IVR Surveys and Mystery Shops differ?
Each customer responds to the exact same questions phrased in the same way when using the IVR method. This eliminates subjectivity associated with interview bias. With a mystery shop solution, shoppers conduct the shops using company-specific guidelines. These guidelines instruct the shoppers to look for certain behaviors, notice specific conditions or listen for specific words. The mystery shop provider uses quality assurance measures to ensure that shoppers follow the guidelines.

IVR responses will tell you what customers thought. Mystery shop responses will tell you how the location performed against your standard. Used together, mystery shops and IVR surveys can paint a valuable, detailed picture of customer service delivery.Here’s a quick comparison:

[0] Comments

Confero, Inc. Names Business Development Manager

by Confero Inc.

CARY, N.C. —Elaine Buxton, president of Confero, Inc., (www.conferoinc.com), a national customer experience measurement firm, has announced that Janet Morrison has been named business development manager. Morrison joins Confero with more than 20 years of marketing and sales experience, and 18 years of experience in the financial services industry. Her background includes leading client service and sales initiatives, business development, sales management, marketing research and focus group moderation. Most recently, Morrison served as the regional sales and marketing officer with BB&T, and was responsible for communicating mystery shop goals and results, providing guidance to managers on how to access mystery shop results, encouraging improvement and recognizing employees for superior mystery shop behaviors.

Telephone Mystery Shopping Questions

by Elaine Buxton

Many companies that are considering the implementation of a telephone mystery shopping program ask us for sample mystery shopper survey questions.

Of course, firms need to customize questions to match their own specific customer service guidelines. Taking a look at some basic telephone survey questions can be a good starting point for the company to move toward a program that fulfills its unique requirements without having to reinvent the wheel.

Here are some sample telephone shop questions to use as a starting point: