Category: Customer Experience

Steady customer traffic is what every retail company wants in its stores, but do companies perform as well during the unexpected busy times as they do for the expected high-volume periods?

Companies benefit from an increased number of customer visits only if associates meet customer demands during the rush.  To do this, companies need to prepare an approach and strategy to adapt for larger crowds.  Companies anticipate busy times, such as the holidays, by stocking up with the right items, carrying items within the appropriate price ranges and learning from past holiday trends about which items to carry and how many.   As Inc.com points out, some companies prepare well for the fast-paced holiday selling time by instructing employees to be honest about possible wait times.

As 2012 budget time approaches, companies have one priority when choosing what items to include in their budgets:  ROI.  Now, more than ever, companies are assessing carefully how every service that they use contributes to ROI. Many service providers claim their offerings tie directly into ROI; however, they don’t clearly outline the numbers.  

Managers need hard numbers to justify purchases, and mystery shopping services are no exception.  Whether a company has been using a mystery shopping program for a long time, or is considering one for the first time, estimating ROI can help weigh the costs vs. the benefits of the program.

If your company collects customer feedback, comment cards, store visit or field audit report information in spreadsheets, you may be missing out on the information’s maximum value. Comparisons and correlations of the data collected provide key insights that you may miss if the information is hidden inside multiple spreadsheets managed by multiple people.  Here’s a prime example:

Customer service is full of surprises. Sometimes, no matter how well we plan customer service strategies, something goes awry.  Usually, the customer is the first to know and the associate may be taken by surprise.   How does your team handle service recovery? Is your team prepared to respond in the best way possible when service recovery is needed?

Last month, Confero posed an interesting question to mystery shoppers:

Mystery shoppers observe and report on customer service every day.  What is the one thing an employee or business can do to turn a negative customer service experience into a positive one?

We received many insightful comments, including these:

“It’s the willing spirit that makes the difference; showing that they are listening, and that they want to make things right. “

A few months ago, Confero revealed 25 mystery shopper comments that shed some interesting light on shopper experiences in a humorous way. We know our clients take mystery shopping reports seriously, as do we, but comic relief is always welcome, so we decided to share more funny comments. Enjoy!  

• “Since there was not a bagger available, the customer bagged himself.”
•  “The music was not on, but a few employees behind the counter were singing ‘Hotel California.’”
• “When I entered the location, I saw one customer being hung up by the cashier.”