Category: Customer Experience

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.”

Call centers spend significant amounts of time and money training associates on delivering a friendly and empathetic approach.   The Wall Street Journal reports that some companies now go one step further and reevaluate the voicethat initially greets customers.  These companies believe that with a friendlier, more inviting voice, they increase the chance that customers will stay within the automated system rather than trying to reach a live operator, which saves companies money.   Alflac, for example, recently brought on a new voice with a calm, hometown feel for its initial greeting.  The company reports a 7% increase in customer satisfaction with the automated system since implementing the new voice.