Want to know the secret to the best mystery shopping practices? You have come to the right place!
Today we are spilling the tea on some amazing and effective mystery shopping practices you must adopt for the best results. You will be empowered to get the most out of your mystery shopping service with the right approach and technique.
So, let’s begin by understanding a little about What is Secret Shopping?
Secret or Mystery Shopping – Defined
It is an increasingly popular form of market research that allows businesses to assess and evaluate their performance from a customer’s point of view. It enables them to identify their weaknesses and strengths.
There are different types of mystery shopping: in-person, telephone, and hybrid. They can be found in different industries, and companies opt for these services as they help them assess all business aspects quickly and easily.
It is a proven way to improve customer experience, especially in multi-location businesses.
Best Practices for Secret Shopping
1. Focus Only on Key Metrics
A good way to get the most out of the mystery shopping service is to focus only on key metrics. Once you have set some objectives for the mystery shopping program catering to your business, you can be clear on its outcomes. The entire program can be revolved around these objectives. You can identify the key areas you want to gather information on and then ask the shopping program to only focus on these.
2. Keep Questionnaire Objective and Precise
The data from secret shopping gives all the information and insights we require. Keeping the questionnaire objective will give you hard data compared to the subjective questions that provide a person’s opinion.
It would be best if you were more precise with your questions. Instead of asking a general question like “Was the bathroom clean?” you can ask, “Was there any debris on the floor?” or “Were the bathroom sinks and toilets clean?” An objective and more precise questionnaire will give you all the necessary information.
3. Limit the Total Number of Observations Required
Remember that the mystery shopper fills out the secret shopping questionnaire after the field visit. They must remain in disguise and cannot simultaneously answer the questions. They remember most of their observations and provide a result based on that. If your questionnaire requires a limited number of observations, it makes it easy for the mystery shopper to focus on important things and remember them, giving you accurate information.
4. Pick the Right Mystery Shopping Partner
Another good practice for mystery shopping would be to pick the right partner or service. You know what is secret shopping, and this program is developed to help you get actionable insights into your business. Therefore, you must be clear with the required tools and help. An experienced and advanced mystery shopping solution would do the work for you.
5. Don’t Work in Isolation
In this tech-driven world, you no longer have to work in isolation. You can use all the online tools and services for excellent business operational management.
Thus, combining the data from mystery shopping, customer surveys, and audits, you will get a comprehensive picture of the customer experience associated with your business. Include these best practices and tips in your mystery shopping program, and you will see how excellent a tool it is.