Mystery shoppers spy - for good cause
Feedback lets companies see themselves through eyes of their customers
Columbus Dispatch
By Tracy Turner
She looks like an average customer, but she's really a spy, sent
by a company to secretly evaluate its own customer service.
Her mission: to find out whether customers are getting their
money's worth and being treated well, too.
With her goals a secret, she and thousands of shopper spies like
her patronize stores, restaurants, gas stations, salons and hotels
to report back to the business owners on product quality, facility
cleanliness and, most importantly, customer service.
Scores of companies like Anonymous Insights Inc. of Dublin and
Corporate Research International of Findlay imbed such shoppers
into stores at the request of businesses that want an impartial
view of their operations and employees.
With a spy in their midst, "companies can know exactly how their
real customers are being treated," said Stacy Hatton, who's been
a mystery shopper in the Findlay area for several years.
Companies that use mystery shoppers run the gamut from McDonald's
to Blockbuster to CiCi's Pizza. The latter spends $600,000 a year
to measure customer service, which includes using mystery shoppers,
said Steve Hawter, CiCi's training director. The restaurant chain
has six locations in central Ohio.
"Mystery shopping tells us the customer's impression of the store
by taking the ego out of it," he said. "We think we're great,
but mystery shopping gives us a dose of reality by providing another
set of eyes to view our stores."
Charles Penzone, president and founder of the Charles Penzone
Family of Salons, employs secret shoppers, too - at least 200
times a year, he said, as part of the company's overall quality-control
effort.
He calls the service priceless.
"With competition the way it is, you've got to know what's going
on in your business, so you'll know how to improve your current
operation," he said. And, he said, mystery shoppers "can tell
you how your staff is acting when management isn't around."
The retail, service and hospitality industries have long used
shopper spies, but other types of companies are increasingly seeing
the value of them, according to the Mystery Shopping Providers
Association, based in Dallas.
Nationwide, businesses spent nearly $600 million on the service
in 2004, up 11 percent from the previous year, the group said.
Retail accounts for 16.8 percent of spyshopping revenue in 2004.
Banks and finance-related businesses followed at 14.2 percent,
with fastfood chains next at 14 percent.
The association has 150 member companies, seven of which are
in Ohio.
Rising interest in the practice has allowed Anonymous Insights
Inc. to experience a 20 percent jump in business over last year,
said Suzy Baker, its president and co-owner.
"Customers want to be valued and business owners want to know
if that's what's happening in their companies," Baker said.
"And they want to know it from the customer's perspective. It's
money well-spent."
Fees that secret shoppers earn are based on the type of business
being checked out and the experience level of the shopper. Pay
typically ranges from $12 to $20 for each assignment and shoppers
sometimes get free meals, discounts on products and other perks,
said Brad Holdgreve, a vice president at Corporate Research International
of Findlay. The firm has 250 business clients.
The practice is "a way for a company to get an unbiased perception
of how their stores are performing," Holdgreve said.
Companies that use the service are charged by mystery-shopping
firms based on the size of the business, how many locations are
shopped and the time invested by the shopper.
More companies are using the service because companies want to
"deliver on their brand promise," said John Swinburn, president
of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. "Mystery shopping
allows (a company) to measure whether or not it's delivering to
customers what it thinks it is."
