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Mystery Shopping Success Stories
Mystery Shopping Program helps David's Bridal reach their goal of continuously improving customer serviceThe David's Bridal customer is unique. She is shopping for apparel for a very important day - either her own wedding day or as a member of a wedding party. Wedding days are brimming with emotion and stress, much of it focused on appearance and detail. The planning process can take months, even years. David's Bridal employees are trained to take all this into account and provide service that makes their customers feel special and important, in keeping with the importance of their "special day". Veronica Katz of David's Bridal, and Customer Perspectives of Hooksett, NH, have designed a mystery shopping program that dovetails with David's overall customer service evaluation efforts. The mystery shopping reports are used as the basis of tutorials that are given once a month to all employees. Employees are engaged in role playing and brainstorming activities with the goal of continuously improving customer service. Quarterly, the mystery shopping results are combined with responses to customer survey cards to produce a customer service "scorecard". This scorecard measures how well expectations are being set, how store traffic is being managed, and what kind of first impression is being created. Katz says the mystery shopping program is particularly useful in measuring the customer's first impressions of David's Bridal and what factors make her decide if she'll return. As Katz notes, the typical bridal shopping experience is quite lengthy - sometimes as long as two years. They mystery shopping program allows Katz and her team to see missed opportunities during a customer's initial visit, as opposed to the customer service survey cards, which are sent to registered customers and focus on the shopping process. When viewed over time, Katz says trends and patterns emerge and can be addressed. As an example, David's Bridal now instructs employees to encourage customers who call for directions or store hours to set up midweek appointments to avoid the usually high traffic of Saturdays. Katz says their mystery shopping program is an integral part of an overall customer service evaluation program that trains and rewards employees for outstanding performance. It also provides management with a customer's perspective to their total shopping experience. 
Mystery Shopping Program helps nationwide retailer focus on strong customer service and sales standardsMystery shopping has proven to be a useful tool for one of the country's leading suppliers of women's high-end swimwear. This nationwide client of Customer Perspectives of Hooksett, NH, has used a mystery shopping program as part of its customer service program since 1999. Corporate trainer Anne Gwinn says, "With a corporate office in Florida and stores nationwide, we feel this is the best opportunity we have to view the level of customer service we are providing our clients. We are able to identify staffing issues and training opportunities through the shops." The retailer has 34 stores nationwide. Staff varies from 5-15 employees per store, depending on sales volume. Individuals are not targeted for evaluation. Instead, random shops are performed with the expectation that the majority of the staff will be shopped over time. Gwinn says, "We offer a reward of $100 for every 100% mystery shop. We have a strong customer service and sales focus. Our nonnegotiable sales standards have been incorporated into the shop. These standards are very basic, such as greeting every customer as they enter the store and bringing additional items to the fitting room. The shops are a great training tool for us." On average, between 5 and 10 rewards are given out every month. The mystery shopping program factors into performance reviews and additional points are added for perfect shops. The District manager reviews the shops with the Store Manager, who then discusses the shop with their employees. The shops are tracked on a spreadsheet. Compliance on the nonnegotiable sales standards is also tracked, and weighted 50% of the shop. Gwinn says she has seen consistent company-wide improvement since the mystery shopping program was implemented. For example, in the past, as peak season approached, a decline in service was noted as busy employees tried to handle more than one customer. That specific selling situation was targeted and employees now have the tools to cope with several customers at once. Call Toll Free 800-CPSHOPS, to find out how Customer Perspectives' mystery shopping programs can improve your bottom line! |
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