Blog
Our blogMystery Shops Are Expensive
The truth is, it is much more costly to lose customers due to a sub-par shopping experience. Did you know that American shoppers tell an average of 15 people about a poor service experience, versus the 11 people they’ll tell about a good experience? Worse, after one...
Customer Perspectives Offers Mystery Shopping Programs for Franchises
Nearly all customer facing businesses, from retailers to restaurants to hotels, utilize some type of mystery shopping program. These programs are designed to measure the customer experience, identify room for improvement and report that business is adhering to company...
The Many Faces of Mystery Shopping
According to Forbes Magazine’s reporting in 2013 more than 500,000 new businesses are started in the US each month. Moreover, the Small Business Administration reported in 2016 that the number of new small businesses has increased 49% since 1982. This creates a large...
Customer experience: It’s Broke, Fix It!
The customer was attempting to place an online order, which involved uploading a large file. When the file upload was complete, the customer expected some kind of response telling her, “Your materials have been received” and an expected date of delivery. But there was...
Someone’s getting the right message: Go the extra dozen miles for your customers
My husband and I gave ourselves a weekend getaway for our 19th anniversary, just a 2-hour drive from our home to a seaside resort town. We chose a modest “resort” hotel, simply because we found a good deal on it through Groupon, and in March in New England, we...
Here’s the Spring 2017 Shopper Newsletter
Shopper Newsletter Qtr 1 2017
You don’t really want that item, do you?
I have this tiny problem: I can’t drink more than one cup of caffeine coffee in a day, and that cup has to be early in the morning. Otherwise, I’ll be calling you to chat on the phone at 3 a.m. At today’s chic coffee shops, however, ordering decaf is somewhat frowned...
Are your automated messages automatically turning customers off?
It’s amazing how a tiny interruption in your workday can turn you into Miss Cranky Pants. It was to be an extremely busy day as I attempted to get my sole proprietor business ready for me to be gone on a vacation. The “to do” list was a mile long, but I was hammering...
Under-promise, and then over-deliver
United Airlines recently announced that purchasers of low-cost flights would be restricted to one carry-on that fits under a seat. The low-price buyers also would not be able to choose seats until the day of their departure, which means people flying together might...
Customer experience: The Case of the Missing Adapter
The consultant finished her presentation at the swanky hotel conference center and packed up her equipment—everything except the adapter cord that went from her computer to the LED projector, a moderately expensive gizmo. Several months later, when she realized what...