Join Us for “Writing Mystery Shopping Reports That Get You Noticed (In a Good Way!)”

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Mystery Shopping

January 10, 2012

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What is the number one factor to propel mystery shoppers to 5-star ratings and all of the top jobs? Writing A+ reports!

There are a number of factors that help you become a top-rated mystery shopper, but the one that will help you the most is submitting reports that require little or no rework or editing.

Join me for our first teleconference of the new year on Thursday, January 12th at 7:00PM EST. Listen as I talk with Kathy Blumenstock, writer and editor for the New York Times, Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, as well as other notable publications, in addition to investigative reporter for Entertainment Tonight and blogger at AnimalPlanet.com.

KB, the name she uses among friends, is also a consultant for Market Viewpoint and reviews your mystery shopping reports! She is spending the evening with us to give real, useful data about what it is you need to write or change in your writing in order to deliver top-notch reports each and every time you hit the “submit” button.

Learn from Kathy:

  • Why spelling, grammar and punctuation matter!
  • Where commas make a difference and why we all use too many of them
  • Weaving details into the story of your experience
  • Staying factual in your reporting
  • How to write what our clients need to hear
  • Which common phrases should not appear in your reports

Kathy’s experience writing for newspapers, magazines, and her current blogging on AnimalPlanet.com will provide you with the expert advice you need to improve the writing and content of your reports.

Spending this hour with Kathy and me could make all the difference in the quality of your reports, and the income they can produce in the new year. Register now and we look forward to spending Thursday night with you!

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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Mystery Shopping Program Sabotage! Could It Be Happening to You?

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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience

November 12, 2010

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Let’s face it. It’s the rare employee who likes to be evaluated. Most employees tremble in fear as managers announce performance review time and in those cases where the corporations have also implemented a mystery shopping program, it may be even worse. Is it possible that your staff is sabotaging your mystery shopping program?

Here are some of the tactics employees have tried using to eliminate the mystery shopping programs in their organizations:

  • Continually challenging the shoppers’ observations and perceptions hoping to wear the manager down,
  • Making attempts to discredit the mystery shoppers citing shopper attitudes (They were in a bad mood!) or behaviors (They were talking to their child during the transaction!) to indicate that the shopper did not conduct their shop properly,
  • Giving colleagues a “heads up” that mystery shoppers are in the area,
  • Displaying antagonistic attitudes and behaviors, and generally being unapproachable by management, about the mystery shopping process while refusing to see the value of customer feedback and how it can benefit the corporation as well as the individual.

Some things you can do to avoid mystery shopping program sabotage might include:

  • Conducting an informative and forthcoming roll-out of your program from the beginning,
  • Forming an employee steering committee to review the survey instrument and shopping guidelines before they are put into action,
  • Inviting a representative from the mystery shopping company in to meet with the staff to explain the process to them,
  • Consistently coaching each member of the team when the results come in refusing to let their attitude about the process influence the goal of your organization to provide superior service.

One of the most important questions to ask yourself is, “What kinds of things can I do as a leader in my organization to gain as much support as I can for this program?”

Are your managers strong coaches? What have you done lately to ensure their success?

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Mystery Shopping: How to Choose a Great Mystery Shopping Company – Question #1

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Mystery Shopping

August 11, 2009

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people-crowds

The secret to choosing a great mystery shopping company lies not only in the questions you ask but in the responses you receive. It’s important to listen carefully to the answers you get because you just may need to ask more questions.

At Market Viewpoint, LLC we happen to think that our shoppers are gold. The people who are evaluating your people and operations and providing you with feedback are critical to the quality of information you receive. You want these people to be the best.  Some of the questions you might want to consider asking a prospective mystery shopping company are contained in the following list:

  • Who are your shoppers?
  • Where do they come from?
  • Can you segment your shopper database?
  • Do you train your shoppers?
  • Will the shoppers be coached on my project and the things that are important to me?

Now here are some other questions to ask that you may not have thought of and that the prospective mystery shopping company may not have heard before:

  • What is the longest someone has shopped for you?
  • Do you grade or rate your shoppers?
  • What is your policy when there is a conflict of interest for a shopper?
  • Will you provide me with some shopper references?
  • What’s the worst thing you ever had happen with a mystery shopper and what did you do to resolve it?

The relationship a company has with its mystery shoppers is usually indicative of the relationship they have with their clients so it really pays to explore this area of a mystery company’s operations.

Let us know if you have any other questions you think are important to the selection process. We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading and remember – the customer is always watching!

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