Marketing technologies: mystery shopping. Mystery shopping research Mystery shopping
Mystery shopping is a marketing research method that has become an almost traditional and widespread way of assessing consumer experience formed in the process of purchasing a product/service.
The results of using this method make it possible to solve various kinds of organizational problems related to both assessing the level of implementation of corporate service standards and the adequacy of motivational programs for employees, training programs, programs to increase loyalty to the company’s brand or product, etc.
As a rule, this method is used by companies that have relied on quality service as the most important competitive advantage in their own business segment.
Therefore, another direction in the research on the Mystery Shopper technology is the analysis of competing companies, from the point of view of their advantages both in promoting goods and services, and methods of their implementation (sales).
Mystery shopper in Russia
The Mystery Shopping method in its classic form came to Russia 10-12 years ago and very quickly gained particular popularity among companies with an extensive network of branches, branches, offices, and stores. The most common names for this method in the Russian market are “mystery shopper”, “mystery shopper”, “secret agent”, “mystery guest”, “mystery client”, “mystery patient”. For example, to assess the quality of service in hotel complexes, beauty salons, and restaurants, the term “secret guest” is used, and when assessing the advantages of sales organization processes and work with clients of competing companies, the term “secret agent” is used.
Mystery shopping: technology and demand
The information obtained as a result of the Mystery Shopper study is used to improve the quality of service and increase customer satisfaction in the audited organization, adjust the standards of work with clients, to improve the professional competence of employees, and also as an audit of retail outlets.
The Mystery Shopper became possible and was especially in demand when there was real competition between companies within the same segment, and when price competition had practically exhausted its possibilities. The main competitive advantage is precisely quality service, since the struggle for the client has moved to the level of providing clients with the best service in service, both at the stage of selling goods and services, and during post-sales service.
Mystery Shopping technology, having a clear methodological basis, depending on the purpose of its use, can be included in both qualitative and quantitative marketing research, and become an indispensable tool for monitoring the local customer service situation.
Mystery shopping toolkit
In order for such research to be of real benefit, you need to clearly understand from the very beginning: what problem the company wants to solve, what results to obtain, how and for what it is going to use these results.
Understanding these aspects of the study will form the basis for the methodological development of the research algorithm and the necessary tools for its implementation. The tools mean: an assessment questionnaire (checklist), which contains a list of parameters (criteria, corporate norms) characterizing the behavior of personnel at all stages of sales. The parameters included in the questionnaire collectively reflect the company’s (its management’s) ideas regarding what service is ideal for its clients. Therefore, the questionnaire will become a litmus test that allows you to assess the level of quality of work of employees with clients.
In addition to the questionnaire, an important tool is detailed instructions for mystery shoppers on how to behave and what to pay attention to first.
The instructions clearly state the sequence of necessary actions at the point of sale, a list of questions that need to be asked and received an answer from the seller (consultant, manager) and other subtleties of the verification procedure itself (for example, provoking emergency situations to assess the stress resistance of employees).
In this regard, people (mystery shoppers) who have undergone special training and whose socio-demographic characteristics are close to or fully correspond to the client’s target audience are invited to participate in research and collect information necessary for the client. The objectives of the study influence the level of requirements for mystery shoppers.
Since research on Mystery Shopping technology often covers numerous regional offices (networks of retail outlets, bank branches, dealership centers, etc.), it is important that secret shoppers do not stand out in any way from typical consumers of the segment under study and their behavior does not cause bewilderment or suspicion among sellers.
Most Customers are focused on ensuring that the checks are indeed a “secret” and allow them to get a real picture of the interaction between the seller and the buyer, not embellished due to the fact that the employee recognized the secret buyer and demonstrated his best qualities seller.
But in reality, the exact opposite, paradoxical effect often occurs: the seller, who suspects that the buyer who came is a secret client, sharply reduces the quality of service. And when he is presented with the results of the check, he explains to management the reason for his behavior as follows: “It was a secret shopper, I figured him out and, accordingly, did not behave the same way as with a real client, why waste energy and emotions in vain?!”
Using the Mystery Shopping Method
The Mystery Shopping method is used not only to check the quality of service directly during a visit to the Customer’s facility (outlet, office, salon, etc.). Checks can also be carried out through telephone calls, requests on the website, email, etc. depending on those verified service procedures that are of paramount importance to the customer for a specific period of time.
The following categories of company specialists can be the objects of research: salespeople, consultants, managers, service employees, doctors, call center employees, online consultants on the website, etc. In other words, all specialists who in one way or another deal with clients at the stage of sales of goods and/or services, as well as during the period of post-sales service.
During the checks, sales skills, loyalty to the company, knowledge of client psychology (features of behavior and expectations of a representative of the target audience) can be assessed, and, of course, professional competence(knowledge of the product, services, their competitive advantages) in the industry that the company represents.
To obtain the most objective assessment of the situation in the company in terms of service quality, the Mystery Shopping method should be supplemented by such procedures as testing employees for knowledge, identifying strong and weak professional skills in situations corresponding to their daily activities; interviews with employees and real clients, etc.
Any methods for assessing the quality of staff work should not be a tool of punishment or a basis for dismissal of employees. The main objective of these studies is to see the real situation on the ground and carry out timely organizational events, allowing for the necessary changes in the customer service chain, and thereby creating a competitive advantage for the company in a specific business segment.
A method of collecting information called mystery shopping, in lately is becoming more and more popular. The main secret of the growth of its use lies in the fact that it makes it possible to significantly increase the objectivity of research. After all, the seller who is about to be checked does not know who is in front of him - a regular buyer or a secret one.
As has already become clear, this method is used to evaluate the activities of retail outlets, the behavior of employees - sellers, cashiers, even security guards and technical staff, as well as to assess their level of qualifications, loyalty to the company and the ability to evaluate their friendliness towards customers . In addition, sociological studies and surveys in Samara are also conducted using this method.
Who can become a secret shopper?
In principle, the “secret shopper” profession does not exist. For a while, anyone can try themselves in this role. The main thing is that it fits the target group for which this outlet is designed. No one will send a middle-aged man to a lingerie store, although sometimes the task may be to test the staff for actions in an unusual situation. In the same way, no one will make a secret shopper out of an elderly woman who must choose a barbell in a sports store.
Typically, such advertisements are placed in newspapers such as “Services and work in Samara.” So if you want to try yourself in this role, you have all the possibilities for this!
How else can a mystery shopper be valuable?
This method has many advantages, and its scope is wide and is not limited to just evaluating sellers. When conducting marketing research and market analysis in Samara, it is very important to find out the following points:
- Service level;
- How the goods are laid out;
- How clean the sales floor actually looks and is;
- How accurately does the security perform its actions?
All these tasks can be solved by a secret shopper, which is basically what he does. As a result, company managers receive complete information about how focused their employees are on meeting customer needs. You can often order a secret shopper in your competitors’ territory and get, as they say, first-hand information about how their work is carried out. This is also important when making adequate decisions.
According to the visit scenario, all the customers, after trying on several pairs of shoes and a detailed consultation, said that they were not ready to purchase the product now.
In 4 consultations, the sellers only politely said goodbye. But six consultants asked customers what bothered them, or what exactly they wanted to think about. This helps to work out hidden doubts and often lead to a purchase. And even if not, the buyer is always pleased that his opinion is important and they want to help him. Unfortunately, this simple but important action is not done very often by retailers. Therefore, we regard 60% of attention to the buyer as a good, although not ideal, result: a lot of work is required to achieve it.
In 9 visits, customers were invited to come again. These simple words show the visitor that the attitude towards him has not changed: they wanted to help him make a choice, and not “say goodbye to his money.” Such an insignificant “trifle” is one of the steps to create a loyal relationship with the network.
MOSCOW vs. KAZAN
Despite the small sample, interesting results on geographical division were obtained. For all 4 visits to Kazan, the objective assessment was 100%. However, Mystery Shoppers do not know the rating system, they only answer questions. But in Moscow, only one consultation was flawless; the rest had some shortcomings. And subjective assessments were also distributed - in Kazan they are higher. Apart from, perhaps, satisfaction with the price, the Kazan residents liked it less.
Of course, 10 visits do not provide representativeness, but we would venture to assume that the human factor plays a significant role in the network(at the level of store director and above). And in Kazan, Econika has strong leaders who have organized their work perfectly.
SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENTS
Mystery shoppers were asked to rate several factors following their visit on a 10-point scale, and here are the results:
Rice. 4. Answer to the question “How satisfied are you...?”, rating on a 10-point scale
The interior design and the products presented received the highest marks. The latter means, among other things, that sellers managed to convey the advantages of the collections they sell. The quality of service, assortment and the salon as a whole are also rated quite highly.
But the 6.8 points for price satisfaction can hardly be regarded as a high rating. This does not mean that Econika urgently needs to reduce prices, under no circumstances. But it's worth thinking about how to justify the offered price to buyers. And not only at the level of marketing communications (this is not front-line work), but also by conducting presentations in the store. It may be worth thinking about price justification scripts (“expensive manufacture is used”, “ handmade", etc.) or translating the durability of models into customer costs (“it lasts 2 times longer than cheap analogues, but costs only 30% more”). It is also possible that the company should think about differentiating prices depending on the income of the region. However, this requires research of a different scale and focus.
Question “How likely is it that you will recommend your friends to go to this salon?”(used to evaluate NPS) received 8.7 points on a 10-point scale: 7 promoters (9-10 points), one neutral(7-8 points) and two critics (6 points or lower). Thus, the overall customer experience at Econika is positive.
IN CONCLUSION
Recently at one event I was asked: in which Russian retail chains I could call customer service close to ideal. Now I can definitely say that Econika is one of these networks. First of all, it captivates with its thoughtful approach: the company works as a single whole in all directions - in the trading concept, in the formation of collections, in the approach to the client and, as far as I can tell, in internal communications. It is not surprising that such an integrated approach, coupled with control, gives an excellent effect.
Don't stop there. Despite the above, the company still has room to improve in customer service. It is necessary to consolidate and develop success. We need strong partners, for example, in the same Mystery shopping, who will not only select buyers suitable for their profile, but also ensure clear collection of data precisely according to the company’s criteria (and Econika’s service standards are not simple).
Even on modern stage development of consumer service, you can easily encounter a situation where, having visited a store or cafe, you have to wait quite a long time before sellers or waiters pay due attention to you. Staff may be busy talking on mobile phone or among themselves, or simply to be absent from their workplace. The habit of being rude to the client, left over from Soviet times, also flourishes among many workers, so when you demand service you can easily get a whole “portion” of rudeness. Of course, in the event of such disrespect for oneself, the buyer, in the overwhelming majority of cases, will turn around and leave and, as a result, part of the immediate profit will be lost; the extent of lost consumer trust can only be assumed.
Already, the management of many firms and companies has realized the fact that service is becoming one of the most important components of commercial success. To keep it at an acceptable level, regular monitoring is necessary, and the easiest way to use a controlled tool is to use Mystery Shoppers. Using hired “eyes and ears,” management can easily organize monitoring of the diligence of the work team and determine whether the hired employees meet modern requirements for providing consumer service.Who is a Mystery Shopper?
Mystery shopping is a marketing technology that can hardly be called an innovation for the domestic market. More in Soviet times supervisory authorities carried out test purchases, however, if in those days such inspections were only a way to uncover violations in the field of trade or in the provision of services, then in the framework of modern reality this technology is used as one of the extremely effective means of determining marketing feasibility and finding ways to optimize commercial activities. Punishment of rude and careless sellers and other service personnel is only one of the results of the work done.
Mystery shopping and its activities
A mystery shopper is able to provide the employer with a huge amount of useful data that can easily be used to optimize personnel policies and improve the service as a whole. Using the information obtained, you can implement or improve internal regulations for customer service and identify fraudulent actions on the part of employees. Among other things, Mystery Shopping becomes an effective tool in the process of studying competitors. All information received becomes a kind of impetus for taking measures to improve the quality of service
Secret purchase. Scope of application
The use of secret purchasing opens up considerable prospects, however, at the same time, such a lever of marketing efficiency should not be abused. In trying to find out a lot of heterogeneous information through a Mystery Shopper, the customer of the research may lose its quality and, accordingly, its reliability. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the fact that in order to study some areas of activity it is necessary to attract a person of a high professional level, because otherwise it is unlikely that it will be possible to obtain adequate information. On the contrary, in many areas of business, information about the quality of service can be obtained through simple communication with customers. It is because of this that before ordering marketing research, the business owner should clearly define as clearly as possible what information he needs and how he will use it in the future.
Mystery shopper training
It is unlikely that it will be possible to obtain the necessary information during a “secret purchase” if the future “buyer” is not given detailed instructions before conducting it. Poor preparation or incorrectly set tasks will distort or reduce the usefulness of the result to nothing. Some of the most common tasks in Mystery Shopping research include:
Identification of the level of professionalism of personnel;
- Checking awareness regarding the list of services, assortment;
- Determining the level of honesty
Mystery shopper salary
If we talk about the price of labor, then the salary of a Mystery Shopper is piecework and depends on many factors: the level of complexity of the task, the qualifications of the buyer himself, etc. For example, you can get up to 1,000 rubles for checking a retail grocery store. If the check does not involve communication with the seller, then you can demand up to 300 rubles for it. Checking a restaurant, if you are given money for dinner, generally only involves food as payment. Checking a car service center can take up to 2,000 rubles, because to carry it out you must, first of all, have a car. By agreeing to a hotel audit, you can earn 7,000 rubles. Checking out a high-end store that sells clothing and cosmetics will likely help you secure matching gift certificates from the customer.
Fraud
It may seem that the work of a mystery shopper is suitable for everyone, but those who commission research treat the selection of Mystery Shoppers with the utmost responsibility. Indeed, as part of a control visit, it is necessary not only to make a series of observations, but to carry out a real analysis, evaluate the work style, and much more. The main thing is not to forget about your responsibility, because incorrect or false information in the report can cost another person their job. That is why they try to recruit objective, honest and responsible people into the ranks of Mystery Shoppers.
Best Service LLC is one of the most reliable partners. All work is completed in the shortest possible time, with high quality and at a professional level.
If it were not for Best Service, we would never have known about the real situation in our stores. After the Mystery Shopping checks, employees began to work much better and, as a result, income began to grow.
LLC "Avignon"
We express our gratitude for your flexible approach and prompt response to changing requests.
The joint implementation of the project helped our company significantly improve the quality of service to our clients and increase sales.
Fast Business Systems LLC
We express our gratitude for conducting research using the “Competitive Intelligence” and “Creating Artificial Demand” methods. We were faced with the task of increasing sales not only through the online store, but also in dealer networks. This required not only analyzing the work of all our competitors, but also making sure people knew about us.
The Best Service company did an excellent job and helped us gain an interesting market share for us.
"Vorontsov Baths"
Thanks to Mystery Shopping checks, our employees began to strive to ensure that every client was satisfied. The number of positive customer reviews after visiting our club has increased significantly.
We are very pleased with the competent and professional staff of Best Service.
LLC "Fainart"
We express our gratitude to the Best Service company for the successful implementation of projects using the Competitive Intelligence and Mystery Shopping methods. We were faced with a difficult task - to analyze the market and pricing policy our competitors.
LLC "Sport Club "Fitness Maximum"
We were faced with the task of identifying shortcomings in the observance of standards of communication techniques by our managers and the performance of functional duties by the staff of the sports club.
We are very pleased with the quality of the tasks performed and recommend Best Service as a reliable partner that meets the highest standards of quality of services provided.
