Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping, also referred to as secret shopping, is a kind of research and analytical exercise designed to track and assess behavioural and operational performance at different workplaces. It involves calling or visiting a company under the guise of a prospective customer in order to observe how retail staff and other personnel interact with customers and the general public. The mystery shopper often offers invaluable insight in real-time situations on employees' selling skills, customer service skills and communication skills and so on.

In-Person Mystery Shopping Service

This is the most common type where a shopper visits a counter or location personally in order to get a first-hand experience of the situation. Usually, a single mystery shopper goes on a particular assignment that can be over within ten minutes or last for more than hours depending on the industry, the format / size of the location or the basic purpose of the establishment.

In-person this can either be a report-only format or involve taking covert video footage. In report-only formats, the mystery shopper will carry a preset questionnaire that he will fill up secretly after interacting with staff under various pretexts.

Undercover video operations allow employers to get a first-hand view of how staff behave and interact with customers in different situations. In-person services are much sought after in restaurants and hotels, banking sector, retail, convenience stores, automobile sectors, healthcare and fitness centres and so on.

Telephone Mystery Shopping Service

Such companies are helpful in sectors where telephonic conversation is an integral part of regular customer communication. The assignments are typically conducted over the telephone and involve interacting with personnel from the customer service department or front office.

Here, too, preset questions are asked on typical topics that genuine customers are likely to ask. The calls are either recorded or a form is filled up with responses. Telephone mystery shopping services are used by call centres, businesses in the travel and tourism sector, telecommunications and information technology businesses and healthcare sector and so on.

Hybrid Mystery Shopping Services

These days, many companies interact with their customers on different levels and require world-class standard of customer service at different touch points. Understandably, hybrid mystery shopping services involve sending mystery shoppers at different interfaces starting from personal visits to telephone calls to assessment over the internet and through mailers. The mystery shopper from the mystery shopping companies may even visit the home of customers in order to assess their experience and opinion.

Such types of assignments are commonly utilized by businesses in the banking sector, travel and tourism sector, real estate, healthcare sectors, automotive industry and so on.

~Visit Mystery Shopping Companies. Article Source: Ezines