4 Warning Signs That Your Mystery Shopping Program Might Not Be Working For You
Integrity and credibility are the most important things to look for in any secret shopping program. And this means the service provider, the mystery shoppers themselves and the data they provide to the client. The success of any mystery shopper program is completely dependent on whether associates can buy into it . If they do not believe in the program, how can the program work?
You receive requests for score changes from more than 2% of shops
If the managers of shops do not believe the data they are given, they obviously will not act on it, which defeats the purpose of a secret shopper program. Requests for score changes may include outright denials, assertions that a certain employee no longer works at that location and so on – all of which are used in the effort to make the score look better than it may actually be.
The scores you get from your service do not correlate with internal customer service data
If there is a wide disparity between what your secret shop and customer service data is saying, it’s time again to take a closer look at both as well as at how each data set is being calibrated against the other. You also need to rethink how you are putting this information to work and how each data set relates to the other. If you are seeing very improved scores from your secret shopping program but this data is not borne out by what you hear from your customers, you should measure the qualifications and skill of your mystery shoppers and assess the criteria they are using in their work. If your program is working properly, the data they give you should mirror what you hear from your customers and vice versa.
Managers are talking among themselves about problems with the program
Since no secret shopping program can work when managers and staff do not buy into it, this is a red flag. If managers are talking to one another about the program not working, then there is a problem with the program. And before long, your entire workforce will know about it.
You are hearing entirely too much talk about credibility
Naturally, credibility is incredibly important. However, if the mystery shopping service throws the word around like it is going out of style, you may need to ask them if:
a) they understand what credibility means
b) if the shopping service and its employees all care about preserving this standard
c) everyone agrees that to be any less than credible would be tantamount to being false.
A credible mystery shopping program derives raw data from objective experience. Since the numbers do not lie. Skewing the data, concerns about the program and doubt about the numbers you are provided are all signs that you might need to re-evaluate your shopping company.
