Nothing is more valuable to a company than deeply understanding the customer's true perception of it . One of the most widely used methodologies for this discovery is mystery shopping.
As the name suggests, “mystery shopping” is one of the techniques for identifying flaws, improving processes and making the customer experience increasingly efficient at any point of sale .
By applying this method, you begin to see the operation through the customer's eyes, as you perform the same steps as them, without the company knowing that it is just a type of interview/monitoring.
Do you know what mystery shopping is and how it can be beneficial for a business and its strategies ?
Check out our post and find out now!
What is a mystery shopper?
If, for a day, you were a customer of your company, would you be satisfied with the service, the speed, the ambiance, the team and several other factors?
Seeking to answer questions like these, companies use the mystery shopping technique so that a kind of scout can provide critical insights into the business .
Mystery shopping is a methodology used to evaluate your products and services, and serves as an audit of a company's touchpoints, processes and products .
With it, it is possible to analyze whether the company's actions are being followed as planned in the strategies.
A mystery shopper is like a real customer who comes to your location to make a purchase, but they see beyond that. When making contact, they analyze the sales process, customer service , and delivery, distinguishing what's good and what could be improved .
Mystery shopping doesn't necessarily need to go to a physical store. They can make a phone call, request support via chat , submit requests online , or any action that focuses on a specific point of sale and interaction between brand and customer.
Even though real customers provide feedback and share improvements that need to be made, mystery shopping is a surefire way to analyze the company's entire sales process , after all, that's your focus throughout the entire journey created.
How does the mystery shopper process work?
To apply this methodology to your company, it's essential to have reliable partners who perform these services and who have the right profiles for each strategy.
For the process to be carried out, it goes through some steps.
The first step is planning. This involves understanding the client's objective, determining what they want to discover, and which channels should be analyzed.
After that, mystery shoppers are trained about the company and make their visits like regular customers.
Once the visits are completed, reports are generated regarding each point raised and analyzed and all information is collected and analyzed to suggest improvement actions .
It's interesting that mystery shoppers return to establishments more than once to monitor and check whether improvements are being implemented.
What are the benefits of mystery shopping?
Using mystery shopping can be very beneficial for retailers to better understand their processes, whether what is defined is actually being followed and, most importantly, to improve the customer experience .
We've outlined some advantages for you to consider implementing this strategy right now. Check it out!
Provides a thorough and impartial assessment
The great point of mystery shopping is that it analyzes many factors about the condition of a company's points of sale.
As a trained professional accustomed to these situations, he will notice several points that may go unnoticed by other customers and managers .
This attentive, outsider's perspective ensures an impartial analysis, without any influence from internal or external factors.
Allows you to quickly correct faults
Often, when receiving negative feedback or finding errors in processes, managers may not know exactly how to act to improve the flaws.
More than just spotting errors, mystery shopping suggests solutions and ways to implement corrections as quickly as possible.
Analyzes employee behavior and team management
Even if your company uses performance indicators and various information to evaluate customer service, sometimes more concrete data is missing, right?
A mystery shopper closely observes employee behavior, the characteristics of the services provided, the knowledge of the workers about the products and services, as well as the appearance of uniforms, when worn, cordiality, friendliness, and many other factors.
With these analyses in hand, it becomes easier for managers to understand their team's problems, focus on necessary training, and better manage their internal processes .
Improves customer experience
Customer experience and satisfaction are the starting points for many actions taken by a company, and mystery shopping is no different; after all, their focus is also on improving this experience.
With customer insights and critical analysis, managers can make improvements that truly impact the people who matter most to the business: the public.
Conclusion
Customer satisfaction is the goal of every company, after all, they are responsible for the success and profitability of a business .
Gathering feedback and conducting satisfaction surveys isn't always enough to improve processes, so having a customer's perspective makes all the difference in understanding which areas need improvement.
Mystery shopping provides a broad view of the business and makes problems clearer , generating changes from this work that will reflect on customers, employee productivity and, certainly, cash flow.
Never forget that satisfied customers, in addition to doing business again, spontaneously promote your brand , generating buzz without you having to do any work.
Have you ever used the mystery shopping strategy in your business? Now that you know a little more about it, do you think it could be beneficial for your organization? Take advantage of this topic and learn a little more about customer satisfaction !
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