Mystery Shopping Archives

A Fresh Set Of Eyes For One DMV

Going to the DMV is never a pleasant experience – they are noted for long wait times, unpleasant staff, and other issues that cause dread in people needing to visit.

The DMV in Connecticut is making some big changes. Commissioner Michael Bzdyra was recently appointed to the position, and after a close look at operations with what he refers to as “a fresh set of eyes” is making some sweeping changes to help improve the consumer experience, some of which include:

Conducting focus groups and surveys to learn more about why consumers aren’t utilizing the online services

Streamlining the telephone system to cut down on inefficiencies and wait times for callers

Creating accountability by appointing a Chief Operating Officer. Along the same lines, he is working to improve the training procedures at the facilities

These are three of the major changes coming based on a recent article. In this case, it’s a great opportunity for a new person to step in and take a look at overall operations from a fresh perspective; that is one step in fixing some of the general issues that can arise.

For your business, is it possible to implement changes and find a “fresh set of eyes” without changing key staff?

Absolutely. Here are a few tips:

Similar to what this DMV is doing, take an objective look at processes in place. Now is a good time to ask employees for feedback and look at customer feedback survey data – any trends or consistent trouble spots? If so, you now have a starting point.

Get a fresh set of eyes from outside the company. Hiring a mystery shopping service to get a baseline snapshot of the customer experience can give greater insight as to areas of strength and weakness. Couple the data from this baseline study with the results of your employee & customer feedback.

Keep staff accountable. Once you have done the above steps, it’s time to lay out a plan to make improvements, renew training initiatives if needed, and then create a consistent measurement system. Mystery shopping is just one way this can be done; consider quality control monitoring of your call center, manager spot checks, or even spot check evaluations to collect objective data about the customer experience. Analytical reports can be used to continually monitor and gauge performance across staff, locations, or geographies. Use this data in performance reviews, training sessions, and incentive programs for maximum effectiveness.

For the Connecticut DMV, it will take some time before the benefits of the sweeping changes will be seen. However, this new Commissioner is doing things right, and it will pay off in the long run.

Tips to Enhance the Retail Experience

It’s no secret that customers are more impatient, especially when it comes to customer service. With online shopping and social media, it’s easier than ever for consumers to find what they’re looking for. How can a retailer ensure that when customers do visit one of their locations, they will leave with a purchase and a positive experience?

What are some retailers doing to help maintain the customer experience?

Mobile apps

Store specific apps are becoming more important, especially those that have customer service tools, such as messaging, incorporated. In app messaging allows consumers to have their questions answered quickly and there is no need to wait for a response. This can keep a customer who is in a location or on a company’s website from abandoning their purchase. Similar to a website chat feature, this in app messaging can be effective, resolve customer issues quickly, and help customers complete their purchase while in the moment.

Enhanced social customer service

There are many channels available to consumers when it comes to business – email, phone, chat, and even social media. When consumers are in the researching phase, or if they have issues with a purchase or product, they are quick to turn to social media. Many companies have incorporated customer service into their social sites. It’s important to note that, when this is done, the company needs to have appropriate staff available to answer questions and resolve issues quickly – unlike email communication, consumers expect a quick response, sometimes within an hour, and sometimes even less. Long gone are the days where it was acceptable to get a response within 24 hours – these days that window is much shorter, and retailers who embrace this change will see success.

Empowering staff on the sales floor

Back in the day, if a consumer was interested in a product that was not available at a particular location, the sales associate would “go the extra mile” by calling nearby stores to see if it was available there. If it was, the other store would either hold the item or, in some cases, would ship the product to the store for the consumer to pick up at a later time. Now, if a product isn’t available at a store, the consumer will likely leave, and either make a purchase later on the website or give up all together.

Some retailers have resolved this by incorporating online sales at the locations – when a consumer can’t find exactly what they’re looking for, the staff is able to order it for them online and have it shipped to their home free of charge. This is a nice upgrade and will keep consumers from shopping elsewhere. It’s yet another way to keep in store consumers from leaving empty handed.

Engaging in mobile technology

Others are stepping up the game and turning to what is referred to as “clienteling” technology – essentially an in store app for associates that can empower them to fully assist any customer, from finding products not available in stores, to tracking loyalty points, and even chatting with professionals when questions cannot be easily answered. One such example is concierge – this service offers a myriad of intuitive, interactive features, including beacon features to notify associates when customers who have the app enter the store to calendars of promotions/events so associates can bring them to the consumer’s attention during their interaction. It also seems to offer an opportunity to complete a purchase, which results in easier checkouts and minimal wait times at the register.

Retailers need to fully embrace technology to stay competitive, whether it’s social media or mobile apps. The more features and perks that make the consumer journey easy, the better off and more competitive the retailer will be.

Upselling: Timing is Key, Learn When To Stop

I really dislike calling service companies, like the telephone or cable companies, with questions or concerns. I know what’s coming – they will help me (or try to) and then at the end of the call, highlight a new feature or service and try to get me to buy.

I know it’s coming, and I’m sure it’s part of the employee standards that have to be followed. It’s their job, but to those who train the staff managing customer calls – please train your staff to understand that when it comes to upselling services, timing is everything and know when to stop.

Last week I had trouble with my cable TV. I had just changed out my furniture in the family room and the cable box was no longer working. I went to the company’s website and it said there was an outage in my area, but I couldn’t quite tell if that was the problem or if it was something I did.

I was not in the mood to call the company, knowing that at the end I would be a hostage in hearing of new services; I thought the live chat would be easier and less intrusive. I was wrong.

Things were going okay and while we were chatting, the TV suddenly started working, so I’m thinking it was an outage. I thank the rep and see that he’s about to pitch a new service. I think to myself that I’ll see what he says and politely decline, and I’ll be on my way.

No such luck. Here is how the rest of the chat went. After my last statement, I waited a few moments with no response from the rep. I was thinking that, perhaps by staying in the chat room, I was giving him some sort of authorization to send me whatever initial email he referenced earlier, so I printed the chat and left the room.

Two things went wrong here:

First, I don’t know that it’s appropriate to try to sell additional services when a customer is having issue with one of your services. I wonder if the companies feel that customers will be more likely to add on after an issue has been resolved, but in my experience, I’m usually cranky that something isn’t working right and just want to resolve it and move on. Additionally, if the rep does not have my history available (I’m not sure if they do or not), they may not know that this is the third time I’ve called in a week about the same issue and may be close to dropping the service. If that’s the case, trying to sell additional services could be the end of the relationship.

Second, no means no. I did telemarketing one summer in college and remember that we were trained to make the customer say no at least two times before we could end the call; I get the impression that the same is the case here. However, to push it to the point of saying “don’t even use the service, focus on saving $10 a month” is over the top and sounds desperate to me – either the rep really needs to make a sale to keep his job, or he just wants to say he closed sales and doesn’t care if it benefits the customer at all. Either way, it turned me off completely as a customer.

Upselling is an art form really; it’s about timing and presentation. Done effectively, it could do wonders for growing sales. Done incorrectly, it could result in losing customers over time.

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