Category: Mystery Shopping

 

Businesses who simply offer lower prices to get customers in the door may think that this is the way to win over their competition, but it’s not all. Prices may get them in the door – what will keep them coming back, truly gaining an edge over competition?

 

According to a recent article written by Geoffrey James, published by Inc.com, vendors have a better chance of getting clients by offering value, having the confidence to solve client issues and fill needs (and be able to make it happen), and really listen. Just having a lower price isn’t going to get you new clients, or at least not long-term ones.

 

The article talks about the top ten things customers REALLY want, and, as you will see below, price falls at the bottom of the list. Providing an outstanding experience, from the initial inquiry through to the deliverables, will go much farther with your vendor relationships.

 

People don’t want the cold call, “used car salesman” approach anymore. They want to deal with people who they can have working relationships with, who they feel can solve their problems and offer “solution selling.” This involves a lot of listening and thinking outside the box sometimes. If you can do this, price won’t be as much of a factor as it used to be.

 

Below is the wish list created by Inc.com: take a look at what customers really want and see how you measure up. Hopefully there are some good takeaways from the insight provided, and you can work to make sure you are giving your customers what they want.

 

1. Bring New Perspectives and Ideas

If customers could diagnose their own problems and come up with workable solutions on their own, they would do so. The reason that they’re turning to you and your firm is that they’re stuck and need your help. Therefore, you must be able to bring something new to the table.

 

2. Be Willing to Collaborate

Customers absolutely do NOT want you to sell them something, even something that’s wonderful. They want you to work with them to achieve a mutual goal, by being responsive to the customer’s concerns and ways of doing business. Ideally, customers want you to become integral to their success.

 

3. Have Confidence In Your Ability to Achieve Results

Customers will not buy from you if you can’t persuade them that you, your firm, and your firms offerings will truly achieve the promised results. It is nearly impossible to persuade a customer to believe in these things unless you yourself believe in them. You must make your confidence contagious.

 

4. Listen, Really Listen, to the Customer

When they’re describing themselves and their needs, customers sense immediately when somebody is just waiting for a break in the conversation in order to launch into a sales pitch. In order to really listen, you must suppress your own inner-voice and forget your goals. It’s about the customer, not about you.

 

5. Understand ALL the Customer’s Needs

It’s not enough to “connect the dots” between customer needs and your company’s offering. You must also connect with the individuals who will be affected by your offering, and understand how buying from you will satisfy their personal needs, like career advancement and job security.

 

6. Help the Customer Avoid Potential Pitfalls

Here’s where many sellers fall flat. Customers know that every business decision entails risk but they also want your help to minimize that risk. They want to know what could go wrong and what has gone wrong in similar situations, and what steps you’re taking to make sure these problems won’t recur.

 

7. Craft a Compelling Solution

Solution selling is definitely not dead. Customers want and expect you to have the basic selling skill of defining and proposing a workable solution. What’s different now though is that the ability to do this is the “price of entry” and not enough, by itself, to win in a competitive sales situation.

 

8. Communicate the Purchasing Process

Customers hate it when sellers dance around issues like price, discounts, availability, total cost, add-on options, and so forth. They want you to be able to tell them, in plain and simple language, what’s involved in a purchase and how that purchase will take place. No surprises. No last minute upsells.

 

9. Connect Personally With the Customer

Ultimately, every selling situation involves making a connection between two individuals who like and trust each other. As a great sales guru once said: “All things being equal, most people would rather buy from somebody they like… and that’s true even when all things aren’t equal.”

 

10. Provide Value That’s Superior to Other Options

And here, finally, at the No. 10 spot (below everything else) comes the price and how that price compares to similar offerings. Unless you can prove that buying from you is the right business decision for the customer, the customer can and should buy elsewhere.

 

 

If you’ve had the same mystery shopping program for a while now, you may be  in a rut. How can you tell? Here are some signs it may be time to change things up:

 

1. You’ve always focused on a specific timeframe or day of week for shops:  Some clients prefer to have shops done during their “busy times” only, forgetting that the down times are just as important when it comes to customer service. If you’re only looking at one piece of the puzzle and haven’t changed it up in a while, you may be in a rut.

 

2. Scores are consistently coming back very high: while it’s great that employees are receiving high scores on the shops, it may also indicate that the program has gotten stale, and the employees have reached the bar OR have simply come to learn the shopper’s “routine” well enough to be able to spot them more easily and do well. This holds especially true for clients who tend to use the same “scenarios” or have the shoppers ask the same bank of questions of an employee time after time. It may also indicate that the bar needs to be raised and your staff needs to be challenged. You may be in a rut if you can relate to this.

 

If either applies to you, it’s time to change things up. Taking a look at the overall picture of your business is key; start mixing up days for shopping and time frames. Don’t just focus on the busy times – while you need to make sure that things are running smoothly during peak hours, making sure that employees are sticking to those same operational standards when it is slower is key.

 

Another thing to consider is to mix it up with your staff. Are you showing them the shopping reports soon after the shop has been completed? Any staff member working for you for a while will quickly learn that you shop your locations once a month, or twice a month, or whatever your schedule is. If you are shopping twice a month, for example, and employees see the reports soon after the shop, they’ll be less likely to “be on their toes” after the second shop has been seen. Unless there are some major issues that need to be addressed quickly, try not releasing the reports until the last day of the month. It will keep employees wondering and “on their toes” through the entire month.

 

Changing up the routine might help. While it’s important to evaluate the cleanliness of a restroom, for example, in some business types, this may be a tip off to staff that the person shopping is a mystery shopper. This especially holds true in businesses where restrooms are not often frequented. Remove that evaluation for a month or two to make the shoppers more anonymous. Do you require a knowledge question? Take out that requirement for a month and evaluate the scores – a decrease in performance percentages may indicate that this was a tip off to your staff and may give a truer picture of performance.

 

Mystery shopping is an extremely valuable tool to evaluate service standards – make sure your program is fresh and measures what you train for. Raising the bar on a regular basis will also encourage staff to continually do better, ultimately providing the best service experiences for your customers.

 

 

Are you visiting Chicago to attend the National Restaurant Association Show May 18th-21st? If so, don’t forget to stop by the Technology Pavilion! Ann Michaels & Associates will be featuring their new customer engagement console and mobile survey programs. We’ll be in booth 6374. The press release announcement was released last week:

 

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 09, 2013

Ann Michaels & Associates is pleased to announce the launch of two new services that will be showcased at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago this month. The Customer Engagement Console (CEC) is a tablet based kiosk that businesses can utilize within retail locations, hotels, restaurants, waiting rooms, and other key points of customer traffic to capture feedback from consumers in the moment of the experience, and dually serve to market to those customers and engage in a real time, interactive manner.

This latest technological advancement provides a unique way for companies to collect feedback in the moment of experience, and more importantly, capture feedback and sentiment from those who do not make purchases. Kathy Doering, President of Ann Michaels & Associates, indicates that these services will greatly benefit companies across all industries. “With the recent decline in response rates for traditional feedback methodologies, including IVR and web-based surveys, the customer engagement console captures a more substantial segment of the customer population than ever before. Understanding the non-purchasing customer and collecting data from this set has proven to be invaluable. Our research indicates most IVR surveys garner a 2-4% response rate, whereas response rates utilizing the console can be tripled at a minimum.” The ability for companies to offer coupons and incentives gives them a unique, in the moment, opportunity for increased sales and loyalty with its customers.

The additional features of the engagement console, including marketing, loyalty card engagement, and social media integration further enhance the service, allowing for a robust multi-dimensional platform for consumer experience measurement.

In speaking to the marketing and engagement component, Doering feels that this is a necessary step for businesses to take. “Consumers are hungry for information, and this type of engagement console gives consumers the opportunity to self-educate with minimal staff assistance.” With many companies forced to adhere to a minimalist approach to staffing, a customer engagement console is a wise choice.

To coincide with the customer engagement console, Ann Michaels & Associates has also launched mobile based customer engagement services to capture yet another customer segment. The mobile program incorporates feedback surveys, as well as other engagement opportunities. Consumers can be engaged as part of a company’s loyalty program, or engage in the moment of experience by scanning a QR code within the business location to partake in a survey, receive coupons, and offer feedback. The immediacy of this service allows for rich information in a timely manner, boasting higher response rates and less incidence of memory erosion due to time passing between the experience and providing feedback.

Doering describes the newest services as “great opportunities for businesses to make the most impact with their customers in an efficient, cost effective manner.” She reiterates the need for data to measure and monitor customer satisfaction and a way to capture this data easily and in an engaging manner. “Because of the advancement of mobile technology, consumers are interested in this ‘in the moment’ experience and want to engage with brands in a variety of ways.”

Both services can help businesses increase incremental purchases and word of mouth marketing and advertising with the tie in to social media. The two service offerings can be utilized independent of each other or in tandem for the most significant data collection and engagement. The company’s goal in the release of the newest services aligns with ensuring that clients’ Customer Experience Index (CXi) remains statistically strong, as high levels equate to increased revenue. Ann Michaels & Associates strives to support clients as they listen, measure, and engage their customers.

Ann Michaels & Associates will be featuring the Customer Engagement Console and Mobile Services at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago May 18-21. The company will be located in the Technology.Pavilion, booth 6374.

About Ann Michaels & Associates

Ann Michaels & Associates, a leading customer experience management firm, has provided customer service solutions to companies over the last decade. Core services include mystery shopping, customer feedback/satisfaction programs, and social media management. The company has recently added the customer engagement console and mobile feedback services to its array of customer experience measurement tools.

The company works with clients across a variety of industries, including, but not limited to, retail, restaurant, healthcare, B2B, financial, park districts, and associations. Each program is fully customized to measure, monitor, and maintain company operations and standards, and the company provides guidance and recommendations to continually enhance the customer experience.