Category: Mystery Shopping

 

If you have a customer feedback system in place, you know that it can provide valuable insight into the customer’s satisfaction and opinions. I often hear disappointment around the fact that the participation rate is lower than a company would like, or they’re still getting feedback only from the “extreme” customers – raving fans or haters.

 

There is a new type of service that is emerging in companies across the country with great success. Feedbox is a real time customer feedback program. It is different from traditional surveys in that it is a console set up in your restaurant, store, or office and customers can easily share their opinions and feedback as they are in the moment.

 

Why is this a benefit? Placing Feedbox consoles within your business can:

 

• Increase response rates: the console is visually appealing, making it easy to notice and use

 

• Better feedback: since customers are in the moment, their memory is fresh and they can provide more thorough insight. With traditional surveys, customers usually don’t take part until they have left your business. Whether it’s 10 minutes or 4 hours after the fact, there is memory degradation which can alter their feedback.

 

• Immediate alerts: say you run a retail chain and in one of your locations, the restrooms and fitting rooms are an absolute disaster. With Feedbox, a customer can notice this and provide feedback on the console; because there is negative information, the location or district manager will receive a text message or email right away alerting them to the issue so it can be fixed.

 

• It changes behavior: much like mystery shopping programs can keep employees on their toes, Feedbox can change employee behavior. Because it is placed right at the point of interaction, employees are aware of its existence and keep good customer service in the back of their minds as they’re going about their work tasks. Simply having the console present can make employees think carefully about their performance at work.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about Feedbox, please feel free to visit our website or send us an email.

 

 

When people think of mystery shopping, they typically think of the more traditional shopping where mystery shoppers submit reports detailing their experience. There are two kinds of shops that are emerging as popular alternatives – video and recorded phone calls.

Both types of shops give a new dimension to mystery shopping – instead of reading through narrative reports to visualize the shopper’s experience at one of your locations, you can now see and hear it for yourself. We’ve always trained shoppers to write so that when a client is reading through a report, they can feel as though they were sitting right next to the shopper the entire time. This newer methodology brings it to a whole new level.

These types of shops are more expensive and more detailed in nature, but are a great alternative for companies who would like a different perspective of their business. Specifically, these shops are great for:

 

• Training purposes: when telephone calls to your customer service center are recorded, they can be edited to remove identifying information and used as training materials.

 

• Employees with challenges: if you have employees whose performance is consistently not up to par, yet they are disputing the details of the report (“I ALWAYS greet customers within 30 seconds – that shopper is wrong…again…”), having the experience video or audio taped makes it very clear as to what transpired. The results of the video and/or audio shops can be a great starting point for retraining and overcoming challenges in the workplace.

 

• More complex businesses: where there are employee interactions that involve a lot of detail, such as new home sales or mortgage evaluations, video shops can capture all of the details needed, along with the facial expressions, tone of voice, etc. These types of shops are typically done less frequently than more traditional retail or restaurant evaluations, so the cost will not play a significant factor in implementing this type of program.

 

There are some things to keep in mind if you’re considering trying a video or audio recorded shop:

 

• Audio recording laws: each state has either a one party or two party consent law. In one party consent, only one of the parties in the conversation, in this case the shopper, needs to give consent to the conversation being recorded. In two party states, both parties need to give consent. Here is a list that outlines which states are one and two party consent for your reference.

 

There are many options available to enhance your mystery shopping program thanks to technology. If you’ve not thought of it before, it might be a good time to consider it and try it out.