Mystery Shopping Archives

When Employees Dispute Mystery Shopping Reports

It’s hard to read about yourself, especially when the information isn’t so great. It causes people to become defensive, and this is no exception in the world of mystery shopping.

I try to counsel clients on what to do when an employee comes to them and disputes the information in a mystery shopping report. It is nerve wracking for the client when it first happens, but handling it appropriately will make all the difference in the success of the program.

First, take a look at the overall report, as well as the score. Most mystery shopping reports, if not all of them, provide report card scoring. Using the overall score can help alleviate employee disputes. For example, if an employee comes to you and says, “I SO knew that was the shopper, and what they are saying is completely wrong!” You can look at the overall score for guidance. One client’s response to this complaint was, “Well, if you knew it was the shopper, why did you score only a 70%?” That typically ends the conversation.

Depending on the situation, you can turn to the mystery shopping provider for assistance. We are always happy to get more clarification or help with any situations that arise, whether it’s providing receipt information, getting more information from the shopper who conducted the shop, or taking a look at the particular employee’s history on past evaluations.

Look for trends in disputes – if it is always a particular location that is disputing shops, or a particular employee, that signals an issue that needs to be addressed. They may be trying to undermine the program by complaining – they figure that if they can devalue the program enough, they will make it “go away.” If it is a particular employee, that may signal dissatisfaction with their job, which needs further exploration.

There are times when a dispute is a valid one, and any good mystery shopping provider is happy to partner with their client to investigate issues and, if there is truly an issue, reevaluate the location at no additional cost. Clear and open communication across the board will help make every mystery shopping program a success.

Mystery Shopping Programs: Read This Before Implementing Incentives

More often than not, the information gleaned from mystery shopping reports will be used for an incentive, or factored into performance reviews. This is a great use for the program, but one where companies should proceed with caution.

Before tying mystery shopping scores into performance reviews or bonuses, consider the following:

1. Have you had the program in place, or are you just starting a program? It’s an interesting thing when a company announces to its staff that they will be starting a mystery shopping program, even when it’s promoted in a positive light (as it always should be). Staff become nervous, thinking that it is a “big brother” approach to keeping tabs. Others, who may have had a negative experience in a past life, may want to buck the system and protest loudly to anyone who will listen.

It is recommended that a program be implemented and run for some time before placing incentives on it or incorporating it into your performance reviews. This will give staff time to see the value of the program and that it is truly intended to make the company better as a whole. It will also give staff time to work on areas where they need improvement before rolling out the incentive/reward program.

2. Set the bar now for employee kickback: it will happen, even in the best of programs. After all, we’re all human and it’s human nature to defend ourselves. Decide as a company how you’re going to handle employee disputes from mystery shopping reports beforehand and communicate that with your staff. If you allow employees to fight every report that is less than stellar, it will send a message that they can try to argue their way out of a lower score, which will devalue the program.

That’s not to say that there won’t be reports where clarification is needed; this can happen from time to time, but when employees try to dispute every less than perfect report, you need a plan in place for them to accept that it is what it is and the program is not going to change.

3. Make sure the report is measuring what staff are trained to do: sometimes programs need to be tweaked after the first run or two. Make sure that each question on the report measures what you train, otherwise it will not be an effective program. Don’t ask a question that records if a customer was greeted within 10 seconds of entering the store, for example, if your staff were not trained on this or it’s entirely impossible given the store layout or business model.

4. Prepare management for the initial fallout: even if you have program in place for a while and then raise the bar by implementing an incentive program, something interesting happens. Employees will become defensive, claim they “knew it was the shopper”, or otherwise try to fight reports from time to time. It’s a natural progression we’ve seen time and time again, and I always share this with clients who have had a program and are now raising the bar in this manner. It’s not an issue with the program itself, it’s just staff reacting to the change. By preparing your managers for this, it will make the transition process as smooth as possible.

Mystery shopping programs offer an excellent method of collecting objective data to measure operational standards; using it to its fullest potential will make it even more valuable to your company. By keeping the above tips in mind, it will make incorporation into an incentive program easier and help staff buy into its value as well.

How Mystery Shopping Helps C-Stores

Below is an excerpt from a recent commentary discussing the benefits of using a mystery shopping program to determine what drives customer satisfaction in the C-store industry that I find interesting and applicable to most, if not all, industries…

“The client’s mystery shopping program scores its channel partners three times year and what’s been revealed is that locations attaining high marks on mystery shops and audits sell more gas, regardless of fuel prices. In the first year of the program alone, the client’s channel partners experienced a double-digit increase in average monthly volume.”

You can read the entire article by clicking here. It’s a good read and drives home the point that mystery shopping is not only used as an objective measurement for operational standards, but can help pinpoint factors that will make companies a success.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: