Most, if not all, companies who utilize mystery shopping incorporate upselling, cross selling, and mention of loyalty cards into their program. These are all important aspects of the sales process. It is also one that can be uncomfortable for employees to do on a consistent basis.
A recent study showed that, during an evaluation of coffee retailers, more than half of the employees failed to attempt to upsell or cross sell. Even more shocking was the fact that 97% of the time, the loyalty card program was not mentioned.
In our experience, mystery shopping programs can uncover gaps in these processes. Take, for example, a retailer who begins a program, only to learn that the loyalty card they offer is only mentioned 10% of the time at the register. Further, during times when it is mentioned and the customer indicates they do not have a card, nothing is said about the loyalty program.
In this instance, the company’s loyalty card program was fairly new and employees were still adjusting to the process of asking for it. After reviewing the initial results, the company talked with register staff to learn more. They found that many stated they were not as familiar with the program as the could be, and felt hesitant to ask about it in fear that the customer did not have a card and they would have to talk about the program. They did not feel they could do an adequate job.
In a second example, a quick serve restaurant measured attempts to upsell and cross sell, only to find that their attempts across all locations was lower than they would like to see. It was uncovered that employees were thinking they were upselling by asking, “Would you like that in a small, medium or large?” as opposed to a more appropriate, “Will that be a medium or large?” as dictated by the company as being an appropriate upsell. This resulted in the identification for additional training and continued monitoring of this employee process.
Upselling and cross selling, as well as loyalty card mentions are an important part of customer service and sales. Ensuring that your employees are performing to company standards is vital, and mystery shopping can measure and monitor these aspects to ensure they are consistent met.
