Becoming a mystery shopper is a great way to experience new brand and to try out new products and services. A mystery shopping programme is a great way to serve both sides of the equation. It gives a business the chance to analyse performance from employees and understand the mindset of the customer base, while it gives the customer a chance to be a real part of improving a brand and improving the levels of customer service within a company that they might love. Here, we look at a few of the ways in which a mystery shopping programme is enticing to both a customer and a business.
A mystery shopper could write restaurant reviews, test out a telephone ordering service or check for the latest promotions and marketing materials in a retail shop to ensure they are of the right quality and placed in the right location. Mystery shopping is a great way to improve services and products and to bring about better businesses. Without the input of the customer and honest feedback, how are company bosses to ever truly understand whether or not their vision is being replicated on the shop floor by staff? This is especially the case for large companies with multiple locations. By becoming a mystery shopper, a customer can become even more important, helping to shape improvements in companies.
It is also a very exciting thing to do, working almost ‘undercover’. This can be a real thrill, turning an everyday, mundane task, like going to the shops, into an exciting task that lights up your day. Even if you don’t get paid hard cash for taking part in mystery shopping, you’ll likely be paid expenses at the very least or given the product or service that you are purchasing and testing out.
Another good reason for becoming a mystery shopper is that it provides you with great flexibility with how you go about your day. It can be a fantastic way for students, those working part-time or recently retired to get paid, have some fun and do some work with the flexibility to fit around their schedule. In many cases, a mystery shopping project will be for a specific product or service, with customers asked to enter a store during a certain period on a weekday, within the next two weeks, to give an example.
If you are the owner of a business, you’ll want to understand your customer base in as great a detail as possible. Running a business means having a way of analysing your customers at every turn and understanding how your employees are performing. Building consistent performance from your staff and ensuring that your customers receive a consistent service is hard work and might take time to develop. There are a few ways in which you can learn about your customers, including implementing a mystery shopping programme where your customers provide honest feedback and evidence of their experiences dealing with your employees. This can be a powerful tool for improvement, if used correctly and well.
