Gaining a competitive edge today's marketplace has become a constant challenge for retailers and they're finding the answers in secret shoppers. Businesses - ranging from veterinarians to banks - are leveraging local secret shopper services to more effectively evaluate their customer service, build loyalty and generate more revenue. A secret shopper program is typically run by a third-party company that asks community members to shop and experience a business and their competitors and then give feedback about the experience. The “secret” is that employees don’t know if or when they will be shopped, so the program measures the average customer experience. By using hand-selected prospective customers as secret shoppers, businesses do not only get an unbiased review, but also an opportunity to bring in new business and create buzz in the community. A common mistake both business owners and some secret shopper services make is to use the secret shoppers only to catch employees doing something wrong. Making sure employees are doing a good job is important, but with good planning a secret shopper program can give businesses a competitive advantage and allow them to compete on a level they control: The Customer Experience. Here are five ways a secret shopper program can give businesses an edge:
1. Ensures customer service doesn’t fall through the cracks during times of growth.
Times of growth are often when a business is most vulnerable. Their resources and time are stretched to the limit and it’s a time when “the little things” that make up a great customer experience are overlooked. Secret shopper results can help identify potential issues before they become large problems that are reflected in your bottom line. Fairview Gardens has conducted secret shoppers at every growth point in order to ensure the customer experience consistently improves with its growth. Included in their growth improvements were changes to make the check-out flow more smoothly, tours to ensure new customers felt welcomed and the addition of family-friendly activities throughout the calendar year.
2. Turns new customers into repeat customers.
Why spend money attracting new customers if you can’t keep them there to buy? Secret shoppers allow you to evaluate your customers' expectations and determine why some customers return and why others do not. Granite City Pet Hospital knows they attract a large number of new clients every month, but wanted to make sure they were making a great first impression to increase the likelihood clients would return and give referrals. From secret shopper results, they learned authentic and enthusiastic interaction with the front desk significantly increased the likelihood of new clients returning.
3. Catch gaps in the customer experience before they hurt the bottom line.
Business owners and managers can learn specifically how their customers feel about their products and services. One owner of a business services company learned that product education and taking time to define client expectations during the sale would greatly impact client satisfaction. They implemented additional training as well as a system to follow up with customers to increase client satisfaction and decrease the likelihood of a new client becoming overwhelmed.
4. Learn what really sets apart from the competition and capitalize on it.
Competing on price gets tough. Instead, secret shoppers help businesses find out where their competition is falling down and they can pick up the slack. Heartland Glass knows it will not beat big-box retailers on price of shower doors. But secret shoppers confirmed that the peace of mind staff provides during the shopping experience leads customers to pay more for the custom shower door and precision installation.
5. Collect positive feedback and focus on strengths.
A Secret Shopper program can be a great pride-boosting activity to help businesses and their employees recognize what they're doing right. All of those little things the shoppers loved? Well, do more of those. It often reminds employees that when they're being measured on customer service, the customer in front of them becomes more important than sweeping or getting that paperwork done. Successful secret shopper experiences depend on using a service that tailors the program to the business' needs and uses local, qualified prospects as shoppers. Effective secret shopper services go beyond providing businesses with raw data. They show businesses how to improve their service and maximize their customer interactions by analyzing the feedback and offering cost-effective strategies the business can easily implement. They also should offer a means to communicate results and progress back to the shoppers. Letting secret shoppers know that the business listened and used the feedback will further engage them in the business' success.