Who Monitors Poor Customer Service?
Posted: Monday, October 12, 2009
by Gerry Charbonneau
http://nibblednews.typepad.com
Have you ever received customer service in a classy restaurant or let's say your favorite mega mall retail outlet --- service that you considered to be less than perfect --- and wondered what could be to done to possibly improve that dreadful shopping experience?
Is there a way that large businesses periodically and effectively use to evaluate the day-to-day performance of their sales staff that adequately ensures that the service you experience as a consumer is the type of service not only emphasized in the corporate employee training manuals but also expected by the companies hiring these employees?
It is a valuable marketing tool for business and is especially helpful for small, start up businesses who need accurate and fast information to assess their employees' performance and compare their products and services to the competition.
This form of evaluation , invaluable in objectively measuring customer service and employee performance, is in essence an investigative activity mostly conducted by a company in order to monitor how their employees are performing where it matters .... on the sales floor.
This evaluation is conducted across all customer points of contact including in-person shopping, telephone shopping and computer online shopping. It is not your traditional market research but in essence more of a business informational tool and feedback device.
This customer service tool has gained widespread acceptance in the retail, financial services and restaurant industries and has proven highly valuable to companies that use it to gain customer experience feedback information.
The Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) is the largest professional trade association dedicated to improving service quality using anonymous shoppers. The company's online website indicates that it has over 150 member companies worldwide.
MSPA provides online training and certification for anyone who would like to be a Mystery Shopper. There are two levels of certification: silver , the initial entry level and gold, the advanced level.
The company's diverse membership includes marketing research and merchandising companies, private investigation firms, training organizations and companies that specialize in providing mystery shopping services.
Their member companies work together with their clients to establish mechanisms to measure and improve levels of customer service.
Customer service by businesses that use mystery shopping is often improved when employees knwo that they will be mystery shopped.
This process of employee evaluation is used in a variety of industries such as the following: retail outlets, restaurants, financial institutions, convenience stores and gas stations, service providers, manufacturers, department stores,and travel and entertainment establishments.
It is also a legitimate way for interested folks to make money. It is not full time employment but does offer part time opportunities with flexible hours and job assignments which might be ideal for retirees, stay-at-home parents, students and people seeking occasional work situations outside the main nine-to-five work day situation.
Mystery shopping is one of an arsenal of successful and proven business strategies used by companies across the world to improve employee performance and customer satisfaction.
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