The number one thing business owners tell me is, "I just need more customers." Wrong, you need them to return. You can't attract your whole neighborhood to try your store, deliver lousy results and then expect just getting "more bodies in the door" will work. For many retailers, customer service is a poster in the break room and a slogan.
You can burn through a neighborhood with bad word-of-mouth and, without mystery shoppers, never know it.
What's one of the big reasons Five Guys is wildly successful? They send mystery shoppers out twice a week to all locations. The brothers who run the operation also constantly visit the restaurants. They recognize that it's not what your regulars tell you, it's what the new customers tell you that matters most.
And one shop every six months is so random that it reveals little. Why? Because a mystery shop is just a moment in time. But over time patterns emerge that make managing your customer experience much clearer.
But not all mystery shopping companies are the same. One client of mine told me how he found the shoppers had never even been to his store. Another said she'd tried mystery shoppers but it "didn't work." Her survey came screaming off the page as to why it wasn't successful because every question was subjective. "Did you feel valued as a guest?" "Did they attempt to meet your needs?" "Did you feel welcomed?" Shoot me!
Questions on a mystery shop need to be black and white. The employee either did or didn't say, good morning, good afternoon or good evening. They either described a product using features (it has) with benefits (to the customer) or they didn't. In addition, you need a narrative so compelling you can actually see the transaction in your store.
The final three questions I always ask at the end are the most important. One of mine is, "Would you be willing to drive past a competitor to return to this location based on the service you received today?"
Also, when you use a mystery shopping company, don't print it out and stick it on the employee bulletin board. Good or bad, it should be gone over with a supervisor in private, determining who did what, when, and eventually with the associates at the store level.