75 Percent of Mystery Shoppers Say Customer Service Has Not Improved With the Addition of Summer Help

Mystery shoppers are consumers who anonymously and objectively evaluate customer service, operations, merchandising, product quality and other elements of the customer experience.

When asked if any single aspect of the total customer experience had improved with the addition of summer help, more than 27 percent noted an improvement in either employee courtesy or store cleanliness.

On the flip side, 31 percent of mystery shoppers surveyed have seen a decline in employee knowledge, with an additional 15 percent noticing companies are lagging in up-selling.

"More and more companies are searching for ways to ensure they are taking every step necessary to build strong customer loyalty," said John Swinburn, MSPA Executive Director. "Properly educating employees and training them to offer a complimentary item with each purchase are just two ways to improve customer relationships, which leads to loyalty and, ultimately, increased sales. Mystery shopping certainly helps identify whether those essential practices are carried out at the store or branch level."

One company that successfully integrates its summer help each year is Graeter's Ice Cream, an upscale ice cream chain located in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The company experiences a nearly 50 percent increase in staff during the summer months. To ensure all new staff members are providing "The Graeter's Way" in customer service, each of the company's locations are mystery shopped twice each month.

"Graeter's begins preparing for the summer rush in February. The challenge is to get the new employees in and properly trained as quickly as possible. Providing an exceptional customer experience from the moment one of our customers pulls into the parking lot is essential," said Greg Shafer, Executive Vice President of Graeter's Columbus, Ohio operation. "Graeter's mystery shopping reports are a great coaching tool for store managers. They let us know how we are interacting with our customers, the cleanliness of our stores and if our employees are offering our rewards programs and promotional opportunities."

Graeter's also uses its mystery shopping program as a motivational tool. Each month, one of Graeter's stores is named "Team of the Month." At the year's end, one of the stores is named "Store of the Year."

"Graeter's mystery shopping reports play a role in determining which team is recognized each month. We want our employees to view mystery shoppers as a positive tool - helping to recognize them for a job well done," said Shafer.

In an effort to pinpoint trends by industry, the MSPA also asked the shoppers attending the Chicago conference if they had seen an improvement in retail stores or restaurants during the summer months. The results were identical for both industries: 62 percent of shoppers have noticed no improvement in customer service at the locations they shop.

"The survey results are not necessarily negative for business owners, as they don't show a dramatic decline in customer service with the addition of summer help. However, they do illustrate an opportunity for companies to utilize their fresh summer staff to really ramp up service," Swinburn said. "Mystery shoppers help businesses pinpoint areas where additional training of their new employees may be needed, ultimately resulting in exceptional customer service year around."

The 100 mystery shoppers who participated in the MSPA survey spend more than a combined 5,250 hours each month conducting more than 3,600 assignments across the country. The assignments include everything from restaurants and retail stores to banks and hotels.

The MSPA is the largest professional trade association dedicated to improving service quality through the use of mystery shoppers.


Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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