The term “secret shopper” conjures up a playful image of a silent spylike observer, which harks back to the 1940s when the term was first used to depict a private investigator who would pose as an employee to uncover whether or not the actual employees were doing anything to compromise the success of the company. The reality today is perhaps a little less James Bond but just as relevant. Secret Shopping or Mystery Shopping, as it is commonly known, is used across a broad sector of businesses to assess numerous customer service touch points that ultimately have an impact on business success.

If the term “secret shopper” at first seems a bit frivolous, do not underestimate the value of the work and its influence on business performance. The feedback gained can be fed into customer service and sales team to help provide additional context when speaking with customers in the future.

FMI works with brands to support consumer engagement and in-store execution, through customer contact centre services, field sales and merchandising.

The Approach:

The approach from the outset is strategic. A strategic approach to secret shopper campaigns involves defining business objectives clearly, designing tailored questionnaires and weighting questions to ensure insights address the right priorities. The way the questions are weighted on the questionnaire is extremely important because this determines which aspects are important for the business and which deserve more consideration.

However, the questionnaire is only truly effective if it is delivered by the right calibre of secret shopper, who knows what to look out for and how to approach direct sales personnel in-store. Effective secret shopper campaigns typically rely on a vetted network of independent evaluators whose work is assessed against criteria such as accuracy, professionalism and timely reporting.

Role of Reporting

A robust reporting system gives clients full visibility on campaign data and delivers actionable insights quickly, often within a short timeframe to support responsive decision-making.

All reports should be built on observations and recommendations. The timeliness of these reports is instrumental in facilitating the responsiveness to the issues raised before they become systemic problems. This factor is crucial in effective use of secret shopping campaign data. Reports issued at the conclusion of a full campaign cycle are the most insightful as they have sufficient data to track longer-term customers’ behaviour changes.

Hit Refresh

Brands who run successful secret shopping campaigns embrace it wholeheartedly. Not only are they swift to act on the insights provided but they engage their teams in the process too. Some clients set up internal leader boards to encourage and motivate their teams to optimise their performance. To mitigate any predictability, the secret shopper campaigns need to be refreshed frequently. This ensures that the results are a true reflection of the average customer experience.

Expert Advice

Working with experienced partners can ensure campaign set-up, monitoring and reporting align with industry best practice, helping businesses turn objective feedback into strategic improvement. Many consumers do not choose to voice their dissatisfaction in-store they merely take their spending elsewhere. In a time when competition is fierce, a strategic secret shopping campaign may just be what you need to drive business performance.

 

FMI works with brands to support consumer engagement, in-store execution and retail performance across Ireland.

Explore our services below:

The term “secret shopper” conjures up a playful image of a silent spylike observer, which harks back to the 1940s when the term was first used to depict a private investigator who would pose as an employee to uncover whether or not the actual employees were doing anything to compromise the success of the company. The reality today is perhaps a little less James Bond but just as relevant. Secret Shopping or Mystery Shopping, as it is commonly known, is used across a broad sector of businesses to assess numerous customer service touch points that ultimately have an impact on business success.

If the term “secret shopper” at first seems a bit frivolous, do not underestimate the value of the work and its influence on business performance. The feedback gained can be fed into customer service and sales team to help provide additional context when speaking with customers in the future.

FMI works with brands to support consumer engagement and in-store execution, through customer contact centre services, field sales and merchandising.

The Approach:

The approach from the outset is strategic. A strategic approach to secret shopper campaigns involves defining business objectives clearly, designing tailored questionnaires and weighting questions to ensure insights address the right priorities. The way the questions are weighted on the questionnaire is extremely important because this determines which aspects are important for the business and which deserve more consideration.

However, the questionnaire is only truly effective if it is delivered by the right calibre of secret shopper, who knows what to look out for and how to approach direct sales personnel in-store. Effective secret shopper campaigns typically rely on a vetted network of independent evaluators whose work is assessed against criteria such as accuracy, professionalism and timely reporting.

Role of Reporting

A robust reporting system gives clients full visibility on campaign data and delivers actionable insights quickly, often within a short timeframe to support responsive decision-making.

All reports should be built on observations and recommendations. The timeliness of these reports is instrumental in facilitating the responsiveness to the issues raised before they become systemic problems. This factor is crucial in effective use of secret shopping campaign data. Reports issued at the conclusion of a full campaign cycle are the most insightful as they have sufficient data to track longer-term customers’ behaviour changes.

Hit Refresh

Brands who run successful secret shopping campaigns embrace it wholeheartedly. Not only are they swift to act on the insights provided but they engage their teams in the process too. Some clients set up internal leader boards to encourage and motivate their teams to optimise their performance. To mitigate any predictability, the secret shopper campaigns need to be refreshed frequently. This ensures that the results are a true reflection of the average customer experience.

Expert Advice

Working with experienced partners can ensure campaign set-up, monitoring and reporting align with industry best practice, helping businesses turn objective feedback into strategic improvement. Many consumers do not choose to voice their dissatisfaction in-store they merely take their spending elsewhere. In a time when competition is fierce, a strategic secret shopping campaign may just be what you need to drive business performance.

 

FMI works with brands to support consumer engagement, in-store execution and retail performance across Ireland.

Explore our services below:

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