If you are interested in doing something proactive to improve customer service within your retail business, one of the best things that you can do is hire one of the top mystery shopping companies to mine for data for you. Utilizing the top mystery shopping companies is important because when you do so, you will be able to get an outsider’s view of how your employees are performing in real customer situations. While any mystery shopper agency can provide your business with some sort of feedback, the top mystery shopping companies will know how to push your employees to their limits so that they can see how they react.

When you hire the top mystery shopping companies, the first thing that they will do is give you an idea of how many times they will be shopping your store. While you may get an idea of what sort of timeframe they are coming in, it is likely that the top mystery shopping companies will not even tell you what day they are showing up so that you have no way of accidentally spilling the beans to your employees. When they are there, they will seek out an associate and create some sort of an interaction. How the associate responds will dictate the rating they receive overall.

It is not uncommon for mystery shoppers to rate several employees in one visit. For instance, they may engage one or two people on the shopping floor, go to the customer service desk and then make a purchase. This way, they can test a handful of employees in one visit. In some cases, they may ask for something that is out of stock on purpose or create some other sort of minor conflict just to see how the employee handles it.

After the mystery shopper leaves, they will write up their report and you will have it soon afterward. It is likely that they will make notes as well as provide a rating for the employees that they engage. They will also rate your store overall. From their data, you will know exactly what needs to be worked on.

If you attempted to do this, you would never get organic responses from your employees. This is why mystery shoppers can be so crucial. Since your team will never see them coming, they will simply act naturally when they are engaging the mystery shopper.