Making use of mystery shoppers can be a great tool for managers to evaluate how their training program is working for their employees and business.
One of the things we all have to be aware of when considering mystery shoppers, is to get rid of the idea of using it as a from of punishment, rather than of measurement.
The value of mystery shoppers is primarily in how they measure your training program and its quality, much more than it is in uncovering lacks in your employees.
When the mystery shopper reveals a number of the same things over and over again, it will point to what you need to adjust in your training program. The response needs to be to adjust and adapt your training to make up for the shortfalls.
Those that use the mystery shopper as a tool to punish their employees, create an atmosphere of fear, rather than of service.
This doesn't mean that we won't find an employee that simply doesn't get it or are resistant to the company policies. You'll find that out if everybody else pretty much responds to the training and lives their training out in their service to customers; measured by the mystery shopper experience.
Another reason we have to be careful in mystery shopping and how we use it with our employees, is that mystery shoppers have known to say things that aren't really true about the employees. Some have said workers are out of uniform, improperly groomed etc., when in truth video shows that they were following company policy completely.
Still, using mystery shoppers is a great way to measure how employees are taking in your training and getting it, or finding holes in the training that need to be filled up. We just need to use it right and it will be a great tool for the company.
What have been your experiences with mystery shopping in your company?
Several mystery shoppers resources:
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