If your employees deal with customers, you probably take the time to see how they interact with the customers. However, employees may not always treat customers as well when you aren’t around. The best way to see how your employees really interact with customers is to use a mystery shopper.
This person poses as a customer and asks the kinds of questions customers usually ask. After interacting with the employee, the mystery shopper will give you a report on the transaction. You can hire a professional mystery shopper company to do this or you can just ask a friend that your employees don’t know to pose as a customer.
If you sell merchandise, don’t forget to have your shopper complete some less than smooth transactions, such as an exchange or a return. If your company also sells over the phone, have the shopper complete a phone transaction, as well.
Once you get the results of these shopping or customer service transactions, what do you do with the information? If employees have done a poor job, you may want to send them for a customer service refresher course. If they’ve done a wonderful job, give them some recognition. A simple “Employee of the Month” certificate can really mean a lot to a good employee.
Originally posted on June 15, 2006 @ 6:07 am