Take the Mystery Out of Mystery Shopping - Microsoft



Take the Mystery Out of Mystery Shopping

by Elizabeth Sidor

If you like spy novels and movies, you might have dreamed of becoming another James Bond. With the winding down of the Cold War, you entered the restaurant business. Well, it was only a dream deferred because as a startup restaurateur you have an opportunity to employ a whole crew of 007s — mystery shoppers!

If you decide to use mystery shoppers there should be no mystery as to what you seek to learn. A mystery or secret shopper is an independent contractor who is paid by a business to secretly observe that business, and objectively rate the experience from a customer's perspective. The "mystery" refers to the manner in which he performs his job — undercover so that he is treated no better or worse than an average guest.

The Reason to Hire a Mystery Shopping Service

Numerous surveys tell us that most dissatisfied customers don't complain, they just never return. Many operators use mystery shoppers to find out what's really going on in their restaurants from the guest's point of view. Regularly employing mystery shoppers can help you identify things that are going on in your restaurant that may be causing people to leave and not return.

|[pic]Numerous surveys tell us that most |

|dissatisfied customers don't complain, they |

|just never return. Regularly employing |

|mystery shoppers can help you identify things|

|that are going on in your restaurant that may|

|be causing people to leave and not |

|return.[pic] |

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|-- Elizabeth Sidor |

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The purpose of this article is to give you insight into what a mystery shopper should do for your business. You might ask, "Why hire someone to do the job? My cousin Earl loves to eat out and he said he'd shop my place for free." On one level, the difference between a skilled secret shopper and an interested customer is that the shopper is armed with a formal rating system. You want a mystery shopper to critique every aspect of your business, since there are so many details that lend to a satisfying restaurant experience. The mystery shopper's scrutiny should begin with the telephone call to your restaurant for reservations and end with an unforgiving look at the cleanliness of the parking lot or mall corridor as he makes his way out the door. In short, a secret shopper homes in on every little detail you deem important, and especially those you tend to overlook, from the freshness of the garnish to the overall cleanliness of the restroom. This helps you plan where to best direct your energy, whether it be reformulating a recipe, retraining an employee, or changing your menu. If your mystery shoppers consistently comment on the time it takes for appetizers to arrive at the table, you have a clear picture of a need for speed.

But a professional mystery shopper goes beyond the details, and looks at the "gestalt" of the operation; that is, he assumes that the whole experience is more than the sum of its parts. What this means for you, from a marketing standpoint, is that no matter how good you or your managers are at spotting problems it will never add up to the whole experience of a guest. The mystery shopper's greatest contribution to the restaurant is the ability to look at the operation through the guest's eyes.

In the restaurant training world we like to talk about "moments of truth." Each moment of the guest's experience must be well-managed. A combination of encounters (including some seemingly insignificant, like the server remembering to bring cream with the coffee) will add up to a great experience, a disaster, or everything in between. The defining moment of truth is when a guest

decides that his meal at your restaurant is a good or bad experience. If a guest isn't greeted immediately, it may not make or break the experience, but add to that a long wait for a drink, a soggy pie crust, and you are on your way to losing a customer, and a dozen of his closet friends, forever. Likewise, if the server is personable, up sells, and fails to bring the check on time it still can add up to a great experience. It is these "aha," moments that cumulatively and subtly affect your guest's decision whether to return that skilled mystery shopper services try to capture.

Before Employing a Mystery Shopper, Prepare Your Staff

Mystery shopping should be scheduled and performed without notice to management or staff. The idea is to get a picture of the establishment when your employees are going through their normal paces. Nevertheless, as an owner, you need to be aware of management and staff perception of mystery shopping. A possible backlash to hiring a shopper is that your crew might believe that the owners are trying to "catch" them doing things incorrectly. To counteract this concern, ask your shopper service to note positives as well as problems. While you don't want your staff to know when a mystery shopper is in the house, you should let them know that you intend to use this quality assurance tool, and reassure them that its purpose is to help them succeed, not entrap them.

Another organizational problem that can rear its head is when the shopper's report is inaccurate or skewed. Since the shoppers perform their role in secret, you have to trust them. Since the shopper can't complete his form during the meal, he has to rely on notes and memory to prepare his report. Thus, accuracy can suffer. You need to give management and staff a way to voice their opinion if they dispute the report. Explain to your staff that mystery shopping is only one of the diagnostic tools you will use to determine the level of quality in your restaurant. The most important tools are the candid comments and suggestions from staff.

Shopping for a Shopper

Just because they're called mystery shoppers doesn't mean the qualifications of the shopper need to remain a secret to you. Check the caliber of shoppers before you commit to a service. The shopping service's sales force may be persuasive and impressive, but aren't usually the ones doing the shopping. Ask for references of other businesses that have used their services, and feel free to contact those folks for a candid appraisal. Did the shopper complete reports promptly and honestly? Were they candid in their appraisal?

When interviewing a service, ask about the types of people they use. Astute services try to match the shoppers to the demographics of their clients' customers. For example, if you operate a nightclub where the music is loud, and the average age of the guests is 24, you don't want me as your shopper, because I just might fixate on the noise level. Conversely, a family restaurant would be best shopped by a family, not a young single for whom the "scene" is more important than the food. If every shopper is a man you may be missing subjective information. To get useful information requires the service to match the age and income level of your target guest with their shopper.

Also, ask how shoppers are recruited and trained. Many are recruited through Web sites or are acquaintances. On the other end are the pros that know everything about the business and can give a skewed response because they don't see things like Average Joe. There are advantages to having both unsophisticated and sophisticated shoppers, in regard to their knowledge of the restaurant business. You need to know who you are dealing with.

A Personal Perspective

For fun I applied to be a secret shopper with several companies, large and small. Some only asked for my name, address, phone number and e-mail address. One company wanted to know all about me, in 25 words or fewer. Some asked for more information. On one well-organized Web site, the company asked for a synopsis of my best and worst customer service experience and offered extensive online training opportunities. While qualifying to be a shopper may be a few notches below rocket science, it is nice to know that a company is spending time and money developing their shoppers.

Ask about the prospective company's employee turnover rate. If they are constantly sending inexperienced people to your location the odds of getting an unproven and unreliable shop increase. No matter how objective your shop report form, the results can be skewed by the personality of the shopper. Does the company rotate proven shoppers or do you get the same perspective each time? Shoppers become experts and the service should change people frequently. I once shopped for the same restaurant for seven months until the service became tired of my "hot buttons" and wanted a fresh outlook. From their point of view, it made sense to me. (And that's their business if they did not want to clean those booths!)

Find out if the service's shoppers are trained to be unobtrusive. Shoppers should not stand out from the crowd, ask questions that identify them as professional shoppers, or be memorable if they want to keep their job. They should not fill out the shopper rating form at the table, which is tempting. Realize that a fun restaurant employee pastime is to guess who the secret shopper is. Another game is to guess the server, busser or manager mentioned in the report. Like a spy, once your cover is blown, a shopper's worth plummets. Some companies will forgo their fees if their shopper's identity was compromised. Have your service company agree in writing that if the shopper is recognized during the shop they will not use them again in your restaurant, nor charge that shop if the recognition can be documented.

And finally, as with any service provider, you should have a rapport with your shopper service. If you communicate with your service via the Web, pick a service with a user-friendly system. Ask your potential service to take you through a demo of the procedure.

When shopping for a service, of course, you will consider pricing. With literally hundreds of shopping services available, the price range runs the gamut. Most companies charge a fixed processing fee for each shopping experience, plus the cost of the meal and tip. You might also see "initial setup" fees, such as "customizing the report especially for your unique needs." Some companies require an annual review to make sure they are still measuring pertinent performance. Some companies charge for quarterly or yearly summaries. Some include them in their service.

You will also want to review the terms of your shopper agreement. As with any agreement with a vendor, you should demand that the terms and conditions of the service, including pricing, are spelled out in writing. Some issues to consider include:

Receipt reimbursement. Set up reimbursement terms. Will you pay the shopper or the shop company? Most companies will pay their contractors and then bill you monthly or quarterly. How often will you pay them? Establish how much you will reimburse each shop, with tip percentage allowed, for a total amount. Allow different amounts for lunch and dinner, enough that they can order sufficient courses to rate timing, service and product. It makes no sense to bring a shopper to your restaurant and only allow them to order one course. The timing between courses, clearing between them, and product rating, are essential to know.

Disputes. Find out how the company handles questionable information. Some managers or servers will not believe that they performed poorly, and ask to speak to the shopper. Will your service allow you to talk to them? Either option would help you get a resolution to the question, and is a nice feature to have. The ability to find out the truth will put to rest some denials from employees.

Reports. After a crime, police will often ask victims and witnesses to immediately write down their impressions. They know how fast the memory of details can fade or become unreliable. Understanding this, choose a company that requires their shoppers to complete reports quickly after the shop so as not to lose important information. One company asks shoppers to complete the form in their car in the parking lot, or a nearby coffee shop.

When and how will you get your reports? Timely information is important. Does the company you are considering guarantee a report within 48-72 hours or less? Your ability to remedy an issue immediately is valuable. If the shopper noticed an unsafe situation, you would want to know right away. The sooner you know the sooner you can work on reinforcing or changing behavior.

What format will the company use to give you the report? E-mail, downloads, access to the company's Web site, snail mail, fax? What do you favor? Password-protected, Web site-generated reports are fast, trendy and increasingly used in this industry. In addition to your basic report, some companies offer operational information and other tips, as well as marketing opportunities.

Again, a good rule of thumb in choosing any service provider is to ask other restaurateurs for recommendations. If you're new to mystery shopping, ask those who have been down the road if they believe they are getting their money's worth, and to explain. Also, ask them how they apply the information in the reports. Local restaurant association meetings are a great place to learn from others.

Frequency and Timing of 'Shops'

The more times a mystery shopper visits your business, the more information you will receive. More data is usually a good thing, but it will cost you more, and there will be a point of diminishing return. While it would be nice to have a mystery shopper visit your restaurant once a week throughout the year, this is probably overkill. Mystery shopping is a snapshot of your business, under the best circumstances. Once may not be representative; however, several snapshots, say once a week for a month, two or three times a year, will allow you to spot trends and nip consistent problems. What's important is that the mystery shopper uses the same forms and criteria on every visit.

When should your shopper visit? Unpredictability is an asset in this situation. For one, as noted, it prevents the staff from spotting and performing for the shopper. Also, if your shopper walks through the door at 6 p.m. on the first Friday of every month you are only getting a snapshot of the restaurant during that slot. To find consistent problems, it is helpful that the shopper visit during fast and slow times, and even different day parts. Ask your service to set up a random schedule, in terms of visiting time.

The Report

Mystery shopper services have standard forms that will help you get started, but will be modified to suit your concerns. Again, if you already understand your goals the process will be quicker. Good services will review several drafts with the client before they begin shopping at the establishment. Excellent companies will understand the need for refinement of the document through use. (To download a sample form, go to "Sample Mystery Shopper Report".)

Are your areas of concerns the same as your guests? More than once we have been surprised and educated by what a guest deems important. I remember one restaurateur who found out that the lack of sufficient lighting in the parking lot was an ongoing concern to his female guests, something he had not considered. Another was surprised to learn that his rice pilaf was consistently rated bland. All of this is valuable information to a restaurant owner.

How do you want to receive your information? Do you want to see percentages, scores rated on a 1-10 or 1-5 scale, yes-no questions, open-ended questions, timed data, comments, and/or overall impression ratings? Most reports contain a combination, giving ratings as well as opportunities for the mystery shopper to write about their impressions.

It is nice to include an "N/A" (not applicable) box for each question. This keeps the shopper from guessing if they don't know. While honesty is valued, so is information, and too many N/A responses would be unhelpful and should be unacceptable.

How much information about the shopper will be on the report? It might be useful to know the sex and age of your shopper. Time standards are generally included in a shop. Shoppers write down how long it took for each course, check presentation, and so on. This valuable information can help you assess your production times, and can affect how many reservations you will take.

Once you have the format and grading style, define acceptable performance. What is a good score? When will you praise or counsel employees? At what point will you change a recipe?

Once the forms are developed, get your managers and chefs to agree to the format and content. One mystery shopping company told me about a manager who constantly complained about the shopping reports. To be responsive they kept switching the mystery shoppers, without satisfaction. As it turns out, the managers were not prepared, and viewed the shoppers as interfering spies, and tried to undermine the process. The best way to get buy-in from management and staff is to involve them in the conceptualization of the process.

How to Use the Information in the Report

Stephen Covey said, "Seek first to understand, and then to be understood." Reading the shopper report is a small first step to being able to produce change in your team or product. Sounds simple, but there are managers who don't take the time to read every part of a shopper's report. Although just one piece of the puzzle, reports can home in on a product defect or a person's positive or negative performance.

Review the reports at management meetings and lineups to discuss guest perception and help your team see the business from the guests' perception. While a dirty restroom or an undercooked steak might not cause a guest never to return, the two together could add up to something intolerable.

Shopper summaries can be used when setting a manager's performance goals and salary. Some restaurants base a percentage of management bonuses on shopper reports even though managers regularly deride the process.

Shopper reports can be used during employee performance reviews to point to specific behavior. Posting the report on the employee bulletin board shows your staff what you value. Since you should praise publicly and criticize privately, be sure to block out the names of employees in a negative report, but leave in the names of those with high marks.

Mystery shopper reports can be used at lineups to motivate employees. One restaurateur uses scores on her report form. She gives $100 to servers who score 95 and above in a report. She also gives everyone who worked in the kitchen $10 cash if the food portion of the report is highly scored. Her frequency of shops may be less often than some restaurants, but she gets a lot out of each one.

Don't Ignore Other Forms of Research

Shopper reports can be invaluable in planning changes in your menu, service style, and atmosphere; however, do not treat any comment as gospel. If shoppers consistently rate an item as mediocre, investigate the problem further. When using any research tool, it is vital that you apply your observations and common sense when interpreting results. Remember, each report is a reflection of an individual's perspective. You need several "shops" to indicate a pattern, and additional information to identify a problem. Understand the limits of a shopper's report.

Supplement the data you receive through the shopper report with feedback from your guests, even as informally as talking to customers at their tables. Comment cards can be effective in gauging your performance. Although not everyone fills them out, the information is valuable. Talk to your staff. If a certain item isn't selling, your servers will know why.

Ultimately, a shopper's report is only part of the equation of good management. Working the floor, the door, performing regular restroom checks, line checks, and so on allows you to manage your guests' "moments of truth," so that they swing in your favor.

-- Restaurant Startup & Growth

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Mystery Shopper Lingo

Mystery or secret shopper

One who anonymously visits a restaurant for the purpose of observing and rating the experience.

Shop report

The form that the mystery shopper uses to record the experience. This usually considers a "360-degree view" of the guest experience.

Shop company

A company that creates or provides mystery shopper services, including designing reports, hiring shoppers, assigning them to clients' businesses, and billing clients.

Shop

Used as a noun, the term for each individual mystery shopping evaluation. For example, "We had four shops last month; one per week."

Spotter

A mystery shopper who is hired to target and investigate an area of concern. For example, a spotter might observe a bartender or cashier suspected of stealing, then discern and document their method of theft.

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