{"id":3861,"date":"2020-10-31T18:43:03","date_gmt":"2020-10-31T18:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sampingan.co\/?p=3861"},"modified":"2020-10-31T18:43:03","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T18:43:03","slug":"here-is-how-mystery-shopping-earns-true-customer-understanding-b2b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/wawasan\/here-is-how-mystery-shopping-earns-true-customer-understanding-b2b","title":{"rendered":"Here\u00e2\u0080\u0099s How Mystery Shopping Earns True Customer Understanding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Differentiating your offerings from your competitors is more crucial than ever as products and various services are increasing in similarity. <\/strong><br><br>Excellent customer service is often underlooked even when it is often a direct element that influences sales conversion, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Great customer service comes from great customer understanding. Some would say it is the key for most businesses to prosper. In achieving this, businesses most commonly conduct consumer surveys, aiming to seek an understanding on what matters the most from their customer&#8217;s point of view. Despite the survey\u00e2\u0080\u0099s common practice and place in the industry, customer surveys alone do not reveal the more critical components of the experience that would ultimately impact the customer&#8217;s perceptions of the brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To gain a comprehensive understanding, it is important to examine every part in the end-to-end customer journey of your product. Such is gained by emphasizing the distinction between <strong>consumer surveys<\/strong> and <strong>mystery shopping programs<\/strong>. Conducting a plethora of consumer surveys and ignoring mystery shopping programs tend to cloak the actual service quality that is delivered at the store, providing businesses with an incomplete grasp of the problems present, resulting too many false positives that may skew future strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mystery shopping programs and consumer surveys measure variables on a different level. The latter provides insights on how your products and services can satisfy the customer\u00e2\u0080\u0099s needs and expectations. While the former focuses on how well a standard operations in place are implemented in various locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, a 360 degree view of the organization becomes increasingly essential for the modern day business. As data become more accessible, integrating a program that would complete your overall view of the business service delivery through clear consumer feedbacks can directly trigger more promising innovation, locate areas that needs improvement, and expose various sources of growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In completing the missing piece of data, <strong>m<\/strong><strong>ystery shopping programs<\/strong> can greatly help businesses to improve the quality of their customer service. When combined together, <strong>mystery shopping programs<\/strong> and <strong>consumer surveys<\/strong> give powerful insights to help a brand thoroughly understand which in-store experience matters the most to the customer, and where it should be improved upon both from the brand and customer\u00e2\u0080\u0099s perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"viewer-aomnr\"><strong>What is Mystery Shopping?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Mystery shopping is a methodology to identify and examine the service quality and the customer experience of the product or services your company is offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"viewer-faa1u\"><strong>How does mystery shopping work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>As the name suggests, mystery shopping employs a mystery shopper. A mystery shopper is a person who<\/strong> will pose as a real customer intending to purchase or use your product. They will help you to observe and evaluate the overall experience as they engage with your company all across the customer journey. <strong>It provides<\/strong> you with <strong>unbiased insights<\/strong> into the procedures and processes operated in the delivery of the services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"viewer-f51k\"><strong>How do you use mystery shopping?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mystery shopping<\/strong> programs can be used for varying objectives depending on the needs of the client. From evaluating the compliance of standard operational procedures, customer experience, third party conformity, consistency of store performance, all the way to your competitor\u00e2\u0080\u0099s performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/1b632c_92aef2eb40b84e36b15c17ca145512bf~mv2.png\/v1\/fill\/w_1058,h_898,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01\/1b632c_92aef2eb40b84e36b15c17ca145512bf~mv2.webp\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"viewer-7rrov\"><br><br><br><strong>What are the rationales of Mystery Shopping?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/1b632c_66ddb7b3eed24b4f88e9e9962cbf70a7~mv2.png\/v1\/fill\/w_1002,h_875,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01\/1b632c_66ddb7b3eed24b4f88e9e9962cbf70a7~mv2.webp\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Mystery shopping is a versatile tool in measuring the output quality of your business&#8217; service. It is most commonly used by various industries from retail, consumer goods, tech, and hospitality industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"viewer-6ndb6\"><br><br><br><strong>6 Steps to Conduct Mystery Shopping Program<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/1b632c_d7375d2cc8fa4e2098c75b657c7f20d4~mv2.png\/v1\/fill\/w_1216,h_788,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01\/1b632c_d7375d2cc8fa4e2098c75b657c7f20d4~mv2.webp\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Source: Nicholas Mercurio and John Flesta (2019)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"viewer-8ebuf\"><br><br><br><strong>Types of Mystery Shopping programs:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter what the channels are, an exceptional customer service is critical for both offline or online settings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/1b632c_8e7c8c07f8794f4e87829c0ae1c83751~mv2.png\/v1\/fill\/w_1196,h_921,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01\/1b632c_8e7c8c07f8794f4e87829c0ae1c83751~mv2.webp\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"viewer-4liui\"><br><br><strong>Mystery Shopping vs Consumer Survey in practice<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A study* utilized mystery shopping program to assess the output quality of a business. The output quality is measured based on a mystery shopping report, while the perceived service value is measured based on a consumer survey report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study showed a positive correlation between output quality and perceived service value, which would indicate that a higher output quality will result in a higher perceived service value, and vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/1b632c_d83f8cfaf6534a48b0ba74a3d58165f5~mv2.png\/v1\/fill\/w_1116,h_570,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01\/1b632c_d83f8cfaf6534a48b0ba74a3d58165f5~mv2.webp\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While the consumer survey report showed the consumer\u00e2\u0080\u0099s feedbacks and their experience expectations, the mystery shopping program <strong>completed the picture by providing insights<\/strong> on the product\u00e2\u0080\u0099s compliance condition, and whether they were performing to the desired qualities. This assures that the experience is always up to standards or even beyond the customer\u00e2\u0080\u0099s expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>*Source: Silvestro and Cross (2000)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an example, we will be looking into a mystery shopping report of a coffee shop chain. The report result shows that store staff is not complying with the service standards set by the coffee shop\u00e2\u0080\u0099s management. It is identified that most of the staff are not greeting the customers, whilst also not repeating a customer\u00e2\u0080\u0099s order at the checkout counter. Both of which are standard procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, a consumer survey report of the coffee shop reveals that many customers think that the staffs are unprofessional. They are also found to be not fond of the staff&#8217;s attitude. Both of the feedbacks stated above managed to influence their satisfaction level towards the overall service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The staff&#8217;s failure to comply with those standards set by the coffee shop chain (output quality) can drag down the overall customer satisfaction (perceived service value) which would indicate a correlation between output quality and perceived service value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For that reason, while consumer surveys might explain about what is happening with the overall customer satisfaction, the mystery shopping report reveals the probable causes of the satisfaction score. By integrating both data, the coffee shop chain can identify various operational aspects that impact customers the most, and to what extent should the aspect be improved to achieve the desired business performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The needs to differentiate your offerings from your competitors by focusing in excellent customer service highlights the importance of both mystery shopping and consumer survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u00e2\u0080\u0099re thinking about improving your end-to-end customer journey by using mystery shopping or consumer survey, please contact our Sales Team by clicking the button below! Alternatively, please click the <em>Learn More<\/em> button to get first-hand business insight from Sampingan, straight to your inbox.<br><br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-background\" href=\"https:\/\/meetings.hubspot.com\/darren139\/wawasan-discussion\" style=\"background-color:#009739\">Contact Sales Team<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-background has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color\" href=\"https:\/\/share.hsforms.com\/14pvEg8MDTBGquq-NmNEt_g41ppg\">Learn More<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Differentiating your offerings from your competitors is more crucial than ever as products and various services are increasing in similarity. Excellent customer service is often underlooked even when it is often a direct element that influences sales conversion, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Great customer service comes from great customer understanding. Some would say it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/ja\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffinc.co\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}