While at work, last night, I think that I saw a Mystery Shopper. Sure did. There she was, with her pen and paper, checking little boxes as she proceeded to go up and down the aisles. How do I know this? Well, I just happened to walk past her and when I saw what she was doing, I just had to take a moment to watch this lady.
I spotted this lady in the Produce Department as I was coming out of the back room, having clocked back in and on my way to the Front Lines, which was one of my jobs yesterday.With pen and paper in hand, she was pushing a cart, looking around and examining everything on the tables. She would pick up a bag of potatoes, look at it, lay it down and proceed on to the next item. Then she would take her pen, and make a mark on this paper that had the name of our store on the heading. Under the heading, on this paper, was a list and with each listed item there were two little boxes posted. To tell you the truth, I found this amusing. With what she was doing, she gave the appearance of either being a Mystery Shopper or an inspector.
Since I saw what she was doing, and I witnessed what the employee in that department was doing, she had better have given that department high marks. The Produce Clerk was busy stocking bananas, at the time, since they were only .39/lb., they were flying off of the display. And, everything in the department looked, not only good, but well stocked, neat and orderly. Looked like someone had been doing their job.
Later on, here she comes pushing her cart up to Front Lines to be checked out. And whose line did she come through? That's right, it was mine. This lady had no personality, didn't wish to talk, and was quick with her answers when asked a question; "Yes.", "No.", "Thanks." Not at all like our regular customers.
If a company wants to learn what customers think of their store, here's a thought; and the great thing, is,that it is free. As customers come into the store, ask them if they would fill out a questionnaire while they shop. Ask them to give their opinions on the appearance of the store, the selections that are offered, how are the sales and do they think that they were given good service. By doing this, we will know what our customers like, or dislike, about our store and it will give us an opportunity to amend the situations as needed. And when they have responded to this questionnaire, ask them what they think about the Customer Service. I think that the company would hear the same thing that we, the employees, hear all of the time. "I like coming here to shop, you people are always so friendly and helpful."
Talk at ya later!
I spotted this lady in the Produce Department as I was coming out of the back room, having clocked back in and on my way to the Front Lines, which was one of my jobs yesterday.With pen and paper in hand, she was pushing a cart, looking around and examining everything on the tables. She would pick up a bag of potatoes, look at it, lay it down and proceed on to the next item. Then she would take her pen, and make a mark on this paper that had the name of our store on the heading. Under the heading, on this paper, was a list and with each listed item there were two little boxes posted. To tell you the truth, I found this amusing. With what she was doing, she gave the appearance of either being a Mystery Shopper or an inspector.
Since I saw what she was doing, and I witnessed what the employee in that department was doing, she had better have given that department high marks. The Produce Clerk was busy stocking bananas, at the time, since they were only .39/lb., they were flying off of the display. And, everything in the department looked, not only good, but well stocked, neat and orderly. Looked like someone had been doing their job.
Later on, here she comes pushing her cart up to Front Lines to be checked out. And whose line did she come through? That's right, it was mine. This lady had no personality, didn't wish to talk, and was quick with her answers when asked a question; "Yes.", "No.", "Thanks." Not at all like our regular customers.
If a company wants to learn what customers think of their store, here's a thought; and the great thing, is,that it is free. As customers come into the store, ask them if they would fill out a questionnaire while they shop. Ask them to give their opinions on the appearance of the store, the selections that are offered, how are the sales and do they think that they were given good service. By doing this, we will know what our customers like, or dislike, about our store and it will give us an opportunity to amend the situations as needed. And when they have responded to this questionnaire, ask them what they think about the Customer Service. I think that the company would hear the same thing that we, the employees, hear all of the time. "I like coming here to shop, you people are always so friendly and helpful."
Talk at ya later!
Mystery shopper's can be nothing more than vaugegrant bugs to be slammed into the windshield of a moving vehicle as it transports a family to Vermont for a weekend of fall leaves and apple-cider. On the same hand, mystery shopper's can be a buisnesses bread & butter, so to speak. Walgreens has a similar thing with their "MS" (using an acronym of a horrid disease to describe these folk, kinda fitting"
ReplyDeleteThese people are put in a sense of power in that whatever marks (positive, negative, good note, bad note) they put on their check list can ultimatly have a powerful effect on a store, or single employee. Some MS are actually cool about this fact, at least in my experience. They do their job, realize it's a job, and understand that the people are taking their job to heart and doing their best. And then there are the majority of the MS'ers who feel that power rush and act unprofessional, rude, and in truth may just be out to ruin someone's day.
That's quite an opinion. Thanks for your outlook on the subject.
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