This new ESOMAR/GRBN Guideline is for researchers and clients engaged in primary research. It includes all quantitative and qualitative methods that involve direct interaction (such as to get consent) with the data subject, including passive data collection in which the researcher observes, measures or records a person?s actions. It also is meant to provide guidance for those who commission research. Methodologies included but are not limited to surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews, ethnographic studies and some forms of observational research, including mystery shopping.
The aim of the Mystery Shopping study is to assist professionals in improving customer service, offering information on the operations and the quality of the service provided. The Mystery Shopping studios can include from simple observations point of sale or service focusing on aspects such as signaling , cleaning, waiting and / or response time, equipment status, compliance with company regulations, etc. Mystery Shopping studies can also be extended to make a purchase or service request when the evaluator acts as if he were a client current or potential.
Air France KLM and TNS will present the road taken to meet the high standards of modernity. Asking general satisfaction questions is no longer enough. After decades of satisfaction surveys, Air France KLM has finally turned a new page. Innovative thinking is influenced by three forces: the strategic call for the one number you need to know, the growing need for more details, and a relaxing evaluation process experienced by the customer. Moreover, Air France KLM is embracing customer-centric thinking: the customer is more and more in control. As a demonstration of this new approach, Air France KLM will present its innovative mystery-shopping programme where experienced customers are invited to join the quality observer programme. This enables loyal consumers to evaluate the services WITHIN the customer journey.
Don't stop in the middle of the road by analyzing data only! Don't be an android as your customers are not. Enhance your data analytics with your customers' emotions understanding. That helps to reveal surprising insights.
The purpose of mystery shopping studies is to help focus the attention of business management on customer service improvement by providing information on the operations and the quality of service it is providing.Mystery shopping studies can comprise the simple factual observation of points of sale or services focusing particularly on signage, cleanliness, waiting time, response time, commercial signage, the state of equipment in use, adherence to the companys standards etc. It might also extend as far as making a purchase or enquiry, where the evaluator acts as if he or she was an actual or potential customer, on the basis of a simple or more complicated scenario.Mystery shopping studies involve the use of mystery shoppers who are trained and/or briefed to observe, experience and measure any customer service process by acting as a prospective customer and undertaking a series of pre-determined tasks to assess performance against specific criteria, reporting back on their experiences in a comparable and consistent way.
This paper will focus on the research aspects. Programmatic organization development as a method will only be dealt with briefly. Measurement by using the Mystery Shopping principle to its utter limits - for the front office - and retrospective self reporting - for the back office - will be described and some results will be presented. Also pitfalls and aspects where research might be improved will be discussed.
This paper looks at the evolution of large scale mystery shopping survey programmes, which in many instances is being driven by financial institutions. It describes how NOP has reacted to both the development of the market for performance measurement programmes and explains the mechanics of utilising mystery shopping as part of this measurement process. The first part of the paper examines mystery shopping as a means of evaluation. The second part explains how both agencies and clients have reacted to these developments and looks forward to the next generation of mystery shopping surveys. The paper approaches the subject primarily from a practitioners viewpoint. It illustrates how the design and successful implementation of mystery shopping surveys - just as with the more established research methodologies - demands foresight, flexibility and attention to detail - from client as well as agency.
In 1993 Girobank decided to embark upon a mystery shopper exercise to provide information as input to its Total Quality management system. Girobank had already undertaken regular monitoring of its customer service through continuous customer surveys for several years, however, it was felt that these were not providing the complete picture that was required. In particular there was the need for an exercise that was essentially objective in nature and did not rely on the subjective perception of customers of a service that was distanced from them at the time of completing a survey. In addition mystery shopping would allow specific service aspects to be measured at key points in time. It would not be reliant upon individual customers' usage of service and the vagaries of human behaviour. Girobank's method of operation as a centralised bank with an agency relationship through the Post Office precluded any participation in syndicated mystery shopping exercises designed to evaluate retail branch banking per se. Key also to the evaluation of the service was the need to hold a Girobank account i.e. to be an existing Girobank customer. Girobank services are linked through a core customer relationship via the current account. Consequently we took the decision to utilise existing customers and invite them to participate in an ongoing exercise of service evaluation. This had a number of advantages: customers already knew Girobank and its method of operation - there was no need for them to undergo a learning curve on the service and the way it operates; accounts would not need to be opened or pre-funded - a consequent saving in costs, both in funds and administration time; existing customers would be invisible to customer service staff as 'mystery shoppers'; there would be no clue in their account details that they were a member of an evaluation panel, to all intents and purposes their behaviour would appear as natural; their calls would be indistinguishable from the thousands of calls received by Girobank daily. In addition, we could, within reason, pre-select customers on the basis of their existing account behaviour and product holding to better focus on those service aspects which we wished to evaluate.
The paper will introduce some of the major marketing issues facing vendors of IT hardware and software. An increasingly competitive market environment is forcing such companies to consider the following key questions: What is the best mix of channels for my product? What branding strategy should I adopt? What pricing strategy will complement my brand strategy? How can determine if my company's interface with the end-user is the most appropriate? Where traditional market research can go far in answering many of these questions, IT Product Managers often find it difficult to monitor the performance of their products and brands in the market. How can they tell, for instance, if sales personnel in high street retailers are spontaneously recommending their products? How can they tell how much discounting key competitors are adopting at point of sale? How can they be sure that the channels to market consistently present their products in the best way? The mystery shopping technique allows many of these questions to be answered. Research International undertook its own telephone Mystery Shopping exercise amongst a variety of types of PC dealers. The purpose of this was to determine the relative strength of a variety of PC, software and printer brands in the market for entry-level systems. The paper will include findings from this survey (which was undertaken in the UK earlier this year). The results show the significant strength that a relatively small number of brands have built within the channels to market. The study indicates strong potential for mystery shopping in the business-to-business sector - particularly by manufacturers wishing to determine the effectiveness of channels to market in supporting their brands.
This paper questions some of the conventional approaches and ways that many manufacturers look at and use customer service research, in particular, Customer Service Monitors: The use of vague 'scales' to measure performance. The way the importance of different aspects of service is measured The way some Customer Service Monitors fail to reflect importance weighting It also looks at how mystery shopping and Customer Service Monitors (CSM's) results combined can be more useful to dealers and how integrated indices using CSM data, mystery' shopping data and internal performance data can provide an overall Customer Service Index which can give a clearer guide to dealers on how they are performing in terms of service delivery.