Amid social-distancing recommendations, stay-at-home pleas, and shelter-in-place orders, businesses everywhere are trying to find ways to remain open—even if in a limited capacity—to serve their communities and keep their staff members employed. Restaurants are closing their dining rooms but switching to pick-up and delivery, retailers are shuttering their showrooms but moving to curbside pickup, and even grocers are seeing a huge uptick in personal-shopping services as their regular clientele stays home. Special hours and extra precautions abound. The amount of personal sacrifice we’re witnessing is staggering. It’s also inspirational.
First responders and medical professionals rightly deserve all of our respect, support, and gratitude right now (and always), but let’s not forget to appreciate the 30-million small-businesses doing everything they can to hold their small pieces of the world together. The Brandt Group applauds all of you who have found a way to persevere in the face of unprecedented global catastrophe. To the business owners and sole proprietors out there looking for help, make sure you stay up-to-date on all the resources out there. For example, MBO Partners has put together a webpage with information about the CARES Act, including a webinar that explains how the stimulus works.
As we adjust to what we all hope is a very-temporary reality, there’s a question some of our clients have asked: “Should we mystery shop in the middle of a pandemic?” After all, maintaining high-quality customer service is a challenge even in the best times, and everyone is under a uniquely high-stress load, so it’s understandable that nerves will be frayed, tempers short, and attention divided. Who could fault people for being imperfect right now?
Probably no one could rightly cast blame. That said, customer service remains important because it brings structure to an otherwise chaotic time. Naturally, you’ll need to adapt your sales workflows to fit safety guidelines, but you should absolutely keep your business organized and disciplined. This glimmer of familiarity and control will help put both your employees and customers at ease.
There are countless stories of communities banding together to support local businesses in a dramatic and heartening show of solidarity across the country. Customers are demonstrating their loyalty and appreciation for the hard work these companies do in spite of the difficulty. Good customer service is a way of saying thank you for that support.
You might wonder how mystery shoppers can perform their duties given the federal government’s stay-at-home guidelines, and it’s a simpler answer than you might think. The people who mystery shop are normal consumers otherwise, many of whom may already frequent your business outside of their mystery-shopping assignments. They need to eat. They need to buy supplies. They need banking services. They need their vehicles repaired. Etc. Etc. In other words, they still need whatever your business provides, just like your regular clientele. As always, that makes them perfect candidates to evaluate your business because they have the same needs that have to be fulfilled. They would undergo the exact same procedures—not only for an accurate picture of your customer experience but also for their own safety.
To do so, we would help you build a specialized survey designed around however you’re operating now. For example, if you run a restaurant that’s switched to doing delivery (even if you’re relying on a third-party service), we would have questions related to the ordering experience. We would ask how long it took to arrive, whether everything was right, and what was the product’s overall quality. This is still important even when you use a food-delivery service because you never want to be blind to any part of the experience. Those drivers may not work for you, but you are paying for their services, so you’ll want to know whether they’re doing it right.
With some tweaking, a mystery shop will work for drive-thru banks, product-constrained grocery stores, curbside-pickup retailers, no-contact vehicle service centers, and more. Whatever your business, if you’re open and abiding by safety guidelines, we can figure out a way to measure how well your new operating procedures are working.
Now, whether mystery shopping is truly the right choice for your business at this very moment is a decision you’ll have to make for your own business. If you do decide the answer is yes, The Brandt Group is here for you. We’ll custom tailor a temporary program designed just for your business and your unique needs. And just as easily, we’ll expand that program as restrictions are eased and life returns to normal. This kind of flexibility makes The Brandt Group nimbler than just about every mystery-shopping company out there.
So don’t forget to follow the guidelines, listen to your state and local governments, and keep up-to-date on the resources out there. From all of us at The Brandt Group, we hope you and your employees are safe and well. Stay strong, and before you know it, we’ll be through this!
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