The Value of Competitive Mystery Shopping

One of the services that The Brandt Group offers is something called competitive mystery shopping. Often when our prospective clients reach out to us for the first time, they’re delighted by this idea. To the business owners and managers who find themselves unaware of what this means, this blog is…
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The Phone Is Still King

Nicola Brookes, writing for Vonage, included a series of fascinating infographics in her article, “The Multibillion Dollar Cost of Poor Customer Service”. Among these graphics, we can see that the company uncovered that businesses lose some $41 billion dollars each year due to poor customer service—in part due to the…
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Why Employees Should Want to Be Mystery Shopped

We’re almost there! Christmas is less than a week away, and we suspect many employees like yourself can’t wait to push through the festivities and make it to the other side of New Year’s, right? —Soon. Just keep focused and it’ll all be over before you know it! In the…
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The Attitude of Indifference

There’s no getting around the fact that December is a tough time for employees. On the one hand, increased sales are a critical boon for business, but on the other, there’s seemingly no end to the stress and frenetic pace of the holiday season. But the people working in the…
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Opportunity in the Chaos of Christmastime

‘Tis the season for jingle bells, hot chocolate, and gift buying. Where in previous years sales promotions like Black Friday took place on one day, now they all seem to be extended from the day of Thanksgiving onwards. There are lightning deals to catch and doorbusters to grab. As you…
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A Service-First Sales Culture

According to a Gallup poll, as quoted in Shep Hyken’s article, “Five Ways Salespeople Can Contribute To A Great Experience,” salespeople are the lowest ranked profession outside of members of Congress. That there’s such a large negative sentiment to overcome for successful sales is a bitter pill to swallow. As…
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Why Should You Be a Mystery Shopper?

If you’ve ever thought about becoming a mystery shopper, but aren’t entirely sure whether it’s right for you, here are some reasons you might want to give it a go: Try New Things One of the most exciting benefits of mystery shopping is that it’ll often lead you to restaurants…
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What the Filet-O-Fish Teaches Us About Competitive Intelligence

Do you know the story behind McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish? For a restaurant chain the specializes in burgers and a handful of chicken products, the inclusion of this one seafood item sure looks sticks out on the company’s nationwide menu. To learn why, you needn’t look any further than Today I Found…
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The Hiring Scorecard

We’ve long maintained that your staff is one of the chief differentiators that separates your business from the rest in the competitive landscape. As we wrote back in 2017, “having a great staff will empower your business to offer great customer service, to offer a personal touch that seems so…
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