The relationship between mystery shoppers and clients is sacred. That may sound like hyperbole, but we’re actually being serious. Consider what’s at stake for the clients: their futures depend on making the right decisions, and their employees depend upon them for their livelihoods. Clients come to mystery shopping companies like The Brandt Group because they’re hoping to improve their customer service, their products, their merchandising, and more. Companies who mystery shop are either developing or attempting to reinforce a strong, positive culture. They want their customers to have the best experience possible because satisfied customers come back, and they encourage their friends to come too.
Companies that neglect these things imperil their longevity, and in doing so may deprive their staff of long-term stability. In short, a business with a bad culture and poor customer service won’t be in business long, and those employees will be out of their jobs to boot. This is why it’s so important that we give our clients the most accurate, most honest information we can. When employees do well, we want them to know so that they can keep it up. When they come up short, we want them to learn from their mistakes and improve.
Given the proliferation of social media, one might think that businesses look to their Google and Yelp reviews more than anything, but the problem with those is that they’re so easily manipulated and misleading. An unfortunate truth is that customers who have negative experiences are more likely to spend the effort writing reviews than those who have positive ones. But even glowing reviews may overlook small problems that need attention. Simply put, online reviews tend to polarize between great or poor and are almost always devoid of any thoughtful nuance. They tend to focus on one big thing rather than the details.
That’s not to say that mystery shopping is free from subjectivity, but it also has tremendous objectivity. Naturally, mystery shopping companies like The Brandt Group want your opinions (what you like, what you don’t), but we also ask lot of observational questions too (how long before you were greeted, etc.). And when you aggregate everything together, all of the opinions and the detailed observations across multiple reports, the client gets a clear picture of what they’re doing well—and what needs work. They see the forest and the trees, the big picture and the fine detail. They’re empowered to make informed decisions.
What you write in your reports will directly impact the local businesses around you. Employees will be trained based on your feedback. Until now, perhaps you’ve thought that mystery shopping is just a fun side-gig where you can make some extra money. Well, it is! But it’s also really important—what you have to say matters, and the clients are listening. They want to hear from you.
We need mystery shoppers who are detail-oriented, patient, able to follow directions and are passionate about the customer experience. We need people who will faithfully follow every step and thoughtfully answer every question—because your honest, nuanced feedback matters. Because what you say will influence what the clients decide, which will ultimately affect the people who work there and the community around them.
Are you passionate about the little things? Are you thorough? Do you want your opinion to matter? Do you want to make a positive change and get paid for doing so? Then we want you to join our mystery shopping network. Call us at 406-586-3036 if you’d like to chat, or go ahead and sign up now on a registration page. Thank you on behalf of ourselves at The Brandt Group, and on behalf of the many clients we’ll serve together!
