If you’ve ever played golf, you know there are two different ways to keep score. The first is simple. Every hole has a target number of strokes called par. It’s the standard every golfer is trying to achieve.
The second score is often the one that matters most to amateur golfers: their handicap. Rather than comparing themselves to professionals or even the best player in their foursome, they’re measuring how they perform against their own past rounds. A golfer who shoots an 89 after consistently shooting in the mid–90s has every reason to celebrate.
That same mindset can transform the way you think about your mystery-shopping program.
Every Business Needs a “Par”
A quality mystery-shopping program should establish clear expectations for every customer interaction. Was the customer greeted promptly? Did the employee demonstrate product knowledge? Was the facility clean? Did the conversation end with an invitation to return?
Employees must be trained to understand that these standards are not arbitrary. They represent the baseline level of service your customers should receive every time they walk through the door. We might think of those standards as par.
Every location, every manager, and every employee should understand what great service looks like. Without that benchmark, improvement becomes difficult because no one knows what they’re aiming for. Objective scoring matters. But it isn’t the whole story.
Every Employee Needs a Customer-Experience “Handicap”
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is treating mystery shopping scores like a leaderboard. Maybe Store A scored a 94, and Store B scored an 86. In the simplest terms, Store A wins.
That approach may create a little friendly competition, but it doesn’t always help to develop better customer experiences. The unintended consequence is that employees at the top may become complacent, while those at the bottom begin to feel like they’ll never catch up.
Instead, consider a different question: How did this location perform compared to its last mystery shop?
A store or individual that improves from 72 to 84 has made tremendous progress. Maybe the manager invested time coaching employees on greeting customers. Perhaps they reorganized the sales floor to make it easier to navigate. Maybe they finally solved a recurring issue that had been hurting scores for months.
Those improvements deserve recognition.
Likewise, a location that consistently scores in the low 90s shouldn’t assume there’s nothing left to learn. Customer expectations evolve, new employees join the team, and even strong performers can develop bad habits over time.
Just like golf, the goal isn’t simply to post one good round. It’s to become a better player over the long run by improving your handicap.
Every Mystery Shop Is a Coaching Opportunity
A golfer shouldn’t look at a scorecard and immediately decide whether they’ve had a good or bad day. They should study it. Where did they lose strokes? What part of their game needs work before the next round? And so on.
The same philosophy applies to mystery shopping reports. After all, a mystery-shopping report isn’t simply a grade. It’s feedback.
Maybe customers are waiting too long to be acknowledged. Maybe employees know the products well but struggle to ask thoughtful follow-up questions. Maybe the checkout process feels rushed, causing associates to miss opportunities to thank customers or invite them back.
Those observations become coaching conversations instead of criticism. A way to improve your game rather than a way to feel badly about it. Over time, those conversations produce something far more valuable than a single high score. They create consistent habits that improve every customer interaction.
That’s how lasting improvement happens. One round at a time.
Measure Progress, Not Perfection
At The Brandt Group, we’ve spent more than 30 years helping businesses use mystery shopping as a tool for growth, not punishment. Our reports provide objective benchmarks while also helping you identify trends, measure progress, and coach employees toward even better performance. When your team focuses on playing against yesterday instead of simply trying to beat everyone else, everybody wins—including your customers.
If you’re ready to build a mystery shopping program that measures meaningful progress instead of just collecting scores, contact The Brandt Group today. We’d love to help you chart your next round.
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