Customer Survey Or Mystery Shopper – Which Is Best

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If you are interested in a way to uncover the truth about how your business handles customers on the phone and how they treat customers in your store, there are several tools you can use to learn the truth.

One method that is popular among retail businesses is a customer survey. In a customer survey, the company allows customers to answer questions that may relate to the quality of service or quality of the product. The answers are usually on a sliding scale of 1 to 5, or something similar. Open-ended questions are not typical, as the numerical data is the goal of the customer survey.

The data gathered from a customer survey can be charted and used for graphs. These graphs will show the management team the strengths and weaknesses of the team and allow them to gauge what grows areas to focus on.

Fast food chains also find the customer survey a good way to gather customer satisfaction data. One of the most common ways to conduct it is to print the information on the bottom or back of the customers receipt. There is often an incentive tied into completing the survey, such as a discount for the next purchase or the chance to win money or prizes.

The data collected here is very simplistic and not too direct towards the companys standard operating procedures.

Another method that gives a business an inside look at how the customers feel is a mystery shopping service . These services are conducted by professionals who anonymously shop your store under the ruse of an every day customer. Although the shopper appears as any other customer, he or she is making a mental note of each interaction with your associates and taking a mental picture of his surroundings. The feedback provided from a mystery shopping service is usually statistical and in essay form.

The results a mystery shopping service will give detailed feedback regarding a specific interaction between the shopper and the associate. These mystery audits are usually done sporadically or monthly so the data is not as vast as that of a customer survey. However, a customer survey can not be directed too closely to the detailed sales strategies the company practices but a professional shopper is able to report specifics about what sales techniques worked well and what sales techniques need improvement. This data is very powerful as a sales tool for the growth of the business.

Some of the most popular industries that use a mystery shopping service are retailers, fast food restaurants, dining restaurants, doctors offices, car dealerships, hotel and resort destinations and more. The list is ever-growing as new industries discover the power of the anonymous shopper.

There are pros and cons to a customer survey as well as a mystery shopping service . In fact, many businesses feel that a combination of both is the best way to go. Whether you choose just one, or both, you are sure to find the benefits discovering what your customers experience when they use your services. Any business who puts an interest into how their customers feel has already made a step in the right direction. The easy part is gathering the data. The hard part is making the necessary changes, but a determined business person will not fail.

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.