5 Things On-Site Mystery Shopping Tells You That Online Reviews Can’t

Online reviews and an increase in affordable on-site mystery shopping services have led to more ways for busy entrepreneurs to tap into the mindset of their customers.

Implementing best practice strategies, being hands-on, and retaining experienced managers all go a long way toward managing the customer experience. But hiring a company that provides on-site mystery shopping to see how they’re really doing is still a tried-and-true way to maintain high standards.

Respectable companies hire mystery shoppers because they have an acute attention to high standards, details, and most importantly, customer experience. So rather than considering sites like Yelp to be a replacement for professional evaluation services, mystery shopping is a critical part of the quality assessment puzzle.  

On-site mystery shopping fills in the gaps between what an online review tells you and what’s really happening in your business in the following ways.

Objective Perspective:

We all know that online reviews are often biased. And while this does provide your business insight into what one customer desires, they’re typically not impartial. What one shopper enjoys another may dislike. With mystery shopping services, the collected information is honest, objective feedback.

Promotional Performance Evaluation:

The majority of online reviews are usually about one aspect of the business. Companies rarely – if ever – receive feedback on how well their staff is representing their business. For example, do you know how many of your locations are successfully upselling? With mystery shopping services, you can determine how your promotions are being rolled out on the sales floor.

Identify Your Best and Brightest Employees:

As a business owner or manager, it’s your responsibility to evaluate your employees’ performances. Because you can’t have your ears and eyes on them at all times, on-site mystery shopping is essential for any business. Unlike online reviews, mystery shopping reports identify each employee that the shopper interacted with. With this information, you can applaud your employee’s great service and educate those who need improvement.

Gain Customer Awareness:

Online reviews provide you with an insight into customer awareness while they’re shopping at your business. But again, they are often extremely biased and fail to offer a totally objective viewpoint. With mystery shopping services, you’ll have access to completely objective feedback regarding the customer experience. You’ll learn about wait times, cleanliness, interactions and more, all of which are crucial to keeping a happy customer happy.

Situational Awareness:

On-site mystery shopping allows you to learn what it’s like to see the store through a customer’s eyes. Mystery shopping reports give you objective insights into how your customers perceive your business. Is it clean? Is it easy to get around? Well lit? All of these things are essential to a successful business but are not often mentioned in an online review.

Online reviews and mystery shopping studies offer different information and benefits. Online reviews can provide general information about how your business is performing. However, if you know what you should be doing and want to ensure that your company is actually delivering on it, choose mystery shopping.

While online reviews can provide personal insights into a customer’s opinions about your business, they don’t provide objective, actionable data that is tailored to it. 

On-site mystery shopping is an essential tool for keeping your customers happy. Reality Based Group provides an impartial report that includes authentic feedback regarding what it’s like to be a customer in your business. Contact us today to get started.