Human Resource Executive
- Quick Tips: Uncovering Good Service
By
Vernita C. Smith
It's often said that in today's competitive marketplace, a company
can differentiate itself from its challengers only through excellent
customer service.
So Canadian retailer Tip Top Tailors and Pittsburgh-based Interstate
Hotels use mystery shopper programs to help employees develop their
customer service skills. The mystery shoppers, provided by Sensors
Quality Management Inc. of Richmond, Ontario, visit the mens' wear
stores and hotels disguised as ordinary customers and guests.
At Tip Top Tailors, the shoppers assess store employees on factors
including how promptly they acknowledge customers, selling behaviors
and the overall appearance of the store. All the Toronto-based company's
1,6000 workers are aware of the program, says Barb McDowell, manager
of customer relations. Store employees never know exactly when mystery
shoppers will show up at their location, but they do know it will
be a minimum of once a month.
The company doesn't use the program to catch associates in the
act of doing something wrong, explains McDowell. The shoppers are
a performance improvement tool. "A lot of companies do mystery
shopping but they don't give direct feedback to the associate,"
she says.
Tip Top has its store managers review the shopper's report individually
with assessed employees. The workers then may receive additional
training on skill they were graded poorly on. The company even has
designed incentives around the mystery shopper program to recognize
stores that are tops in customer service.
Interstate Hotels uses a mystery guest program four times a year
at its two Canadian hotels. "It's a fantastic tool," says
Diana Oreck, director or quality improvement. During their stay,
mystery guests complete a 100-page assessment of the hotel staff
and services - reporting on their treatment from the moment they
reserve a room to the moment they check out.
Hotel managers then discuss the report results with their hotel
staff. The "candid, honest feedback" has proven useful,
Oreck says. In the four years since the hotel began using the mystery
guests, customer service among the 500-plus employees at the two
hotels has improved, Oreck says.
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