Is Your Customer Service a Mystery?

To help me kick start my consulting services with any new company client, I always ask how well customers are treated. Inevitably, most owners and managers reply with an answer like “Our service is great!” When I ask how they know this to be true, they usually say something along the lines of how they never receive complaints. So, their customer service MUST be great! What? Interesting…

Do you use this same method to judge your level of customer service satisfaction? Don’t guess. Be accurate and know.

To further evaluate a new client’s customer service effectiveness, I sometimes—unbeknownst to the client—go undercover as a mystery shopper. I visit a client’s physical location once or twice as a regular customer. Sometimes, I’ll add a series of mystery phone calls to evaluate the effectiveness of over-the-phone customer service protocols. Client companies are often astonished with the results of my mystery shopper work and are surprised by the inconsistencies in the service I’ve received.

Strategies that Turn it Around:

Use my mystery shopper touch points to evaluate the effectiveness and consistency of your overall customer service plan and protocols:

1. What is your website like? Is it easy or hard to navigate and find information?
2. Who or what answers telephone calls? Do humans answer? If so, is it easy to understand what they say? Are they articulate and knowledgeable, or are they rude and use slang?
3. When customers visit your physical location, is it hard or easy to find you?
   1. How is your parking situation?
   2. Is your parking lot clean, well lit, and staffed with friendly employees?
4. When customers enter your building, are they acknowledged within the first 15 seconds? Are your employees trained to make eye contact, smile, and say hello to everyone?
5. Do your employees wear name badges? Do they introduce themselves to your customers?
6. Are your employees helpful and friendly?

For more information about monitoring and evaluating your customer service touch points, email or call Barbara for your complimentary mystery shopper or caller checklist.

Remember: Don’t leave exceptional customer service to chance. Randomly and frequently conduct mystery shopper visits and phone calls to make sure your team is delivering great customer service consistently and effectively.

How do YOU know your customer service is great? Please share in the comments section below.