Best Practices in Mystery Shop Program Launch: Post-Shop Communication

In a previous post we introduced the importance of proper program launch.

Self-Help Resources

Self-help resources typically take the form of a webpage housed on the mystery shop provider’s website or on an internal resource page.  These resources provide a tutorial in the form of either a PowerPoint or video, reinforcing to stakeholders many of the subjects already discussed: definition of the brand, behavioral service expectations, and a copy of the questionnaire.

These self-help resources are also an excellent opportunity to introduce the mystery shop reports and how to read them (both on an individual shop basis and on an analytical level), and introduce concepts designed to identify the relative importance of specific sales and service behaviors which drive desired outcomes like purchase intent and customer loyalty.

Shop Results E-Mail

Upon distribution of the first shop, it is a best practice in launching a mystery shop program to send an e-mail to the supervisor of the employee shopped advising them of a completed shop, and containing either a PDF shop report or access to the shop via an online reporting tool.

The content of this e-mail should be dependent on the performance of the individuals shopped.  If a shop is perfect, the e-mail should congratulate the employees on a perfect shop.  If a shop is below expectations, it should inform the employees, in as positive way as possible, that their performance was below expectations and set the stage for coaching.  It should remind employees that it is not the performance of this first shop that counts, but subsequent improvement as a result of the shops.

Depending on the timing of shop e-mails, some clients prefer the shop to be sent as soon as it clears the provider’s quality control process, while others prefer shops be held and released in mass at the end of a given shopping period (typically monthly). If the e-mail is sent at the end of a given period, this is an excellent opportunity to identify top performers who received perfect shops as a means of both recognizing superior performance, and motivating other employees to seek similar achievement.

Finally, this e-mail should reinforce superior shop performance by reminding front-line employees and managers of the rewards earned by successful shop performance.

This e-mail should be modified for all subsequent waves of shopping and be used as a cover letter for distribution of all future shops.

Additional e-mails may be sent to notify employees and their managers of specific events, such as: perfect shops, failed shops, shops within a specific score range, or shops which identify a specific behavior of an employee like a cross-sell effort.

Post Shop Call/ Presentation

Similar to the kickoff presentation, after the first wave of shopping, it is a best practice to conduct a post shop presentation, again by conference call or WebEx.  The purpose of this presentation is to present the reports available, discuss how to read them, and – most importantly – take action on the results through coaching and interpreting call to action elements built into the program.  Call to action elements designed to identify which behaviors are most important in terms of driving purchase intent or loyalty.