Who Is The Best Mystery Shopping Service Provider For Me? - Tips On What To Look For
If your business does not intend to carry out customer service or audit evaluations yourself, you may have to turn to a mystery shopping service provider. Outsourcing to a mystery shopping company will in many occasions be more cost effective than attempting to solve your own problems. Businesses and business owners have no problem outsourcing a lot of their problems, but don’t even think about it as outsourcing.
Accountants, lawyers, tax professionals and of course computer geeks (I say that with a smile because computer geeks will rule the world one day) are all outsourced every day but very rarely do we think about it because we know it’s a matter of business protocol that we hire professionals to do the things we can’t do ourselves.
Unfortunately more money is wasted on mystery shopping operations (sub rosa) than any other type of business evaluation. This is largely due to the use of poorly qualified mystery shoppers, although in many cases the lack of standards is unintentional. Using experts will show you that your money is being spent wisely. Always remember that cost and value are in most cases polar opposites. Cost is what you have to pay, and value is what you receive.
Do not make the selection of a mystery shopping provider the last item to be checked off of your list. Do you require a conventional mystery shopping evaluation or the high tech video mystery shopping evaluation? The answer to this question should be a major part of your solution development and any candidate should be considered as part of your team to ensure that when your project is put into action, there is a smooth transition.
When you are in that position, you should try and expand your list of possible service providers by using a Request For Proposal (RFP). This is a very good way to find out specific information about a service provider’s ability to meet your needs and objectives.
Once you have received your proposals, you can start the evaluation process. Even if you have received only one proposal, which is very unlikely in the mystery shopping market, you should still evaluate their technical ability, expertise, management, staff training procedures and operating procedures. Never choose a service provider purely based on the assumption that they are your only choice. That is not a wise position to be in as it is better to postpone a project than going ahead with your only choice.
The criteria for your evaluation of prospects should be methodical. On reviewing the candidates, your objectives should be to select the most qualified provider and the one which will give you the greatest value for your investment.
You should look for compatibility in vision between yours and the candidate. A good candidate will want your company and project to be successful. Other evaluation criteria may be; ability to execute your vision, service support in terms of response time, planning, hours of contact, expertise of employees to conduct the mystery shopping evaluations once the program is running, cost and stability of candidate.
Business stability depends on updated technology. We know how much technology changes rapidly, and businesses technology is no different, it lives in the fast lane. To arrive at business stability depends on how we keep up with these changes. The purpose of technology is to provide better solutions for you. If you outsource, you have the ability to ride the wave of change without handling any financial outlay yourself.
Depending on your outlook, you may feel that a bigger company might be suited to your needs, but in the words of Seth Godin “Small is the new big!” The ability to change fast is the single best asset for any organisation so you have to look carefully which company has the ability to change with you.
The last point I would like to add is be specific in your request for information from candidates. Indicate the minimum and maximum for the length of response to your RFP, and remember that you only get what you ask for.
Once you have made your short list, always meet with the candidates to have them respond to any questions you have and to gain further information you might require from them.
Please remember that a good mystery shopping company can sometimes be the difference between a prosperous and dismal outcome.
Edward Petrie is Founder/President of VideoShopper, Ontario’s first Video Mystery Shopping Company. He is also is Canada’s first Expert Surveillance Investigator as certified by the National Association of Investigative Specialist. More information about Video Mystery Shopping can be found at http://www.videoshopper.ca Edward Petrie can be contacted by phone at 519-788-0474 or via email at epetrie@videoshopper.ca
Tags: mystery shopping, Service providers