without a doubt! It a true measure of the quote "trust but verify!". Employees may not like it, but if you use reverse pyschology and ask empployees to put themselves in the company owners shoes, i believe they would understand.
Absolutely!! Just knowing that anyone sitting in front of you, or on the phone with you, can be a mystery shopper, keeps most people on their toes and forces them to be more customer service oriented.
I think that mystery shoppers in the admissions process is good, but I think having other mystery shopping experiences would be good, too, since the students are not the only customers. Perhaps having someone come and pretend to be a graduate to mystery shop Career Services? Or how about shopping the Front Line staff just on basic customer service procedures (not specifically for admissions, but maybe just information-gathering on location, hours, etc.). I think the challenge in mystery shopping is to get enough information from all aspects of the administrative processes, not just admissions and Financial Aid.
I think mystery shoppers benefit our campus by holding us accountable for our actions, good and bad. I believe our campus is great, but there are always opportunities for improvement and the mystery shoppers help to identify those opportunities and make the company more aware of all those things we already do right!
Mystery shopping is one data point that helps to inform training and to recognize if processes and procedures are working. What has been your experience with the mystery shop results at your school? How have they helped you?
Great insight Kallie. It's important to recognize that mystery shoppers can provide information about strengths as well as opportunities.
Thank you for your post Hrissi. Having a well-trained and objective mystery shopper will provide you with great information and training opportunities; however, what can you learn from the shopper who might not 'click' with the employee? I think something can be learned from that experience too.
Let's not forget about celebrating on what we are doing right too! Thank you for your post Sharon.
Yes, I think they do teach us a thing or to about what we are doing wrong.
I think a mystery shopper could be beneficial but only if s/he is properly trained for what to look for when interacting with an employee, what information should be shared, etc. Otherwise, I would be concerned a mystery shopper's own biases or personality type might not "click" with the employee--thereby negatively influencing the mystery shopper's experience/evaluation of a company.
I think mystery shoppers are highly beneficial as they show the points of improvement within a company or business as well as their areas of strengths. Mystery shoppers are able to remain objective and offer actual/real world examples of how our company is serving our customer base.
The benefit of mystery shoppers is that it identifies what are the strengths and opportunities of the overall customer service experience. My school uses mystery shoppers regularly for identifying what the admissions reps are doing well in and what needs improvements. We have used mystery shoppers to ensure that admissions reps are using compliant language and following processes and procedures. It is used as a tool to develop training programs for the development of skill sets of individual admissions reps.
Danica, that's a great perspective. There are always opportunities to improve and so it's great to see what an external person experiences during an interview.
Dr. Jean Norris
I think mystery shoppers do benefit the company. It is a good way to see what employees actually say and do when a manager is not hovering over them. It also is a way to see areas that can be improved upon, and areas that you are doing well.
I think mystery shoppers are good. Most do not know much about your company and therefore can give an objective opinion based on their experience. We are "shopped" often. We learn from mistakes that were made so we can better serve others in the future.
I'm so glad you brought up the dual benefit of mystery shopping. Most of the time an assessment contains a good amount of positive information and that needs to be celebrated. When sharing assessment reports and results we encourage discussing the positive points first and to celebrate them. Once the successes have been communicated then move on to the opportunities. Thank you for contributing to the forum Jeffrey.
There is an opportunity to gather valuable information from every stage of the admissions process; over the phone, during the initial visit, upon visiting with FA, and even during visits with career services. Knowing the opportunities for improvement during each step can help determine where training may be needed. Thank you for your post Lisa.
We think honest approach with full transparency is the best formula for an admissions team and mystery shoppers help to maintain that practice. Thank you Sharon.
I think mystery shoppers are essential in that they help to keep the information they receive honest. There have been times when a mystery shopper has been given info only to sway their decision about attending and some of what they were told has been enhanced.
Mystery shoppers do help companies in their day to day business. Its an opportunity for training in some of our weak points in customer service. If we think we are doing things correct and once we get that shopper in to point out the weakness. Mystery shoppers help keep us on our best at all times because we never know when it will happen.
