Wed 2nd Jul 2008 02:03AM
Mystery shopper programs, what are they? People are always keen to know this and how they can benefit from it. Yes, you must be wondering what this is all about. People are getting excited over the use of undercover shoppers, like the undercover agents in mystery tales. There is really nothing mysterious at all in it.
It is very simple to understand that every employee will put up their best show in front of the boss and his representative as it will affect their job security. But what happens when he is not there to see, or what if even his appointed person betrays. The sufferer will be the company. The mystery shopper programs are the answers to all the problems. This is a special job where the agency sends shoppers who shop for the company without the knowledge of the staff. The shopper can be anyone, a mother, a retired person and even a student. The person is just another shopper to the staff in a store, a refilling station, a cinema, a restaurant, a coffee shop and anywhere where there is customer dealing. They do not know their identity because they do not need to.
The trick lies there. The staff should not know about the intention of this type of shopper at all. They are planted by the agencies to look and observe the behavior of the staff and how well they maintain the store and the customer relation. They are the tools of trade for the mystery shopper programs that the companies are paying for. The whole program stands on the anonymity of the shoppers who do the job on the ground. The programs have proved themselves a good way to keep a tab on the franchises, employees and all the related matters that cannot be controlled from the board room. It is flourishing into a full fledged trade and the companies are now swearing by them. They are changing the fortunes of many companies as they are providing a snap-shot of the goings-on on the floor all the time. The shoppers are like closed circuit cameras that can think and make the observations with the brain.
A question always crops up about the reliability of the mystery shopper programs. You must know that nothing is infallible. So no claim can be made that you will always be rewarded. There are indeed many spurious agencies lurking around to make a kill. It is also sure that you can be swept away by all the offers flashing around you. But there are the genuine ones. Otherwise the large multinational superstore chains would not have been appointing these agencies for evaluation of their shop floor employees. The companies are even using these shoppers to spy upon rival stores and outlets to evaluate themselves against those. The whole program is being developed into a fine art of evaluation without the paraphernalia of a major survey.
Finally, the obvious question is where to look for the genuine mystery shopper programs? The internet is the obvious answer. If you are willing to employ an undercover shopper or if you are willing to get employed as an undercover shopper then your search must end with such a program. While they provide results and suggestions for the companies, they also provide training for the shoppers to perform the job. They are very reliable if you can filter off the trash.
The original article is located at: Mystery Shopper Programs Are No Mystery