After each mystery visit, our field experts' reports go through a review phase. The aim is to ensure that the reports delivered to our customers are of the highest possible quality.
But how are these rereads carried out, and by whom? We tell you all about it behind the scenes.
1 - What does the mystery tour review entail?
This review stage is an integral part of the Mystery Shopping validation process. To ensure impeccable quality in the reporting of visit audits, we carry out a double check.
The 1st phase already takes place when our mystery shoppers send in their reports via the SmiceApp. The data is linked directly to the Smice platform, enabling a 1st phase of just-in-time control.
From this platform, our team of proofreaders proceeds to a 2nd phase of proofreading.
The recruitment process for our field experts already ensures the high quality of the verbatims returned. A very large proportion of the proofreading concerns syntax corrections or forgotten typos, but it can sometimes be a question of minor problems in understanding the visit itself.
In these rare cases, it is our operational managers who decide on the corrections to be made.
2 - Who are our reviewers?
Our proofreaders are people from outside the company, paid on a per-assignment basis. This mode of operation offers 2 main advantages:
- Flexibility, because it allows you to react very quickly, even to peaks in activity, without impacting on report delivery times.
- The relevance of the review, because our teams have a fresh eye for all the answers that are unclear or need to be completed, without knowing the visit program from the outset.
Testimony of Sophie, Smice proofreader:
"I've been proofreading for Smice for about 15 months now. What I like is the fact that I can work from home and manage my hours as I wish. It's all very simple: I know in advance the cost of proofreading and the number of assignments to be proofread, I have access to briefings, shared follow-up sheets... When I commit, it's with full knowledge of the facts!
What I find particularly pleasant is the friendliness of all my contacts at Smice. Whether it's by e-mail, chat or phone, everyone is very available, responsive and friendly. It's great to have people who can spend 1 hour helping me proofread a complicated assignment.
I'd like to emphasize the trust shown by the whole team. In short, it's been a benevolent and constructive collaboration!"
3 - Training for our proofreaders
Smice proofreaders are recruited and integrated in stages. The 1st contact is made by telephone during a meeting which allows us to find out about their background, experience and motivations.
Once this stage has been validated, we send them a modus operandi detailing their future missions, so that they understand the importance of proofreading the quality of the reports delivered, as part of a mystery visit.
Then comes the testing phase. To do this, we offer to proofread several missions of varying degrees of complexity, and support them in checking and debriefing.
As you can see, our proofreaders are supervised from start to finish, before becoming completely autonomous, but never on their own.
4 - How are our reviewers' portfolios organized?
It's important for Smice to know that our team of proofreaders will always have a constant volume of business. That's why we ensure an average portfolio of 6 customers per proofreader.
As each customer is followed up on a monthly basis, usually over several years, we can guarantee regularity in their assignments. To date, the team consists of around ten proofreaders.
5 - Communication vectors
Our field experts and proofreaders communicate via the Smice Platform, directly linked to the SmiceApp for greater fluidity, even if exchanges are not systematic on all assignments.
So, depending on the questions or comments from the graders, our mystery shoppers can fill in missing information or explain sticking points.
6 - How long does proofreading take?
Knowing that we commit to a 48-hour turnaround time for inspection reports, all our teams are highly responsive.
Mystery shoppers have 24 hours to complete their reports, to keep their feedback fresh and spontaneous. Our proofreaders work immediately on the completed reports to deliver them to you on time. It's a real team effort.
7 - What if I want to contest a visit or a proofreading?
In addition to an Account Manager, our team is made up of Operational Managers whose role is to supervise the mystery visits linked to your account. One of these managers' missions is to ensure that instructions are respected by both mystery shoppers and reviewers.
They are your point of contact for all operational issues.
Our pride and strength lies in the quality of our mystery shoppers.