Introducing your employees to mystery shopping can be a tricky exercise. To ensure that this stage is not synonymous with a robbery, communicate as clearly as possible.
Explain the reasons for conducting mystery visits and what they will bring to the company, as well as to the teams themselves.
By demonstrating to your staff how these mystery visits can lift all employees, you can defuse a lot of tension.
Communicate transparently with teams
To dispel any internal tension that might arise from the announcement of mystery visits, you need to communicate as much as possible. It's imperative to communicate honestly and transparently about the purpose of the visits and how they will be carried out.
In this way, you'll give everyone a chance to express their fears and remove any obstacles, ahead of the roll-out of field visits.
Advertise mystery shopping programs in advance
To avoid tension within your organization when you announce the launch of a mystery-shopping program, communicate well in advance of its deployment. For example, you may decide to announce it at an annual meeting or during a seminar.
Choose an event involving all staff, rather than a generalized e-mail that could raise a lot of questions or be misinterpreted.
The aim of this type of announcement is to be able to collect reactions "on the fly" and answer questions live, with the utmost transparency. It will be easier to unlock any blockages these visits might cause.
In addition, involve middle management in the process, so that they can pass on any fears and questions from the field, which they will gather at team meetings. Upstream information is often rich in information and comments that should not be overlooked.
Don't hesitate to communicate your reasons for mystery shopping
Take advantage of upstream information
To get all your teams on board, give them all the resources they need to ensure compliance with your standards.
To do this, make sure that each employee has access to your guidelines, and that they are clear and well understood. If necessary, schedule training sessions, so that everyone is better equipped to meet the expectations of future mystery shoppers.
Finally, plan debriefing sessions after the visits to pass on the necessary messages, both in terms of areas for improvement and positive points.
You should also demystify the bad image of mystery shoppers by emphasizing their role in the company's continuous improvement.
Involve all employees in the process
By allowing employees to play an active role in the process, you'll get more buy-in. You can also highlight the positive points raised by the mystery visits as a way of gaining recognition.
Using mystery shopping as a management tool
Mystery shopping reports should not be seen as punitive tools. A shortcoming in the service offered to the customer, or a lack of product knowledge, may be the result of a lack of training.
These mystery visits also serve to identify everyone's needs, from management's areas for improvement to those of the operational departments.
The reports may highlight dysfunctions in the organization of time or space that are not the responsibility of the field teams. These findings may lead us to rethink the organization as a whole.
Conversely, positive remarks about the little things we do for our customers are genuine recognition, and should be shared as such with all our teams.
It's in this spirit of collective improvement that mystery visits should be presented.
Involving employees
Go beyond mystery visits by external customers. Manage your own audits independently, in addition to those carried out by mystery shoppers.
By involving your sales force, network coordinators or any other employee, you reinforce the positive image of mystery shopping.
In this way, employees become more involved and integrate your standards all the more. Your teams need to understand that mystery shopping is a way of fostering continuous, collective improvement in the customer and employee experience.
As you can see, communication and team involvement are key to ensuring that mystery visits are not misunderstood.
It's important to make it clear that no individual judgments will emerge from these reports, only areas for collective improvement. Remain attentive to team feedback, listening actively and defusing fears.
