Mystery Shopping Mistakes

‍Bad Behaviour

‍I've seen it time and time again, mystery shoppers that might as well be wearing a sign on their forehead saying, "I am a mystery shopper!" Talk to anyone who worked in retail and they will recount hilarious stories of the most obvious mystery shoppers.I have and here are some of my favorites:

• Asking an employee with a name badge for their name (The script said to ask…)
• Openly taking notes with pen and paper (Could you repeat that for me please?)
• Asking completely irrelevant questions (This lipstick I am buying for myself, could you gift wrap it for me?)
• Checking the script for what to ask next (Erm... ah yes... what are your opening hours?)
• Asking the exact same question in the exact same way each and every time (MS1: I read online that you have a new collection, could you please tell me more about it? 24 hours later... MS2: I read online that you have a new collection, could you please tell me more about it?)
• Asking obscure questions (About processes no normal customer would ever have heard of...)
• Asking a million questions for no apparent reason (What are all the products that you sell, what size do they come in and how much stock do you have on hand?)
• Filling out the report while still in the store (Can I borrow a pen?)
• Dressed inappropriately (Obviously giving away that they are not a regular customer)
• Returning to the same shop pretending to be someone else (Yes, I mean disguised, not quite fake nose level, but 'hey I am wearing a hat and glasses I am a completely different person now')

We could go on but suffice it to say mystery shoppers have a reputation for acting weirdly and being blatantly obvious.

Don't let this happen

‍It seems obvious but it needs to be said: Having your mystery shoppers identified is bad!

If you take away the mystery element, you might as well walk into the store yourself and pretend to be a customer. You don't because you know that your employees will recognize you and act differently. The same happens with mystery shoppers. They are seen as an extension of the management. The same way a manger will not get treated like a normal customer, the employees will act differently around the mystery shopper as well.

So if we want to measure real customer interactions we have to keep the mystery shopper a mystery.

Behaviours, appearances, visiting times and scripted questions coupled with repetitive visits from the same auditor are giving your mystery shoppers away.

Some mistakes are easy to avoid:
- Don't keep using the same people
- Don't keep using the same questions
- Don't visibly take notes
- Don't wear something that will give you away

But the one thing that is crucial and requires a bit more work is how the mystery shoppers behave.

Inauthentic Interactions

‍There are two parties to the interaction. We discussed the problem of the employee changing their behaviour, but what about the mystery shopper?'Surely we can control him as we can tell him exactly what to do' I hear you say.That is exactly the trap many of us fall into. We have the best intentions and try to program the mystery shopper like a robot in order to ensure they act the way we want them to. But in doing so we prevent any realistic interaction from taking place.The more we script the interaction, the more we also limit the mystery shopper to act naturally.

The 3 important points to realise about the behaviour of our mystery shoppers

1. Customers' behaviour is driven by intent. Let me illustrate this with this quick question: How do "real customers" act? Think back to your last store visit. Were you concerned with everything the store had to offer or did you only care about the things that mattered to you in that moment? This is the first point: Customers' behaviour is driven by intent. Depending on who they are and what they need in that moment they will act differently.
2. Give space to act authentically. No two interactions are the same and we cannot control them. Mystery shoppers are humans not robots and we should use this to our advantage. This is the second point:We need to give the mystery shopper the space and flexibility to act authentically, according to the situation. Give them the freedom to react like they normally would.
3. Don't force the conversation. No customer has ever asked if they can give a company their personal details so they can please spam them with some promotional material.The company might care about communicating the intricate details of their new pet project, but customers are unlikely to inquire about it or even know about it.The third and final point:If the sales assistant doesn't mention it, don't force the conversation.

Better Luck Next Time

‍Traditional mystery shopping is broken, but we can revive it, by challenging the old methods, breaking the patterns and finding new ways to use mystery shopping to give us insights into the customer experience.

Here are a few points to consider for your next mystery shopping program:

1. Keep the mystery shopper a mystery
2. Allow the mystery shopper to act naturally
3. Let the interaction be led by the intent
4. Move away from scripted questions
5. ‍Don't try to capture everything at once
   (Click here to find out more about this)
   

Think about it: If your mystery shopper's interactions are inauthentic, what insights have you truly gained?