• Mystery Shopping your Customer Experience

    • 0
    Shopping basket
    Updated: 14th April, 2025 | Created: 28th November, 2024
    Proinsight Staff David The Boss

    David Hopkins

    Managing Director | The Home of Mystery Shopping

    Customer Experience (CX) has become a key differentiator in today’s competitive business landscape. Research from Gartner reveals that 89% of companies see CX as their primary driver for competitive advantage. But despite this focus, many organisations fail to create effective customer experience strategies. 

    At Proinsight, we specialise in customer experience strategy consulting, helping businesses uncover actionable insights, optimise CX processes, and achieve measurable results. In this guide, we’ll explain how shifting from traditional metrics to a strategic focus on Elemental Metrics can transform your CX program into a revenue-driving asset. 

     

    Why CX Strategies Fail 

    Businesses today invest heavily in customer experience strategies, but according to the Marits CX Evolution Global Study, 72% of CX professionals rate their programs as “not very effective.” Why? 

    Many organisations rely on broad Outcome Metrics—such as Net Promoter Scores (NPS) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)—to gauge success. While useful for tracking trends, these metrics fail to provide the actionable insights needed to design and improve CX strategies. Incorporating Customer Effort Score (CES) surveys can provide a more nuanced understanding of customer experience by measuring the ease of interactions, which is crucial for optimising the customer journey.

     

    The Power of Elemental Metrics 

    To build a successful customer experience strategy, businesses must shift their focus to Elemental Metrics—the specific, actionable components of the customer journey. These metrics break down CX into measurable elements, such as product quality, timing, and employee interaction, allowing businesses to identify and address the root causes of customer satisfaction. 

     

    What Are Elemental Metrics? 

    Elemental Metrics allow you to measure and improve the building blocks of customer experience. Examples include: 

    1. Product Quality: Does your product meet or exceed customer expectations? 
    1. Timing: Are service delivery times efficient? Is the waiting experience enjoyable? 
    1. Connection: Do your staff engage customers with eye contact, smiles, and active listening? 
    1. Environment: Is your physical or digital space welcoming and user-friendly? 

    By focusing on these metrics, businesses can implement CX strategies that go beyond high-level outcomes to deliver tangible improvements in customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

    Customer Experience Consultant Strategy Blog 2Case Study: Elemental Metrics in Action 

    Imagine a retailer wants to improve customer satisfaction scores. Relying on NPS alone won’t reveal the underlying issues. By analysing Elemental Metrics, a CX consultant might uncover the following: 

    • Staff aren’t greeting customers warmly. 
    • Long queues are frustrating customers. 
    • The store layout feels cluttered. 

    Armed with this data, the retailer can develop a targeted customer experience strategy to train staff, streamline operations, and improve the store environment—leading to higher customer satisfaction and retention. 

     

    How Customer Experience Strategy Consulting Can Help 

    At  Proinsight, our customer experience strategy consulting services help businesses move from tracking outcomes to designing actionable improvements. Here’s how we guide organisations through this transformation: 

    Step 1: Defining Your CX Goals 

    Whether you aim to: 

    • Deliver exceptional customer service, 
    • Boost customer loyalty, or 
    • Increase revenue through every interaction, 

    …a successful CX strategy starts with clear goals. Our team works with you to align your objectives with actionable plans that maximise ROI. 

    Step 2: Leveraging Mystery Shopping 

    Our Mystery Shopping services provide real-time insights into your CX delivery, evaluating factors like staff engagement, product presentation, and overall experience. This data helps you identify gaps in your CX program and prioritise improvements. 

    Step 3: Validating Improvements with Surveys 

    We complement Mystery Shopping with periodic customer satisfaction surveys to validate the success of your CX initiatives. Together, these tools provide a holistic view of your customer experience and guide long-term strategy development. 

     

    Ready to Transform Your CX Strategy? 

    At Proinsight, we specialise in helping businesses design and implement customer experience strategies that drive measurable growth. Through a combination of Mystery Shopping, Elemental Metrics analysis, and strategic consulting, we uncover the insights you need to deliver exceptional customer experiences. 

    Contact us today to discover how customer experience strategy consulting can elevate your CX program and drive your business forward. 


    David Hopkins

    David Hopkins

    Managing Director at Proinsight Mystery Shopping

    David has a long history in the business of doing good business. In 2008, he co-founded Proleisure, a leisure consulting company, where he identified a growing need for deeper customer insights across the industry. This led to the launch of Proinsight Mystery Shopping in 2014, with a vision to provide businesses with the valuable data needed to enhance customer experience.

    Now, as we approach our 10th year, Proinsight has become a leading provider of specialist mystery shopping, auditing, and research programs, serving a diverse range of sectors across the UK including real estate, fitness, retail, hospitality, and so many more. We remain committed to helping our clients achieve excellence and drive meaningful improvements in their businesses.

    David is deeply committed to enhancing customer service across all industries. His passion lies in providing valuable mystery shopping insights that empower clients to take actionable steps towards improvement. By delivering these insights directly, David helps businesses create effective strategies to elevate their customer experience and drive meaningful change.


    Chloe Kinch

    Chloe Kinch

    Director of Client Success at Proinsight Mystery Shopping

    Chloe joined Proinsight Mystery Shopping as an Account Manager in 2017. Prior to her role at Proinsight, she served as National Sales Manager at Parkwood Leisure, where she gained extensive experience in exceeding customer expectations and developed a deep understanding of the leisure industry.

    Chloe quickly advanced within Proinsight, progressing from Account Manager in 2017 to Head of Client Success in 2020, and ultimately to Director of Client Success and shareholder in 2022. In her current role, she leads client relationships with prestigious brands such as David Lloyd, Dyson, and Apple. Chloe is responsible for designing bespoke mystery shopping programs tailored to each client's specific needs, aimed at enhancing customer service and optimising sales processes across various industries, including real estate, hospitality, retail, leisure, and more.


    Lucy Winn

    Lucy Winn

    Brand and Communications Manager at Proinsight Mystery Shopping

    After graduating with a degree in Marketing from the University of Westminster, Lucy successfully grew and scaled her own e-commerce womenswear clothing business over a span of four years, expanding into international retail markets including Japan, the US, and France. With extensive expertise in brand development and digital communications, Lucy has driven commercial growth through strategic initiatives like influencer marketing, digital campaign management, and both online and offline retail expansion.

    In July 2024, she joined Proinsight Mystery Shopping as Brand and Communications Manager, where she leads the strategy and management of all digital platforms, including the website and social media, with a focus on driving shopper sign-ups and generating client leads. Additionally, she oversees event management for both internal company days and major external summits like Connect CX. At these events, we emphasise the critical importance of exceptional customer service across various industries, positioning it as a cornerstone of a brand’s overall UX strategy.


    Robert Brocklesby

    Robert Brocklesby

    Senior Client Success Manager

    Robert is a Senior Client Success Manager at Proinsight, bringing over 20 years of consultancy and industry experience in customer service measurement and development. Throughout his career, he has led numerous high-impact projects for well-known clients across the UK, spanning a wide range of sectors. His work has consistently driven significant improvements in customer experience and contributed to sustainable, profitable growth.

    Robert recognises that each client is unique. He designs tailored Mystery Shopping programmes to monitor, enhance, and elevate the customer journey, aligning with each organisation’s specific goals. In addition to his consultancy work, Robert is a qualified teacher and regularly delivers customer service workshops. These sessions focus on identifying key strengths and uncovering areas for development, empowering frontline teams to drive continuous improvement.