It is fair to say that when the vast majority of people think of mystery shopping, they think of people going to food stores or coffee shops, purchasing items and reviewing their experience. This traditional type of face-to-face mystery shopping has been around for decades now and whilst it is still frequently used across a number of different industry sectors, there are actually a number of additional services offered by mystery shopping companies these days.
The vast majority of businesses don’t realise how versatile the services provided by mystery shopper agencies are and just how much they can benefit from them. If you’ve never really considered working with a mystery shopper before and you’re wondering what services they’re able to offer you nowadays, keep reading today. Below we have looked into some of the most surprising ways a mystery shopping company can help your business.
Visiting competitor shops
Not many businesses realise that mystery shopping companies can send experienced mystery shoppers into their competitors’ stores. By visiting direct competitors, mystery shoppers can provide their clients with invaluable information regarding the experience they’ve had. This will allow them to not only identify and better understand what their unique selling proposition is but also learn how they can improve their business to make it more competitive at this current time.
Providing smart auditing tools
Some mystery shopping companies also provide businesses with smart auditing tools which can revolutionise how they manage their internal audits, helping them to save both management time and costs. It isn’t uncommon for things like this to be overlooked, but using a data collection tool that enables instant and accurate auditing to take place can be undeniably useful. Simplifying the reporting and analysis of audits is something that can benefit all businesses.
Conducting market research
You may find that a few experienced mystery shopping companies are able to assist businesses with conducting up to date market research too. It goes without saying that market research is essential as it gives businesses an insight into what their customers really want. These companies can provide a variety of methodologies for information collection and also help to analyse the findings. This can then be used to make strategic decisions for business growth.
Creating framework for awards
There is another very unique service that some mystery shopping companies will offer that relates to awards. Simply put, if you’re an awarding body or wanting to set up an annual award celebration, they can help you put in place an independent measuring framework to ensure that your awards are fair, credible and robust. There is no denying that this is incredibly important and working with a mystery shopping company can make things much more straightforward.
Following a members journey
It isn’t uncommon for the best mystery shopper companies to offer member journey research services as well, which are the polar opposite of traditional mystery shopping jobs. This is a brilliant way for businesses to better understand their long-term relationship with their customers and it can be very helpful for any businesses that provide memberships/subscriptions. There is no other service that will provide a better insight into customer experience at all stages.
Working with a mystery shopping company
Ultimately, even though mystery shoppers are most well-known for their face-to-face services, they are actually able to benefit your business in more ways than you may initially realise. There is no denying that all of the different services mentioned above can be incredibly advantageous in their own right and using a combination of different mystery shopper services is often the key to business success. So, it is worthwhile looking into them in more detail.
If you have any questions at all regarding the different services mentioned above, feel free to contact us below. We are an incredibly experienced mystery shopping company with a vast range of clients and expertise across all industries, so you can trust that we are the best people to reach out to whenever you’re looking to find out more about mystery shopping in general. Of course, if you’d like to work with a mystery shopping company, then we will gladly discuss your individual business needs and goals with you in more detail too.
