Mystery Shopping

Delivering the Best Customer Experience in a Mobile Environment

  April 18, 2012 in Customer Experience Reporting, Mystery Shopping by Marci Bikshorn

Recently, we’ve been seeing a shift toward a more digital, specifically mobile, environment in the world of consumers. An increasing number of consumers are using their phones or tablets in-store to check product information and prices. Because of this, you may need to reevaluate and update your current customer experience management program to stay up to date with the changes. Focusing on the mobile user experience, both in-store and out, is now an extremely large part of effective customer satisfaction management.

Let’s look at the research findings and how you can optimize for more effective customer experience management.


Pew Research Findings

According to a study conducted by Pew Research one month prior to and following Christmas, 35% of consumers actually purchased products they found using their mobile phones in-store, while 19% purchased products from an online retailer and 8% from a different retailer.

Consumers are using their mobile phones in-store and brands are beginning to take notice.


Target Delivering the Best Customer Experience via Mobile

When it comes to optimizing for the newly mobile environment, it may help to take a look at Target, a company who stumbled at first, but is now making waves in the digital realm.


Mobile Target: From Disaster to Success

Initially, Target created a banner ad campaign built for both mobile and desktop computers. However, when a user clicked on the mobile banner ad, they were directed to the Target website on their mobile phone. The problem wasn’t that it linked to the website – but that the website wasn’t optimized for a mobile-sized screen. It was the exact same website that would appear on the desktop computer, making the buttons difficult to read and click.

If you have an online presence like a website, company Facebook page or Twitter account, you are inadvertently involved in a mobile marketing campaign. Consumers are not only using mobile, but they are beginning to expect that every retailer website can be accessed via mobile phone.

Curious as to whether your mobile site is functioning correctly for mobile purposes? Try hiring a mystery shopping company that can deliver research with actionable results in terms of your mobile site. At Service Excellence Group, we offer mystery shopping services that allows you not only to gain insight into effective customer satisfaction management in-store, but via mobile devices as well.


Steps Toward Effective Customer Satisfaction Management for Mobile

As Target demonstrated, mobile is beginning to play a key role in your customer experience management initiatives. The good news is, there are steps you can take toward optimizing for the newly mobile environment.

Optimize: Optimizing your online store for mobile usage means to make it easier to use for consumers. Learn from Target’s mistake. Instead of just having your website open up in a tiny mobile-sized window, hire a digital agency to help design a mobile-friendly interface.

Test: Find out consumers’ thoughts. Digital agencies can help you review, analyze results and answer important questions like “Are people using my mobile site?” and “Which pages are they going to most?”. Another way of testing is to do simple surveys to determine consumers’ thoughts and hire mystery shoppers to test the experience firsthand.

Service Excellence Group, Inc. Alerts of a New Mystery Shopping Scam

  September 21, 2011 in Blog, Mystery Shopping by Marci Bikshorn

Service Excellence Group, Inc. has become the victim of a new mystery shopping scam.  This scam is targeting unsuspecting consumers for mystery shopping projects.  The scam artists have used Service Excellence Group, Inc.’s reputable name in an attempt to trick consumers into disclosing their personal information in exchange for high paying “mystery shops.”  This is a scam.

These “scammers” have posted multiple advertisements on an on-line job board affiliated with a reputable news station.  They are adept at making these advertisements seem real.  They have stolen the identity of Service Excellence Group, Inc.’s company website and are claiming to be employees of the company.

The scammers are currently using the following names:

  • David Brian   Online Manager
  • Larry Williams

Tips to Avoid Mystery Shopping Scams

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) provides guidance and tips to help individuals to avoid becoming victims of employment schemes associated with mystery/secret shopping: http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/e-scams

A few extra precautionary tips for your consideration:

  • Be cautious of any job posting claiming to send you large sums of money for a mystery shopping assignment.  The average compensation for a standard mystery shopping assignment is $15.
  • Avoid completing any forms contained in e-mail messages that ask for personal information.  A reputable mystery shopping firm will capture your contact information via a company platform.
  • Always review the link in the e-mail to the link you are actually directed to and determine if they match and if they lead you to a legitimate website.  If the link does link you to a legitimate website, send the company an email to confirm the legitimacy of the opportunity.
  • Be cautious of any mystery shopping opportunity that involves transferring funds via Western Union.
  • Reputable mystery shopping companies will not charge an application fee.
  • No legitimate mystery/secret shopper program will send payment in advance and ask the mystery shopper to send a portion of it back.
  • Steer clear of any company asking you to accept payment in advance and advise you to send a portion of the payment to another mystery shopper.


There are reputable mystery shopping companies with legitimate mystery shopping opportunities for interested consumers.  For information on how to get started as a mystery shopper or to find legitimate mystery shopping opportunities, visit the Shopper Headquarters page on our web site or The Mystery Shopping Providers Association’s (MSPA) website.

The My Plate Approach to Customer Service Measurement

  July 28, 2011 in Blog, Measuring Total Customer Experience, Mystery Shopping by Guest Author

Balanced Meal Anology to Customer Service MeasurementThe government recently came out with a new approach to the Food Guide Pyramid and introduced us to My Plate.  How can My Plate be compared to Customer Service Measurement?  By conducting customer satisfaction research, we have found a way to relate Customer Service to a well thought out meal.  When planning your dinner you think about the foods you want to eat, how they complement each other and if they are well-balanced.  Will the steak be better with potatoes or bread?  Do you want a Ceaser salad or mixed greens?  What kind of fruit will you eat?  Will the cheese on your potato be enough dairy?

When it comes to customer service measurement there are four sections of your plate with one side to consider. (more…)

Ten Reasons For a Mystery Shopping Service

  July 14, 2011 in Blog, Mystery Shopping by Marci Bikshorn

Every business possesses its own distinctive array of goods and services and has an idea of how to sell those to the consumer. However, there is one truth with which everyone can agree. It’s crucial to keep the customer happy. Here are ten great reasons to invest in a mystery shopping service to improve the unique customer services of your business. (more…)

Why Should Your Company Implement a Mystery Shopping Program? Survey Says….

  May 19, 2011 in Blog, Brand & Market Research, Customer Experience Reporting, Mystery Shopping by Marci Bikshorn

If there is a common denominator shared by all organizations –financial, retail, service, healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality – it is the monumental need for extraordinary customer service.

It is tough to think of a business type that doesn’t exist by its attention to customer service.

Offering extraordinary customer service requires modifying behaviors.  Modifying behaviors requires coaching, persistence, accountability, feedback and practice.

The findings of The American Express® Global Customer Service Barometer presents evidence, benefits and the reasons why your company should implement a mystery shopping program. (more…)

Looking for a Reputable Mystery Shopping Company?

  May 05, 2011 in Blog, Consulting & Training, Mystery Shopping by Marci Bikshorn

When it comes to choosing a Mystery Shopping Company, look beyond the promises and find out the value the organization and their services can offer your team.

Does the Mystery Shopping Company Present a Successful Track Record?

Seek a provider that has experience and relationships with multiple organization types. Service Excellence Group has almost 18 years of experience working within a variety of industries which allows us to learn and share business acumen.  Stifling our partnerships by limiting our reach to only one industry would prohibit our internal growth and our knowledge of cutting edge practices.

(more…)

Mystery Shopping Companies – Maximizing Resources, Plain and Simple

  March 31, 2011 in Blog, Mystery Shopping by Marci Bikshorn

It’s funny how some things only occur to you after 20 years of day-to-day meditation on a specific industry or topic., but that’s what keeps things interesting for me after all of this time.

The other day I was trying to pinpoint the reason why secret shopper companies have developed so much throughout the years. And it’s true: if there’s one thing we know in this industry it’s that so many things about our process works. Is it the sudden attention to detail we see from companies we work with? Is it our own methods? Our responsiveness to an ever-changing market landscape? Is it that customers can really tell a difference between their shopping experience before and after we’ve put all of our programs in place?

In fact, people ask me this quite often: Why does it work? What’s the real benefit? (more…)

From Customer Service to Customer Experience Enhancement

  March 08, 2011 in Blog, Customer Experience Reporting, Measuring Total Customer Experience, Mystery Shopping by Marci Bikshorn

Customer Experience Enhancement - Mystery ShoppingCustomer Service. Everyone is familiar with the term. For consumers, it’s that hard to define set of expectations everyone has when interacting with servers, sales professionals, and front line providers.

Customer Service. It’s what puts many people off most about “calling the 800 number,” it’s what puts many people off when they can’t find someone to ring up their purchase, it’s what puts many people off when their product and service questions aren’t answered.

But to every organization, large and small, it’s a way of life. And in a business world where only the fittest survive, customer service has long been an organization’s “bread and butter”.

Today we’ll see why, by itself, customer service is just not good enough anymore. We’ll see why it’s time to focus on customer experience enhancement. (more…)

Do You Know These 5 Mystery Shopping FAQs?

  February 18, 2011 in Mystery Shopping by Marci Bikshorn

There are many great things about living in the 21st Century—cars that park themselves, DVRs, and thereal mystery shopping faq privilege (for most of us) of being able to say you’ve lived in two different millennia. Of course, living on the cusp of thefuture also comes with a few drawbacks, and if you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet, you know that one is finding the real FAQs on a multitude of topics.

So, to that end, here are 5 real mystery shopping FAQ to help you better understand this popular customer experience program: (more…)

Choosing Customer Service Consulting Firms: 6 Considerations

  February 04, 2011 in Blog, Measuring Total Customer Experience, Mystery Shopping by Marci Bikshorn

If you’ve been looking in the right places, you’ve noticed some encouraging signs from the economy lately. For those of us with a pulse on the retail field, this past holiday season was a good one, perhaps better than we expected. Shoppers were back in stores, product was moving, and dollars were changing hands. And if you’re like many other on-the-ball retailers, you’re thinking that it’s time to invest back into your customer service training and time to ensure that your employees are delivering the best customer experience possible. You want your brand to stand out in the crowd, so you’ve decided to look into customer service consulting.

Good idea.

With the help of technology and innovation, customer service consulting firms have come a long way since their humble beginnings. Here are some things to consider when choosing the firm that’s best for you, and how to go about vetting a consulting firm you may be interested in: (more…)