In many cases, however, companies set standards without ever consulting customers about what is important to them. When mystery shopping is used to measure inappropriate standards, it simply perpetuates the company s service problems. For this reason, mystery shopping programs usually begin with a review of standards. This means talking to customers by conducting focus groups or surveys, by including customers in the design process or by consulting with service experts who have conducted customer research. Design the evaluation tool.
Mystery shoppers complete an evaluation after each contact with the call center.
The evaluation tool, or questionnaire, can be simple or sophisticated, depending on the objectives of the program. In addition, the questionnaire may include ratings and comments. Some companies avoid the use of ratings and comments because they seem too subjective. Mystery shoppers follow pre-determined scenarios when making calls. Scenarios are generally representative of typical customer interactions, and may take the form of questions, problems, complaints or requests.