For hard-working restaurateurs it can be disappointing and disheartening when customers leave negative feedback on their social media platforms without giving you a chance to address their issue.
And social outlets like Yelp make it easier than ever for a customer to broadcast a service issue – if only you could dealt with the issue beforehand…
That’s where mystery shoppers come in. These discreet shoppers evaluate service expectations that are outlined by the restaurant owner or manager.
Evaluations Make Sure Service Standards are Being Met:
Did you feel valued as a guest?
Was an appetizer offered?
Was the weekly special mentioned?
Would you want to return as a repeat customer?
Was your food presented by name?
Was a check presented and collected in a timely and efficient fashion to ensure quicker table turns?
These, and dozens of other service standard questions can be evaluated. Like Google measures online ranking by using over a hundred different factors, many elements go into exceptional restaurant service that keeps patrons coming back for more.
Different mystery shoppers or service evaluators focus on different service industries, for example:
Restaurant Mystery Shoppers
From the moment a guest opens your door to the moment they leave, restaurant mystery shoppers can focus on any type of dining experience, from fine dining to quick casual. And they can also focus on every detail: ambiance, sequence of service, time-to-table, upsells, product knowledge, management interaction and more.
Bar Mystery Shoppers
Since there’s more opportunity for service inconsistency and shrinkage at the bar, for a bartender, how cash is handled – beverage presentation, overpouring, overall service – and are are free drinks being given away? – is much more important in a service evaluation.
These independent and unbiased service auditors can expose problems as well as help hold staff accountable.
Service Industry and Hospitality Mystery Shoppers
Mystery shoppers for hotel and hospitality locations like spas focus on the overall guest experience, from the reception at the front desk to the thread count in the sheets.
For your employees, every contact with customers gives your staff an opportunity to enhance and personalize the guest experience. The experience a guest has in a pool, spa or even lobby bar, can capture a guest for life.
Providing feedback on the room appearance, property amenities, and the service of each employee, evaluators (aka mystery shoppers) ensure that professionalism, hospitality, and a restorative state-of-mind at the heart of each hotel service evaluation.
Using Mystery Shoppers to Improve Revenue
Did you know it costs 6-7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one? Mystery shoppers give you a chance to see your business like your customers (and give you the feedback confidentially).
Mystery shoppers can expose gaps in service, opportunities for better staff training and much, much more. No matter what your business is – movie theater, winery, medical facility, or virtually any other service-oriented business – mystery shoppers can offer an insightful and enlightening look at how you could be doing business better.
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