Navigating Mystery Shopping in a Post-Pandemic World
The pent-up demand in customer service, driven by the pandemic has put a further strain on customer service during COVID-19. While there are sympathetic customers with this ‘we’re in this together’ attitude that could make them overlook minor lapses in service delivery, there’s still a need to ensure your organization delivers the best possible experience to emerge from this crisis with your reputation protected.
Managing customer expectations and delivering the best possible experience has always been reliant on data and insights. And even now, mystery shopping, though difficult than usual, is still the most efficient strategy as far as gathering and analyzing accurate data to gain insights into customer experience is concerned. How should you navigate mystery shopping and customer experience during the pandemic? DSG Associates has all the answers you need!
Adapting Mystery Shopping to the COVID-19 Pandemic
There has been a slight change in our mystery shopping service model since the COVID-19 outbreak began. Recently, we’ve seen a surge in mystery shopping assignments targeted at businesses’ COVID-19 health and safety compliance. In the same vein, a far more substantial percentage of mystery shopping services are still aimed at evaluating overall service delivery with an emphasis on staff performance and customer experience.
Mystery shopping should take on a slightly modified approach, with regards to the coronavirus. Businesses in this sector must prioritize the health and safety of their mystery shoppers who are the backbone of the entire sector.
State, national, and local COVID-19 health guidelines should be adhered to religiously. Among the varieties of tips and recommendations for mystery shoppers and mystery shopping agencies, the key ones would include;
- Staying home when ill or if you’ve been recently exposed to someone infected with the novel coronavirus.
- Maintaining social distancing when shopping and ensuring face coverings are used in instances where social distancing is almost impossible.
- Avoid shaking employees or making physical contact with employees and other shoppers while shopping.
These and a variety of other guidelines are necessary as we adapt shopping and mystery shopping specifically, to the new normal.
COVID-19 Mystery Shopping Trends
Along with adhering to public health guidelines when shopping, there are also a few other trends that have become quite popular thanks to the pandemic. COVID-19 has led to a resurgence of certain models of mystery shopping some of which have been around previously -albeit less popular prior to the pandemic crisis.
The most significant trend, in this case, would be virtual mystery shopping. Just as employees working from home increased significantly, virtual shopping methods such as virtual tour shops a well as recorded call shops that do not require physical on-site visits have become more popular.
Conclusion
In these critically challenging times, businesses can still leverage mystery shopping, as well as other proven strategies such as intercept interviews and specialty field services, among others, to increase insight into key customer experience metrics.
Customer experience remains a top priority for both small and established businesses. As much as 86% of customers are willing to pay more to a business that provides a great customer experience. Regardless of who you are and what you do, you’ll agree that this is too much to leave on the table for your competitors.