Corporate strategies can succeed or fail for a number reasons. Most failures can be explained by the strength of the strategy or the strength of execution.

Mystery Shop Programs as a Tool to Drive Successful Execution

Given the importance of successful execution, there are many tools available to organizations to ensure that this is not a point of failure in their strategies. One commonly used tool is execution of mystery shop programs. The majority of programs are designed to assess compliance to operational standards. A well designed mystery shop program will drive operational efficiency, increase loyalty and drive revenue to the bottom line.

Keys to Success

Unfortunately, too many mystery shopping programs run their course without providing any insights or ROI. The failure of these programs typically originates with program development and failure to choose the right mystery shop provider for your initiative.

So how do you prevent your mystery shop program from failure?

Step #1 – “The Beginning Determines the End”
While developing your mystery shopping program, ask yourself these key questions:

1. What are your company’s program objectives?
2. Are your program objectives aligned with your current training and operational standards/procedures?
3. What is the most effective approach to get Franchisees/Management behind the program (i.e., what benefit will they receive from the program)?
4. How will your team utilize the data once it’s received?
   • How will the data be utilized at the corporate level?
   • How should area/regional managers utilize the data?
   • How will the data be used at the store level?
5. What does success look like 3 months from now, 6 months from now, in a year?
6. How will your company measure ROI for the program?

Answering these initial questions will not only set-up your program up for success, but it will allow you to clearly communicate program objectives and goals throughout your organization.

Step #2 – Partnering with the right Mystery Shopping Provider
The market has options for mystery shop providers, so what are the fundamental elements you should look for?

1. Quality
   • Find a company that not only says that quality is #1, but has standards in place for the development, implementation, observation, and continuous improvement of an established quality management system (e.g., ISO certification). Without this focus, the critical elements that you are measuring may not be delivering the truth thereby sending inaccurate messages about your performance to your management team.
2. Proprietary Systems/Solutions
3. Find a company that doesn't outsource critical components of your program. You will want to work with a mystery shop provider that handles all management, questionnaire development, scheduling, recruitment, execution, customer service, reporting and analytics in-house. This will ensure that you have a partner who can be flexible to your ever-changing needs without long delays or limitations to their capabilities. Turning data into Insights
   • It is imperative to find a provider that does not view the program just a data delivery platform. Find a provider that has the capability to analyze the data in a meaningful way and provide best practices and recommendations. The strongest mystery shopping provider will make strategic recommendations to achieve your objectives and identify additional opportunities to drive loyalty, operational excellence, and ROI.

Selecting the right provider and designing the right mystery shop program will provide your organization with key insights and results to drive operational performance and consistency throughout your brand. This can be critical to the success of your corporate strategy, so take your time in selecting the right provider.