How to Write a Great Report for The Secret Shopper Company
We
are a different kind of secret shopping company.
Most companies exist for the purpose of market research, but our clients
use our reports for training. For
this reason, we must have names or the reports are useless.
Tips
for Getting Names
v
You may try mistaking them
for someone you know, often that will prompt a name:
"Gosh you look
familiar, Do you work out at....," "Did you ever live on.......,"
"Are you the parent of
Billy.....," "Is your name Dan Brown?"
v
If it doesn't seem strange
to ask, you can simply ask, "What
is your name?"
v
If it is necessary to find
out the manager or someone else's name, you might ask another associate, "Excuse
me, who is the manager on duty?" If they ask if you want to see them, you might say, "No,
I was just wondering because I have a neighbor who I think manages here, but I'm
not sure if he/she still works here, thanks though."
v
Sometimes you can look on
the receipt, but don't count on it.
v
If worse comes to worst and
you still have trouble getting the person's name, leave the store, call, and
say, "I was just in the men's
clothing department and was working with a tall, red haired man about 30- 35.
He was wearing.... What is his name?"
v
You can get the name.....
You must get the name, be creative!
Scoring
v
Scoring is critical to a
credible report. We usually score
from 1-10, 1 being poor, 2-3
being below average, 4-6 average, 7-8 being above average and 9-10 excellent.
v
Simply read the question,
literally, then write your answer. After
you have substantiated the answer, choose the word which fits best.
For example, "Tasha wore a pinstriped, button-down shirt.
It was not starched, but her trousers appeared to be pressed.
She had a red tie around her neck, and her hair was pulled back tightly
in a bun, leaving small loose curls surrounding her face.
Except for the small wrinkles in her shirt, and the lack of a name badge,
Tasha looked sharp and stylish." This
is probably an above average, but not excellent, perhaps a "7."
v
When scoring, if an
associate did not do something at all, like suggestive selling, it is a
"1." They could still do
great in other areas, but be discriminating in your choice of scoring each
category independently.
v Since customer service is dynamic, not static, it is possible some categories will be N/A. Just make sure the category is not N/A because you failed to do your job. For example, if the question was, "Did the associate attempt to overcome an objection?" the shopper must create an objection for them to overcome it. So make sure you've done your job, since you're grading them on their job! You must give them the opportunity to fulfill the categories of the shop.
v Avoid 'nice-person syndrome.' The two conditions for this are mostly all 10's on a shop and vagueness. If an associate or a location really does score all 10s, create a clear picture of why it is red carpet or premium service, and the evaluation should be peppered with commentary that has direct quotes and solid information.
v Ceiling Shoppers never give over an 8, on a report. Is there a place where you top out, no matter how well the associate or business performs? Is this realistic? There needs to be a reason why the person did not score a "10." So comments on your reasoning can accomplish this.
Descriptive
Writing
v
Do not answer a question
using the same words used in the question.
This does nothing to enlighten the reader.
Come up with specific, descriptive words to communicate your experience.
v Do not use qualifiers like very, somewhat, extremely, quite, really, etc. Pick an appropriate descriptive word and just leave the qualifiers off. Use lots of adjectives like bubbly, delightful, professional, sparkling, rude, harsh, inattentive, unfocused, task oriented, bright, cheerful, scattered, chatty, loud, unhappy, slow, inefficient or average. This is what tells the reader how you experienced it.
The
reason why is that my VERY and your VERY are different, and
the reader has no way of
knowing what it takes to make your VERY professional list.
v
Use times and direct quotes
to substantiate your shop. This
creates a solid foundation for the associate and management to take this
evaluation seriously.
v Talk in a conversational
tone vs. legalistic, 'business-ese' or choppy in style. Write in complete sentences.
For some people this is difficult. Police-report
style looks like this. "Drove
up to booth. Attendant's hair
pulled back. Black shirt, red tie,
looked nice." The proper way would be, "As I drove up to the booth, I noticed that Angie's hair was pulled back
in a long, straight ponytail with a blue clip.
Her black, company-issue shirt was starched and looked professional. She
wore a red scarf that was partially tied."
v When writing your comments, please do not answer the question with a yes or no, like this: "Yes, Annie overcame the objection by stating the comforter was actually lower in price than other non-allergenic comforters, and she showed me the price list to boot." Just say, "Annie overcame....." The reason is that clients like to read and go, using yes or no answers to start forces the reader to read the question before they read the answer. It is subtle details like this that make the excellent shopper stand apart from the good.
v Don't overuse words, especially unusual ones, like query instead of question or meticulous. Use a range of descriptions.
v Regarding names, a shopper should repeat the name of an associate, at least every 5 questions, but not more than three in a row. This makes sure that every page has the associate's name on it, while also assuring that it does not sound childlike: Mike did this. Mike did that. When walking away, Mike said this. Then Mike said that. It should be more like: Mike did this. He did that. When walking away, Mike said this. Then he said that...
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