An educational firm needed information on associate interactions with parents of potential students. How well did employees handle email, phone and visit inquiries from interested parents? Follow-up was a key concern. Were the associates losing sales due to lack of consistent follow up? In the competitive world of private schools, this next step improves the chance that the parent chooses the school over another.
Confero partnered with the company to devise a program that would measure employee knowledge, professionalism and follow-through. The results would pinpoint schools where additional employee training was needed. The first program involved emails from the mystery shoppers, saying that they wanted more information on the private school for their child. They provided their phone number in the email, and then waited for a follow up call. The mystery shoppers then reported on how long it took for the school associate to call them. The second set of mystery shops included an email, phone call and visit to the school for a tour.
Confero customized all elements of the program, from the mystery shopper survey to the detailed instructions, to meet the educational group’s own unique standards. What the group discovered was eye opening. While the schools did well on the phone, an important follow up step for the visits was frequently missed. The company used the mystery shopping data to further train and emphasize the importance of the 48 hour follow- up, thus making inroads for more closed sales.
