Are the correct and current promotional signs in place at your stores or restaurants? Do store employees know about the latest special? Are they sharing it with customers? Possibly, you are not sure, and you don’t have time to visit or call your units to find out! Or, do you wonder about the conditions of the signs and if they are in the correct places?
Do you have store locations across the region or country? There is no way of knowing that your advertising efforts are being fully implemented in each location without timely audits, do you? To maximize your advertising investments, compliance audits may add clarity to your advertising effectiveness, right?
Compliance Audits Uncover The Answers to These Questions
Compliance audits solve this problem. Confero deploys auditors who report on conditions at your stores, including the presence of anything from current marketing materials, to wet floors signs if a spill is noticed; to proper placement of items which conforms to store policy.
Once the results are sent to you, you can quickly remedy any situations. Where materials were missing or not placed in the correct spots, you now know to that these locations may need materials shipped sooner. Consequently, these details all ensure your business has a more consistent brand message across your units.
Things to Consider with an Audit Program
What are the standards of customer service and store presentation do you want your brand to represent? How clean do you expect your locations to be kept? What presentation standards to you have for your products? These standards are shared in employee training and reinforced with site visits. Yet, these measures do not ensure your brand standards are kept on a daily basis, do they?
The bottom line is, when managers know that shoppers will visit their location to check on the compliance measures, they are more likely to post the correct materials and to follow compliance guidelines.
When considering an audit program, take into account:
- Timing: If measuring communication of an LTO for example, Confero can add a question to the survey that will only appear during the dates of the promotion.
- Photos: By providing us with photos of the items that the auditors should look for, auditors have an easy guide to know what to look for and where, increasing the accuracy of results.
- Separation of certain materials: Does your business require this? For example for some financial institutions, loan marketing materials must be separate from investment materials. Auditors visit and look in the areas you designate. They report on what they saw, and take photos, if desired, if deficiencies are noticed.
Compliance Audits Equal Consistency
Compliance audits relay what mystery shoppers experienced in each location and can also include photos of the conditions being reported. Therefore, you can reward managers for doing a good job. Additionally, you can retrain managers that need a bit of extra help to maintain standards. Your brand consistency will improve as a result.
Please contact us if you are considering implementing compliance audits for your business. Confero can tailor compliance audit to meet your specific needs and evaluate your locations across the United States.
