A large fast casual restaurant approached Confero and needed detailed information on displays of point of purchase (POP) materials at its restaurants. The company had invested significant effort into creating and advertising the promotion, and execution at the unit level was critical to its success. They wanted to ensure that the restaurants promoted the special […]
Revenue Generation via Upselling
A nationwide quick service restaurant chain, along with its beverage provider, partnered to conduct a drive thru promotional campaign. The beverage provider was interested in increasing fountain sales, but also in having the beverage fill evaluated by the mystery shoppers.
Menu Test Marketing
Confero was approached by a national advertising and promotion firm, which represented a foodservice chain. The chain was preparing to roll out new menu items and was conducting tests in two markets. The success of the test would determine a possible national roll out and senior management was concerned that employees did not understand the new items and would not mention them.
Grocery Store Checkout Times
A regional grocery store chain was concerned about what factors were contributing to longer than normal checkout times. While their service was excellent, there was no measure of the extraneous factors that contributed to longer checkout time, nor was any anecdotal information being collected about these factors.
Audit a National Retail Reset: 2000 stores, 2 days’ notice, 3 days to complete
Sometimes, you need to know quickly if something is not going well. Our marketing agency client was responsible for monitoring the merger of two national consumer electronics brands and orchestrating the accompanying national resets of the re-branded, merged products. No small task. Confero was engaged to conduct audits to ensure that electronics stores were displaying […]
Alcohol and Tobacco Sales: Compliance with ID Laws
A leading convenience store chain approached Confero about alcohol and tobacco compliance issues. To ensure compliance with all laws, the chain wanted Confero to send shoppers under age 30 to its units to buy alcohol and tobacco products. Confero recruited shoppers within the age range and dispatched them to specific locations to attempt these purchases. […]
Increasing Success at Amusement Parks
Confero partnered with a US amusement park in the development an exciting mystery shopping program to motivate employees. The park needed a way to engage and motivate the employees when greeting, offering an upsell and thanking the guests. Our client services manager offered consultation on survey development, prize amounts and types, and communication of the […]
Airport Parking Breakthroughs
Parking revenue growth is essential to this airport’s viability. Parking is its largest non-aeronautical revenue source. The airport needed to better understand travelers’ parking preferences to maximize usage and revenue from its spaces across 3 locations. An ongoing customer satisfaction survey, along with customer-provided information inside the airport’s customer feedback system, identified the need for […]
Intake staff at Law Office: Are employees following standards?
Over the years, Confero has partnered with a law firm to gather details on phone calls between associates and potential clients. Prospective clients begin with a phone call to the firm, making it a crucial evaluation point. If the associate does not make a favorable impression, the caller is likely to contact other law firms […]
Communication in Healthcare: Is it Clear?
A medical device manufacturer approached Confero about filling in the blanks on an important element of the company’s sales process. The manufacturer needed details on how doctors’ offices presented their product’s information when they received phone inquiries about the device. What did prospective patients hear when they called to inquire about the product and the medical […]
Appointment Setting at Doctors’ Offices, Wait times and Friendliness
A group of busy doctors’ offices wanted details on how associates sounded on the phone when setting appointments. Did they make the new patient feel welcome, or was the call discouraging to the caller due to the long wait for an appointment? And, how many days or weeks was it for the first available appointment? […]
Physician Referrals and Patient Service
Confero partnered with a New York hospital to gather information on how associates in the referral call center met the hospital’s benchmarks. They wanted to know if call center agents were referring doctors in the correct order, as presented online, to ensure an equal number of referrals to each participating doctor. This information could then […]
Head to Head Competitive Shop Analysis: Brokerage Services
A national online brokerage firm was interested in comparing their hold times, servicing and selling skills with a group of their competitors. The client had specific criteria to apply consistently to all firms in the study, so that appropriate comparisons could be made. The client also wanted the study to be strictly confidential so that […]
Cross Selling and Referrals: Bank Branches
A regional bank with 300+ branches was interested in ways to get their tellers to focus on referring customers to the platform for additional product opportunities. However, they were concerned about how to roll out the training. They were also concerned about introducing another criteria to their mystery shops and how that new criteria might […]
Head to Head Competitive Shop Analysis: Bank Branches
A major US bank needed to determine competitive customer service advantages and deficiencies as it expanded its footprint into new markets. Its recent expansion into new markets was a result of an acquisition and the bank needed to quickly size up the competitive landscape, as the bank was competing in the new markets against a […]
Telephone Mystery Shopping with Incentives, Rewards on a Budget
An automotive client recently approached Confero for ideas on how to manage reward phone calls to nationwide dealerships. And they had a finite budget for telephone mystery shops and rewards combined. The client trained dealer associates to offer two different promotions to customers calling for information on tires. Confero developed a program for random mystery shop telephone […]
Unexpected Benefits: Reduced Accidents
A national fast oil change service engaged Confero to conduct periodic mystery shop visits at its units. As part of the program design process, various departments within the company were asked about what they would like to see on the shop survey. As a result, several questions about safety procedures were added to the survey. […]
Testing the Test: POP and Sales Support for New Products
An automaker had partnered with a credit card issuer to create an affinity credit card program for purchasers. Customers had the opportunity to earn points toward price reductions on future vehicles. The auto maker was concerned that multiple offers to purchasers, who may or may not qualify for the credit, would adversely impact card acceptance […]
Education Compliance Checks – What are Employees saying?
An online education services provider was interested in what associates told prospective students when they called to get information about online courses. The associates can discuss certain topics, such as financial aid, types of jobs following education and transfer of credits, but legal requirements dictate what they can and cannot say regarding these topics. Telephone […]
Campus Dining Mystery Shopping
As a provider of residential and retail food services for campuses across the US, the company desired feedback on how well employees met standards for customer service, cleanliness, food quality, and merchandising. Was the correct special advertised? Were wait times long? And, were employees in uniform and friendly? The mystery shoppers reported on these and […]
Private Schools – Associate Follow-up and Sales Skills
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 […]
Military Stores: Associate Product Knowledge and Returns
A military organization needed help with keeping tabs on customer service and conditions at its military base stores. Do store employees greet customers? When interacting with customers, do associates suggest add-on items? How does the staff handle returns? They also desired more in depth information on interactions with sales associates within the electronics area in […]
Education Phone Calls – Is what they’re saying legal?
A government organization approached Confero with an important compliance need. They wanted to learn if associates at post-secondary schools used appropriate language when talking with students about topics such as graduation rates, incomes for possible jobs after earning a degree, and promises about financial aid. Were employees stating things accurately and within the law? Confero […]
Tourism Center – Do local employees recommend their area’s places to visit?
A tourism organization approached Confero with a concern. They worried that employees at the area’s restaurants, stores, lodging, and attractions were not suggesting other things to do in the area when asked by a guest. Worse, they feared that responses at times could include comments that there was nothing to do. The businesses needed to […]
Sandwich Chain Benefits from One Reporting System: Customer Surveys, Customer Contact, Added to Mystery Shopping Reporting
In 2014, a large, nationwide sandwich chain was spending considerable time gathering information on customer experience from several reporting places. Confero was already providing mystery shopping data, and they needed a solution where they could review customer feedback on the same system/ This would allow managers an easy way to keep track of both types […]
Online Surveys Lead Improvements – Fast Casual Chain
A fast casual restaurant chain desired customer feedback which they could easily access in order to drive improvements quickly at its restaurants. They wanted specific feedback in the areas of customer service, cleanliness, thanking and food quality. Confero offered the company an easy way to capture this information on dine-in experiences at over 50 US […]