Tag: mystery shopping

In 2009, our own Rob Barry, Confero Account Executive, spoke with the Wall Street Journal’s “The Numbers Guy” blogger Carl Bialik forhis Waiting Game article. Rob provided insight from his experience managing mystery shopping programs for grocery store clients. Technology is moving at a much faster pace than 2009, and customer waiting time is a topic worth revisiting. 

Whether you manage a bank, restaurant, service or store, you know that it’s not realistic to reduce wait times for customers in every circumstance. If your company is one that prides itself on impressive and personalized service for every customer, wait times are inevitable. There are ways, however, to create more enjoyable waits for customers, and generate additional sales at the same time.

Developing customized mystery shopping programs across many industries has allowed us to see a variety of wait time strategies.  Through measurement of these strategies and our own observations, here are ways that some organizations convert tiresome wait times into positive customer experiences:

• Automotive or food service companies arrange retail space so that customers view the employees working, whether it an associate who cooks a food order, or an employee who repairs or washes your vehicle.  This is a great way to show customers the quality behind your service while at the same time eliminating boring waits.
• At some Chick Fil-a locations, employees stand near the drive thru entry point and key in orders with

Whether through streamlined mystery shop data, customer survey information, or newsletter tips, our goal is to make it easy for you to view your own customer experience information, as well as the latest trends in the industry.  By now, you may have heard about infographics, a completely visual way for companies to share information.  As companies strive to provide busy customers with relevant information quickly, infographics offer the perfect solution. Customers view these informative images in a condensed format, and the charts can be creative and fun.

As an example, take a look at these customer loyalty infographics, we have collected on our Pinterest. Topics include social customer service, good customer

CARY, N.C. – Confero, Inc. (https://www.conferoinc.com), a national customer experience measurement firm, has announced that president and CEO Elaine Buxton has been elected to serve as vice chairman of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) global board of directors. In her position, Buxton will be responsible for working to update and refine the group’s strategic plan. Prior to being elected vice chairman, Buxton served as immediate past president of the MSPA-North America in 2011.

The mission of the MSPA is to improve and stimulate the acceptance, performance, reputation and use of mystery shopping services. For more information about the MSPA, visit http://www.mysteryshop.org

“As a dedicated member of the mystery shopping industry, I am committed to providing a high level of service to the MSPA and all its members,” said Buxton. “Being elected again to the global board of directors is quite an honor, and I look forward to working with other board members to promote mystery shopping around the world.”

When you think about mobile devices and their impact on the in-person customer experience, have you considered that nearly 2 billion people will have Smartphones by 2017? If not, you should!

You should also consider how your employees serve these distracted customers.

• Do your new accounts personnel approach waiting customers, only to find them with their heads down, texting away?
• Do your servers wait for diners to look up from their cell phones?
• Do your retail associates stand awkwardly while a distracted cell phone talker holds up the line?

From restaurants to banks to retail stores and beyond, busy associates encounter the same challenge – customers who multi -task with cell phone conversations, texting or using an Ipad. In response to this growing phenomenon, we wanted to take a closer look at the ways that distracted customers impact customer experience in these industries.

Mobile-crazed Diners

Rather than embracing mobile trends, some restaurants simply ask customers not to use their cell phones inside their locations. For example,

CARY, N.C. – Confero, Inc. (https://www.conferoinc.com), a national customer experience measurement firm, has announced that president and CEO Elaine Buxton was a preliminary judge for the 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Buxton was one of 93 business professionals worldwide selected as a judge for the world's premier customer service awards, contact center awards and sales awards. The 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service were presented on Monday, Feb. 27 in a ceremony at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

“Our entire team was so proud to receive the Stevie Award for Customer Service Consulting Practice of the Year last year,” said Buxton. “This year, I thoroughly enjoyed serving as a judge. There are so many firms executing on well-planned customer service strategies. The nominees were indeed