A Bit of Background
A woman's apparel retailer was attached to the ideal that their associates need show an insatiable drive for anticipating and fulfilling customers' desires. In order to put this doctrine into action, the organization needed to take the steps to evaluate the value of current customer service and then determine the value that training will have on how an associate perform . As a sub- measurement, the organization also wanted to assess whether implemented training held up over time.
A Question Presented
The interrogation presented here is whether or not a one-time training program will be enough to deliver the requisite changes or if the training needs to be ongoing to support changes over an extended period of time and across all brands and stores.
Strategy in Action
As soon the rating of the objectives of the company, was performed, mystery shopping companies put forth a pilot survey. Since the prime target was to attain current associate behavior, the recommendation presented was that stores were not to be informed of any secret shopping. The goal of this was to allow the company to attain a definitive clear baseline image of was what going on in stores. A reliable survey that primarily focused on quality customer service and offered suggestions towards selling behavior was fielded among a group of about 31 stores in many districts. Just as the first results started to be incorporated, the company took the needed steps to put into effect an intensive training program centering on areas requiring improvement. Several days after training was completed, another wave of shops was fielded. To make sure there was control with the tests, the associates were not told of the secret shop. After only a slight two weeks of training, a third wave of shops was fielded to provide an insight into how good the training would be over time.
The Result
Immediately after the training period, the second wave of shops showed amazing results:
Scores increased overall from a start of 56.5 to 65.6, +9.1 points vs. pre-training.
Associate behavior in identifying shopper needs increased from 58.1 to 87.5 + 29.4 points.
There was a 10 point growth in suggestive selling behavior.
Did the training achieve what your expectations put forth?
Almost immediately, the mystery shopping company showed how there can be a highly positive impact on results when an associate team has received proper training over an extended period of time. A third wave designed to evaluate over time revealed some truly stunning results. Two weeks post training, scores dropped greatly across the board. Most scores had dropped to pre-training levels.
Through not advising the store level that any mystery shopping was taking place, the retailer effectively could see the importance of reinforcement training designed to boost the best practices among all associates. This then opened the door of opportunity for being able to gain a much better baseline image of all current service behaviors. Once further testing has completed, they will inform stores of the mystery shopping program. When you bring the stores on board after first testing has occurred, the company will be able to proper ensure service levels are perpetually improved.
A woman's apparel retailer was attached to the ideal that their associates need show an insatiable drive for anticipating and fulfilling customers' desires. In order to put this doctrine into action, the organization needed to take the steps to evaluate the value of current customer service and then determine the value that training will have on how an associate perform . As a sub- measurement, the organization also wanted to assess whether implemented training held up over time.
A Question Presented
The interrogation presented here is whether or not a one-time training program will be enough to deliver the requisite changes or if the training needs to be ongoing to support changes over an extended period of time and across all brands and stores.
Strategy in Action
As soon the rating of the objectives of the company, was performed, mystery shopping companies put forth a pilot survey. Since the prime target was to attain current associate behavior, the recommendation presented was that stores were not to be informed of any secret shopping. The goal of this was to allow the company to attain a definitive clear baseline image of was what going on in stores. A reliable survey that primarily focused on quality customer service and offered suggestions towards selling behavior was fielded among a group of about 31 stores in many districts. Just as the first results started to be incorporated, the company took the needed steps to put into effect an intensive training program centering on areas requiring improvement. Several days after training was completed, another wave of shops was fielded. To make sure there was control with the tests, the associates were not told of the secret shop. After only a slight two weeks of training, a third wave of shops was fielded to provide an insight into how good the training would be over time.
The Result
Immediately after the training period, the second wave of shops showed amazing results:
Scores increased overall from a start of 56.5 to 65.6, +9.1 points vs. pre-training.
Associate behavior in identifying shopper needs increased from 58.1 to 87.5 + 29.4 points.
There was a 10 point growth in suggestive selling behavior.
Did the training achieve what your expectations put forth?
Almost immediately, the mystery shopping company showed how there can be a highly positive impact on results when an associate team has received proper training over an extended period of time. A third wave designed to evaluate over time revealed some truly stunning results. Two weeks post training, scores dropped greatly across the board. Most scores had dropped to pre-training levels.
Through not advising the store level that any mystery shopping was taking place, the retailer effectively could see the importance of reinforcement training designed to boost the best practices among all associates. This then opened the door of opportunity for being able to gain a much better baseline image of all current service behaviors. Once further testing has completed, they will inform stores of the mystery shopping program. When you bring the stores on board after first testing has occurred, the company will be able to proper ensure service levels are perpetually improved.
About the Author:
Mystery Shopping Can Help You Reach Your Customers Expectations. ICC/Decision Services Can Improve Your Customer Experience Management .
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