Examples of our work

Mystery shopping to assess customer service

Examples of our Work - Public Services and Utilities Market Research Consultants

Background

This public sector client provides a business information service to individuals and small and medium sized businesses. A series of projects, commissioned over several years, was conducted on behalf of one regional office of this client to check the ability of staff to supply accurate information politely and speedily.

Objectives

• To check whether members of the Information team are able to diagnose the caller's needs and promote other appropriate services.

• To assess the quality of response across a number of factors including;

• The number of rings before the call was answered
• The consistency of the greeting/salutation and tone of voice
• The ability of the call handler to handle requests positively and with confidence
• (If applicable) the quality and consistency of the answer-phone message
• Whether the caller was given appropriate information or if appropriately referred on.
• Whether the member of staff followed up the enquiry a few days later to ensure that the caller was satisfied with the information provided.
• Whether appropriate services such as the newsletter were promoted by the member of staff
• Whether callers were asked how they had become aware of the information service
  

Methodology

Mystery shoppers claiming to work in local businesses made telephone calls and visits asking for advice about a variety of different business situations. A set of 10 scenarios were used consisting of a request for some relevant information or generic business advice. Mystery shoppers assessed staff knowledge, willingness to 'take ownership' of the enquiry and general friendliness and efficiency.

Outcome

This project assesses responses to enquiries made in person and over the telephone at a regional branch. Each enquiry was recorded using a structured marking grid allowing for both descriptive comments and quantitative data. The resulting information was then analysed to highlight areas where service levels seemed to be lacking. The standard of response was compared across the different scenarios and with the previous mystery shopping exercise. With this information our client was able to identify and address areas of their service which should be targeted for improvement and give valuable feedback to their staff.