Mystery shopping is done by trained professionals. When you hire a reputable mystery shopping organization, they have high standards in recruiting and educating their mystery shoppers. It’s a core competency of theirs and one that is worth paying for. If you don’t believe us, send your friends and neighbors into your establishment and ask them what they think. We can promise you will not get an unbiased viewpoint nor will the information be that actionable.
Mystery shopping is better at measuring operational standards. If your operational standard is to deliver food to the table within 14 minutes of ordering, you won’t get that from a guest satisfaction survey. In that format, all you can ask is “Did you receive your meal in a reasonable amount of time?” The person is completing the survey after the meal and in all probability was not timing the delivery. With a trained mystery shopper, you can ask them to time the delivery to see if your standard is being met.
You can see whether your brand standards are creating great guest experiences. With mystery shopping you can use the two methodologies together so you can see whether what is trained makes guests want to come back. Did it meet the mark or exceed it?
We often tell those new to the restaurant and retail marketing world, if you are marketing Coca-Cola, you really don’t have to worry about the quality of Coke in the can. But in the multi-location world, you do have to understand execution for quality, service, speed and execution. Mystery shopping is a great tool to have in your toolbox to both optimize opportunities and manage risk.
