A quality control used by a large number of consumer-oriented companies which produce and trade goods and services. A scenario to be interpreted according to pre-established guidelines. Three actors are involved: the customer (who concludes an agreement with another company that operates in the market research sector) and an incognito detector (mystery shopper) who takes care of visiting the stores in the assigned territory.
We are talking about mystery shopping, “method of detecting the quality of services provided, including the sale of products to customers / users / citizens”. It is now considered a strategy useful to improve performances and customer’s reaction. The goal is to test the quality of the product / service provided, but also, after ad hoc courses for the employees, to standardize and improve the sales and consultancy procedures for potential customers and loyal customers.
The watchwords are two: effectiveness and efficiency of the process of proposing a product / service, both to improve competitive analyzes and customer experience within a store, experience which is now increasingly participatory by the new consumer. We are therefore witnessing an epochal change in the figure of the sales employee: no longer only a consultant in the purchasing process, but a real “brand ambassador” who embodies values and guidelines of the company he/she represents. Testing their courtesy, in fact, is no longer sufficient: the shop assistant must know very well not only the products he/she sells, but also their production techniques, their places and the distribution chain.
On the other hand, you enter a shop not only to buy but to fully live an experience and fully dive in the value universe of that specific brand.
The headquarter of the chain will organize training courses for employees, even with tests, to solve any problems relating to customers’ consultancy. The role of the incognito detector is fundamental: he/she must behave like any customer, but with some specific characteristics: have good memory as he/she must not neglect any element of the scenario assigned by the mystery company he/she represents. Also to activate the five senses and be familiar with new technologies.
