Mystery research.
The goal of optimal customer loyalty
Mystery research is a successful and established research approach for objectively evaluating service quality. The aim is systematic optimisation of service and advisory standards and so ultimately enhancement of customer loyalty.
FairControl applies mystery research techniques at fairs (mystery visits), at the POS (mystery shopping) and to evaluate call centres (mystery calling).
What exactly is mystery research?
Mystery techniques are undercover consultation tests or test purchases for objective measurement of your quality goals. This involves simulating typical consultation situations directly on-site. The undercover survey guarantees authentic situations without influencing employees in their activities.
Specially selected and intensively trained test persons are assigned as mystery testers, who adopt a customer role precisely defined in advance. The quality measurements are documented and statistically evaluated with the aid of a standard survey sheet.
Wide-reaching measures to ensure reliable results
The validity of the results of mystery studies are dependent to an especially high degree on how carefully and professionally the project is planned and carried out. Because: No meaningful findings are obtained without a real mystery effect. The credibility of the tester and the realism of the constructed consultation scenario are central prerequisites for reliable results.
FairControl therefore places great importance on the selection of suitable testers, the precise definition of authentic test scenarios and the intensive training of the testers. We are especially intent on achieving the best possible match between our testers and the respective customer profile. If possible, we assign personnel who belong to the target group you are aiming for or at least are of a comparable background (e.g. interests, regional origin, age, education, professional group, …). We verify the consistency of our results by means of statistical reliability tests in which we test the match between the testers’ measurements with identical deployment scenarios.
Specific recommendations for action from implementation-oriented results
The aim of our mystery analyses is to reveal specific service strengths, but also weak points and potential for optimisation in dealing with customers. Here it is important for us that our results are comprehensible and of practical use and we point out the way to solutions with which you can bring about improvements or perfect proven concepts. In the development of standardised survey sheets, we pay special attention that all the relevant performance criteria are represented precisely – and so take advantage of the special strength of mystery techniques: the high degree of detail of individual observations.
Strongest together: Mystery research and customer satisfaction surveys
Mystery research lends itself as an ideal combination with classical customer satisfaction studies. Whereas customer satisfaction surveys investigate the subjective satisfaction of real purchasers, mystery measurements are objective test documentations from the perspective of unbiased testers.
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