Good customer service is essential in all areas – from the simple retail in a shop to more complex customer complaints departments – the way you treat your customers should always come first. It is for this reason that secret shopping is popular in a range of different sectors as all CEO have the same aim – good quality service which makes the customers come back for more.

At Scisco our clients range from corporate, formal businesses to relaxed hospitality firms all looking to investigate ways to improve their company. The role of the mystery shopper is to act as a normal customer, ask reasonable demands and wait for great service – all in a covert way.

So what are the different industries you can help make better? The wide range can include informational help lines such as those in customer care call centres and can test the level of customer service via a recording of the telephone conversation. This can be carried out from home resulting in less expenses and little need to travel far. It is also possible to help hotels and bed and breakfasts improve by becoming a mystery hotel guest – this involves staying away from home regularly and reporting the level of service as well as additional aspects such as cleanliness and quality of food. A similar type of mystery shopper is needed for restaurants and dining out events again to taste the food but also study the service, waiting time and reasonability of the bill.

For more experienced and technical clients we require mystery shoppers with an IT edge capable of testing and playing around on new websites spotting problems and testing usability. We also would love to hear from those who are specialists and knowledgeable in transport and logistics helping companies to measure performance and compliance to industry standards.

Finally, there is of course retail and entertainment sectors that consist of shops, theme parks and spas where we ask mystery shoppers to test the rides, purchase the clothes or ride the rollercoaster’s so we can give a true representation of the experience to our client.

Mystery shopping  can be the perfect part time job for those looking for extra cash or for students looking to earn a little more to see them through their studying – it is by no means gender restrictive and most certainly does not only include shops. With such a wide range of industries we need mystery shoppers from all over the country with varying interests and different ages.

If you think mystery shopping could be for you then why not register today to find out more info and see exactly what exciting and secret tasks could be in store for you!

An employee’s help, advice and service are the best way to engage customers and leave a lasting impression, encouraging them to return time after time. If a customer experiences a bad shopping experience, they are likely to be wary about returning as well as sharing their poor experience with friends and family and discouraging them to visit your shop as well.

However, it is not always possible to be aware of your employee’s behaviour and customer interaction when you are not on the premises or there to oversee how they handle sales and enquiries.

One way to overcome this is to commission the services of a mystery shopping company and arrange for a mystery shopper to come to your store and assess the customer service of your employees. Appearing to be like any other customer, they will look for pointers which can be determined by you – for example if a customer offers a certain service or answers questions in the right way. They may also note how long it takes to be greeted or served at the till.

With access to reports from the mind of the customer, retail industries are able to understand the experience from the customer’s point of view and understand how customer service needs to be tailored to offer the very best to the customer.

There are various ways to monitor the service of employees, as well as reports filed by the mystery shoppers, they can also complete video reports or assess telephone service, social media and internet. Ensuring that it is possible to be confident that all aspects of your business are offering the very best.

The results of a mystery shopping report allow you to tackle any problems that there may be and if necessary provide more training for your staff or highlight the importance of treating customers in the very best way. A good mystery shopping result also allows you to praise the work of employees meeting the required standards and reassure them that they are doing a good job and to keep it up.

Mystery shopping has been part of the retail industry since the 1940s and is essential for monitoring employee integrity and that they’re giving the best enthusiasm for their job. Retail thrives off its employees and customers and it is essential that an experience in your store or business is the best it can be – allowing it to grow and grow.

Secret shoppers are an increasingly important tool for retail industries and form an essential part of providing better service than the competition and maintain a happier customer base who will return time and time again – building a relationship with your company.

Hotels in particular rely on customer service. After all, the luxury of staying somewhere else for a night or two is to experience a level of pampering and relaxation you wouldn’t get at home. Hotels depend on recommendations, and friendly staff, great communication and an excellent service are the ingredients most likely to make this happen.

However, you can’t oversee all areas of your hotel all the time, so how do you ensure this happens? One way to maintain such high levels of customer service is through using our mystery shopper service. Through this we can help you identify weaknesses in your customer care, whether this be at reception as guests arrive, during room service or even in the hotel restaurant. There are multiple opportunities for customer and staff exchanges in the hotel experience and it is important to make sure all are as effective and pleasant as possible. People are unlikely to remember one positive conversation from their whole stay yet one single bad exchange is likely to stick in their memory.

Through the findings we present to you, you can take action that is highly focused on results. You may choose to implement training that is concentrated around these specific areas.

As well as pointing out areas for improvement, we’ll also let you know what worked well, so you and your staff can continue to excel in this area. This in itself can actually provide a great motivation for staff. Recognition for a job well done is enough to spur people on to give that extra level of service. Many companies also choose to use the results of their mystery shopping programme as the basis for a reward scheme.

Our mystery shopping service also offers other types of reporting such as video, internet and telephone. Telephone reporting in particular could be particularly useful for those in the hotel industry as this is often the first point of contact for new customers. As such it is necessary to make the right impression, whether someone is calling up to book or to make an enquiry.

As well as hotels, why not use our mystery shopper service for B&Bs or other guest houses? If anything it is even more important for smaller establishments to provide the right customer service as these smaller businesses tend to rely on returning custom. However large or small your business we are sure to be able to offer you ways to build on your success.