mystery shopping how great companies design and manage an effective program
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Presented at Limousine Digest Show 2011TRANSCRIPT
MYSTERY SHOPPINGHow Great Companies Design And Manage An Effective Program
Monday November 6, 2011
9:00am
Barry GrossA Goff Limousine & Bus
Brett TysonHarrison Global
Mystery Shopping can be defined as:
“The use of individuals trained/briefed to experience and measure compliance or any customer service process, by acting as potential customers/actual customers and in some way reporting back on their experiences in a detailed and objective way”
-Mystery Shopping Providers Association
Why “Mystery Shopping?”
Assess the quality of service, organization, and management
Review how staff performs against pre-determined standards
Observe interaction where staff are engaged
Establish measurables upon which to gauge improvement
Validity IndexIn order to be valid, a mystery shopping program must meet several criteria; It must be:
Relevant Credible Ethical Practical
Principles of Mystery Shopping
Scope Approach Experience Range Reporting
Per BARE International - 2007
Scope Explain the goals
Define the timeline
Define the methodology for securing the service
Define the parameters for reporting
Approach Specify the acceptable range of service/behavior
Specify the items to be observed and reported
Define the methodology for securing the service
ExperienceShopper needs to:
Fit a common passenger profile
Present reasonable knowledge of their service needs
Not be an especially difficult or “hard to please” customer
Do as little as possible to initiate the experience
Create an environment that allows the employee
opportunity to excel
Maintain secrecy as to their status as a mystery
shopper
RangeShops must:
Reflect as wide a range of variables as possible
Encompass the complete spectrum of employees
Gather a deep comparative sample
Must not be artificially manipulated to produce specific results
ReportingA Good Report is:
Timely Accurate Informative Unbiased
Who to use? Professional Firms Temp Agencies Friends & Family Key Staff
Professional Firms
Pros AccountableSpecialized Experienced Anonymous Customized Detailed
Cons Cost Labor intensive
Unfamiliarity Contract
Temp Agencies
Pros Accountable Anonymous Local
Cons Cost Untrained No Continuity Logistics
Friends & Family
Pros Cost Motivated Familiarity Loyal Control
Cons Less Anonymous
Less Accountable
Untrained
Key Staff
Pros Accountable Specialized Knowledgeable Motivated Cost Perpetual
Cons No Anonymity Labor intensive
Predisposition Diversionary
Defining and Achieving Quality
A case study by
Harrison Global
Quality?This can refer to anything that you desire.
It could be how your reservation agents talk to your customers
It could be how your chauffeurs manage their customers during an airport PU
It could be how your dispatchers stage vehicles for upcoming pick ups
Quality is the process/procedure and end result that YOU define as “THE RIGHT WAY”
Step 1: Defining QualityHarrison has defined the quality
measurements for each of its departments.
Today we are going to look at 2 of these measurements
We will show how we built themHow we implemented themAnd how we use them to shape the employees behavior to the desired quality
Case Study 1
Harrison Chauffeur Performance
Defining Quality: Chauffeurs
In defining the quality metrics for the Harrison chauffeurs, we began by establishing the core competencies that make up a good chauffeur.
We spoke to chauffeurs and asked them what elements made a good chauffeur
We spoke to Dispatchers and asked them what made a good chauffeur
We spoke to reservation agents and asked them what made a good chauffeur
We spoke to managers and asked them what made a good chauffeur We spoke to our affiliates and asked what they were looking for in
our chauffeurs We spoke to our clients and asked them what they were looking for
in a good chauffeurs
Defining Quality: Chauffeurs
What we got, was a lot of information about how chauffeurs WERE supposed to behave and a lot of information about how they were NOT supposed to behave
We took all this information and broke it down into 3 main categories
1.Driving Skills
2.Customer Service
3.Trip Preparation and Professional Presentation
1: Driving Skills• Was chauffeur on time for your pick up?
• Did the Chauffeur take the appropriate route, not get lost and get you to your destination on time?
• Did the Chauffeur drive safely?
• Did the Chauffeur drive smoothly?
• Did the Chauffeur refrain from making any • phone calls, including texting etc.?
2: Customer Service• Was Chauffeur waiting outside vehicle next to right rear door of car with the correct
sign?
• Chauffeur used company sign
• Did Chauffeur open car door for you on pick up AND drop off?
• Did Chauffeur manage your luggage on pick up and drop off. (To curb-airport, or inside-anywhere else?)
• Did the Chauffeur introduce him/herself?
• Did the Chauffeur reconfirm your destination before driving off?
• Did the Chauffeur ask if you had a route you would prefer?
• Did the chauffeur offer to assist you with the controls to the radio and temperature?
• Did the Chauffeur only talk to you as professionally needed?
• Did the chauffeur thank you for using Harrison Global
3: Trip Prep and Professional presentation
Was the Chauffeur dressed neatly and professionally in Black suit/white shirt/tie Chauffeur is clean shaven Chauffeur is wearing jewelry as prescribed Exterior of vehicle is clean and polished Interior of Vehicle is clean Did the car smell fresh? (Not smell of smoke, food, any offensive smell.) Vanity mirrors on roof work Side lights above each back door work Was the car at the correct temperature when you got in? (68 to 72 degrees) Was the vehicle set up correctly, (Hybrid: Water), (Sedan: Water, tissues, mints,
newspapers) Chauffeur has black umbrella (1 for sedan, 2 for SUV/Van) Radio was off Was car parked with rear door in line with the building door from which you were
exiting? Vehicle is gassed up Driver has a GPS system
Step 2: Train to the competencies
TrainingNew Hire: 3 days of classroom and on the road training
Remedial training: for anyone who does not demonstrate the core competencies
Refresher training for everyone on a periodic basis
Is training the Answer?No
Training is important, but its effect is generally short lived You must tie it to every piece of the operation
Step 3: Inspect what you Expect
After training
Harrison conducts 20 ghost rides per monthWe use a dedicated road supervisor, managers, and clients
The ghost rider uses an online form that has a built in formula to calculate a pass or a fail
We are looking for chauffeurs to demonstrate the core competencies that we have defined as our quality standards
This is an email that is automatically generated from a failed ride
Step 4: GIVE FEEDBACK Without feedback, the chauffeurs will not rise to the quality
standard you are looking for
Feedback must be given very soon after an observation
There should be at least 3 positives emphasized along with an area for the chauffeur to develop
Use a consistent and supportive corrective action process that includes retraining
Action Plan: 1 Coaching note
Action Plan: 2 Verbal Warning Training &
Evaluation
Action Plan: 3 Written Warning Training &
Evaluation
Action Plan: 4 Written Warning 3-day suspension Training &
Evaluation
Action Plan: 5 Termination
The complete process
High Quality Chauffeur
performance
1:Hire the right people
2: Train to the core competencies
3: Inspect what you Expect
4: Provide feedback
5: Provide retraining
6: Use Corrective action
Case Study 2
The Voice of the Customer
(VOC)
The Voice of the CustomerSix Sigma is a process that seeks to improve the quality of
process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes.
A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the services provided are statistically expected to be free of defects
Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction and/or profit increase).
One such project is called “ Voice of the Customer”
VOC Process The purpose of the “Voice of the Customer” is to truly understand
what your customers think is important, and then to measure your performance in terms of these items.
Step 1: Call a random sampling of your customers and ask them the following 4 questions
1. Was there anything about your experience that you were dissatisfied about?
2. What ways did our service meet their expectation (ask for stories. It really helps us understand)
3. Was there anything about their experience that was better than they expected
4. Have the customer describe their experience with other organizations that they regarded as exceptional organizations
Continue until you have at least 100 comments.
Gather a team of 3 or 4 people and divide the cards up into like categories
Continue this process until all the cards are sorted.
Now discuss the groups, and decide on a label for the group.
At this point, you have identified the elements that are most important for your customers
Now, you can develop your survey according to your customers voice
Now we have the questions to ask We conducted 200 phone interviews using the VOC survey
and here is what we found.
What do we do with the data
VOC Data
Share the data with the teams and ask
for their suggestions for
improvement
Retrain each department to the specifics
noted
Use the ghost ride form to
target specific areasUse other
departments observation forms to target specific
areas
Set up incentives to increase the
ratings
Use formal corrective
action process
Re-measure after a suitable
time(3 to 6 months)
The question is?How many of your
customers can you turn into Raving Fans?
ReviewSteps to creating a mystery
shopping program
Determine goals Set scope and timeline Establish methodology Create reporting template Assess logistics and budget Determine WHO performs the shops How will the data be utilized