It is important in order for this program to be accepted in a positive light to involve all salespersons in it's implementation from the outset.  To have the commitment and  understanding of the whole team to the objective behind the program is crucial to its success.

Objective:   "to offer excellent customer service every single time".   This will give you the edge over your opposition.

Arrange for all personnel including full time, part time and casual staff to be notified that there is going to be a program implemented to measure their customer service and that a benchmark level will be established for the company.  Sample formats can be provided to assist in explaining the format and how the service will be graded.  Ensure all staff understand what responses warrant full points through providing a briefing at store level.  

Explain that the mystery shoppers are just another customer shopping in their store.  They are there to report on the service being offered.  They are there to provide an objective overview of the visit on a whole and DO NOT look only for negative aspects.  Therefore both positive and negative aspects will be included in the reports. 

All stores will be visited at random times and days so as both full time and casual staff will be included.

We suggest a commitment is made by management to staff that no salespersons will be dismissed as a direct result of any one of these reports.  Over a period of time such as 12 months a much truer indication will be given of performance at both a store and individual level.  i.e. through multiple reports.

Again to encourage viewing of this program in a positive light we strongly recommend that an incentive & recognition program is aligned directly with the results of these reports.

As an incentive we suggest you arrange some suitable Gift Vouchers to provide to those salespersons whom consistently achieve above benchmark results.  A $100 Gift Voucher from a local department store together with a letter of congratulations from management serves as an excellent gesture of your appreciation.

Retail Services 2000 provide Award Certificates for Excellence in Customer Service exclusively to those locations who consistently achieve above benchmark results throughout the duration of the program.

Both the Award Certificate and Gift Voucher Incentive should where ever possible be presented to the salesperson \ store in front of their peers such as at a regular staff meeting.  This has proven an excellent means of promoting good will from management.    If possible someone from top level management should also be present for this occasion.   Recognition should be encouraged from all levels of management via telephone calls,  memos etc, etc.

It should also be explained to staff at the outset that counselling will be offered on each report between the store manager and the relevant salesperson.

A role play is also encouraged as  a means of re-visiting the situation and given the benefit of hindsight explore ways in which the situation could have been better handled.   We suggest this be conducted initially at the counselling session between the store manager and salesperson and then repeated at a group training session for the benefit of all salespersons.

Open feedback should be encouraged from the outset also - explain that all reports will be tabled for all personnel to read irrelevant of their positive or negative feedback and that this should be received in a constructive manner.  As a training exercise feedback should be invited from salespersons in the form of a role play as above.

Whilst we can provide you with invaluable feed back on the customer service being provided by your company, it is in our opinion of even greater importance that the results are utilised in a positive and productive manner with the support of all of your team.  This means ensuring that all of your team including  full time, part time and casual salespersons are involved from the outset.  It is crucial that each of them understand the objective behind the program is to 'reward excellent customer service'. 

As we are in the fortunate position of having been involved in the successful implementation of this program into many of the largest retailers in Australia please do not hesitate to contact us should you wish to discuss the implementation into your company.