Article
Mystery shopping: Not a secret anymore
High-tech mystery shopping is digging up deep details that help restaurateurs improve their operations.
March 21, 2007
When Don Buonavolanto's Buona Restaurants group started growing several years ago, he knew he'd lose the ability to watch over his entire operation. So to ensure he didn't lose touch with how his staff treated customers at his 13 restaurants, Buonavolanto hired a mystery shopping company to keep an eye on things.
"As soon as we couldn't be everywhere at the same time, we knew we had to get some help," said Buonavolanto, who has used mystery shoppers in his Chicago-area restaurants for 10 years. "It's like having an extra pair of eyes."
At Buona Salads, Sandwiches and Pizzas, Buonavolanto needed to know how well both his dining room and drive-thru patrons were served. Each set of customers had different needs — drivers wanted speed and accuracy and diners wanted good atmosphere and hospitable help — and Buonavolanto wanted to gauge whether he was satisfying both. He instructed mystery shoppers to visit the dining room first and then make a pass through the drive-thru. Their findings were eye-opening.
"We found that the drive-thru ... is another whole operation going on," Buonavolanto said. Dining room staff could see the customer and influence the experience, but what happened outside in the queue wasn't as clear. "We wanted to know how long they were waiting in line, how long it took to get to the menu board, whether the menu board was clear and legible and, of course, whether the order was accurate."
Inside the restaurant, Buonavolanto finessed the mystery shop some by asking shoppers to create problems for managers to solve, and even confront them if necessary.
"I wanted to
know the way our managers handle customer complaints," he said. "When I or another family member is in the store, everything is always fine. But I've been amazed sometimes at how they act when someone files a complaint."
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Buona Restaurants is one of literally hundreds of thousands of restaurants employing mystery shopping companies to improve their businesses. And for seemingly every kind of restaurant, there's a shopper service with a program custom-tailored to uncover operational weaknesses and strengths.
Ultimately, operators say, the goal isn't to trip up employees, it's to train them well and catch them doing something good. Knowing mystery shoppers may be lurking about, however, can cause employees to feel Big Brother is watching.
Bob Post, chief executive at shopper firm TrendSource, puts it this way: "We're not here to grade you, we're here to help you get an A."
High-tech info gathering
Mike Mallet remembers the not-so-long-ago days of low-tech mystery shopping, when shoppers were called to visit a location and mailed a survey form. A visit to the operation followed, the survey was completed in pencil and mailed it back to headquarters for database entry. A final report was mailed to restaurateurs, completing the full cycle in about three weeks.
"Faxes cut turnaround time down to a week, which was huge," said Mallet, chief executive of Corporate Research International (CRI) in Findlay, Ohio. "But with the Internet, today we could get a call at noon from a restaurant customer, place the order through broadcast e-mail to shoppers in that area, have them shop that store in that same lunch period, and then have the report in by dinnertime. That's not standard, but it can happen that fast if necessary."
Since TrendSource shoppers enter all their data into a Web site, Post said customers view all their results via the Internet. An "executive dashboard" collects all the data available and allows someone to review results nationwide or for a single store.
"Shoppers have six hours to go to the Web site to report to us," Mallet said. "Our average turnaround time is 11 hours."
The Internet also allows shoppers to post photos for immediate review rather than languishing in the mail for days. Many shoppers photograph receipts to ensure incriminating photos, such as of a dirty bathroom or restaurant exterior, link the day and time to the offending operation.
By far, mystery shopping companies said their customers focus most often on service.
"We want to hear about the friendliness of our team members," said Bai Riley, guest experience and cultural enrichment director for 300-unit Zaxby's in Athens, Ga. "We want smiles on their faces; we want to know they're happy to see a guest. We want to make sure their tone of voice is pleasant and that they're courteous."
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Buonovalanto wants his crew to "wow customers with friendliness and atmosphere" inside the operation, but focus on speed and accuracy at the drive-thru. "They chose to drive here because they're in a hurry. So we give them what they want."
Post said TrendSource shoppers often are asked to inspect whether a restaurant is displaying its point-of-purchase materials correctly. Chains spend millions promoting products nationally only to have some stores fail to reinforce the message in the dining room.
"We've found that at most, only 30 to 40 percent of POP materials ever get put up. That's an industry-wide problem," Post said. "Some clients tell us, 'Don't just go and measure what's there, help us see it's put it up.' It's that important to them."
Mystery shoppers also are hired to ensure franchise and corporate stores meet trade dress standards. One TrendSource QSR chain client has shoppers photograph operations so they'll know which stores need updating.
"They literally have lost track of which menu boards and street signs are in use in every store," Just said. "So they use shoppers to help document all that for them."
What to do with all that data?
Much to his chagrin, Mallet estimates only about about half of CRI's customers actually use the data gathered by his mystery shoppers to improve their operations. And even then, those who use it don't always do so in a positive way.
"Some use it to catch a bad employee doing the wrong things and then fire them," he said. "If you let them know they're not meeting expectations, but that you'll show them how to get better and be a better employee, that's great. But if you use it just to say you'd better get your act together, that'll lead to some turnover."
Buonovalanto posts both good and bad reports in his restaurants so everyone can see what's being evaluated. He said his aim isn't to embarrass anyone, only to share the truth.
Luckily, his restaurants' average score is 91 out of 100, ensuring his employees receive more praise than correction. When a crew has done exceptionally well, he's bought them jackets as a reward.
Mallet said one CRI restaurant client rewards his staff with free meals when they receive high scores, and Just said one his clients ties as much as 25 percent of his managers' compensation to mystery shopper results. Either way, both said their clients report the best shopper results when their staffs are motivated by positive incentives.
MarketForce's Shop 'n Check service provides goes a step further by providing Web-based training for employees or operations whose scores reflect show improvement is needed. When a poor shopper score comes back, targeted training programs are delivered automatically via e-mail to the manager of an under-performing location.
"We'll send that store manager an e-mail telling him he needs to review this material on store cleanliness, for instance," said Rushton McGarr, vice president of product management for MarketForce. "The person then has to prove they reviewed the training materials, took the test and report back to corporate. That feedback loop makes our data more actionable."
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