Mystery Shopping – Measure Welcome Process

In my previous blog, I mentioned the touch points that are critical for a delightful consumer experience. As promised, I will discuss them in detail one by one. In this blog we will look at the importance of welcome process.

In today's hyper competitive environment, with multiple options available, one of the biggest challenge is to attract customers to enter the outlet. Companies spend a significant amount on branding outside the store to lure the customers which is extremely important.

Once the customer decides to enter a store, starting from the entrance till the time he/she gets into a conversation about his/her requirement, the first couple of minutes are very crucial. The organization needs to think through and devise innovative ways to ensure that the customer feels welcomed.

Some of the parameters that impact the welcome experience include:

• Presence of security guard
• His grooming standards and personality
• His caring gesture like opening the gate for you or helping you with bags you might be carrying
• His personal etiquette like greeting with a smile or a small bow or may be just a light nod of head

Moving past the guard, the welcome experience is impacted by:

• Warmth shown by the sales staff when they first see you or interact with you
• Their grooming standards and presentability
• Their proactive approach in helping you settle down in store, even before they begin sales talk

These points may seem simple but they create a positive image of the brand in consumer’s mind right in the first encounter. Imagine that all of the above is experienced by you at Store A, versus Store B where the security guard or the store staff is just for name sake. Would you not rate the Store A higher? Would you not be delighted at the very first instance? I believe yes!

Mystery audit can help measure the subjective welcome experience objectively in any store. The brand gets to know if every store is following the above practices and accordingly it can take actions to ensure delivery of a delightful welcome experience.

In my next blog I will discuss how mystery audit can tell you about your staff's grooming standards, courteousness and product knowledge, and the contribution of these factors in creation of a delightful consumer experience.

Stay tuned!