The Myth of the Secret Shopper
[In trying to get this business of the ground, I've been thinking about how the image in my brain about how it works relates to existing approaches.]I've always liked the idea of the `Secret Shopper'. You know, the sleath evaluator sent to patronize various businesses and report on the experience -- assumedly so management can know about and fix any problems encountered. But, as I think about it further, I may have been wrong.
What could be wrong with having someone go into a store and comment upon what they see? Well, to a certain extent, not much. If they report that the staff is surly, there's a problem that needs to be fixed. If they say the place is dirty or otherwise uncomfortable, ditto. The problem comes in with other, more subjective measurements.
Here's the deal: The nature of the people who would become Secret Shoppers skews the result. Think about it, who relishes that kind of work? People who like to shop. People who like to look at everything in a product category in two, three, many stores. People who relish doing extensive comparison shopping. People who look upon shopping as entertainment.
Mind you, though I don't put myself in that class, I have nothing at all against them. The only problem is that they look at your business through the eyes of the kind of customer you're really least interested in.
People who like to shop are the ones who are most likely to shop on price. They fear paying too much. And, as such, they are least likely to be `faithful', most likely to go somewhere else for a better price on an item -- and tend to soak up the most resources per sale. For them, it's not about trust or reputation; they already know about the product. And, since they actually like spending time in stores, making an extra trip for some other item is of no consequence -- well, after they've done their research and looked at the same item all over town.
No, the customers you really want are the ones with whom you can build a level of trust, the ones who care more about getting the right thing than saving a few bucks here and there. In essence, the ones who hate to shop -- but are willing to buy once they're there.
The myth of the Secret Shopper is that such people don't model your ideal customer at all.
posted by Another Set of Eyes @ 2:00 PM
3 Comments:
Hello Another Set of Eyes
My fingers are broken from typing income opportunity in the search engines and finding scam artist sites. The Myth of the Secret Shopper came up and I am glad to finally get to read posts by actual people and not some jerk who thinks that using income opportunity entitles him to sell me junk. I like your site and will return to read more posts. Have a good day and thanks for being a nice site.
Dear Another Set of Eyes
Strange devices these computors are. I type in demo and The Myth of the Secret Shopper shows up so here I am. This is my first time in a Blog and do not know the proper protocols so please excuse me if I do something wrong. It was fun to read posts by people from alll around the world and getting new ideas. Hi from Canada. Thank you for letting me onto your wonderful site.
Grampa J
Hi Another Set of Eyes
The Myth of the Secret Shopper came up in my search for merchandiser. Since I became disabled I have spent more time online looking for merchandiser information. While your site is not exactly what I was looking for I enjoyed reading some of the posts. I like your site and will check back every so often. Take care.
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