In the UK, businesses that offer B2B services account for nearly *40% of companies’ income across the country (and an estimated £1.7 trillion of the UK’s turnover!). For a sector that is hugely successful, it makes sense to review your business and gain insights into moving forward, right? We share why mystery shopping can be an excellent tool for business planning, and why it’s not just for retailers.
Mystery shopping is a great way to gain market insight, assess your customer’s experience and review where you sit against your competitors. We’ve worked with many B2B clients to assess:
- Pricing and promotions
- Brand Consistency
- Sales Journey (e-commerce and face to face)
- Client interaction with teams – e.g., response times, customer service and delivery.
We ask all the right questions that enable you to build on your insights and put actionable systems in place to help grow your business.
Examples of B2B enquiries we’ve made are:
- Business looking for staff wellbeing solutions
- Business looking for software solutions
- Business looking to outsource
- Business looking for consultancy services
How we do this…
One question our clients frequently ask is how their pricing and promotions compare in their industry. Using a bespoke mystery shopping programme, our network of shoppers compare prices, promotional offers and discounts given by a variety of businesses. They visit client locations (and their competitors) with the aim of gaining the best possible price for a specified product or service, from staff members. For example, in the automotive industry these programmes have been tried and tested with clients who use the valuable insights to plan new incentives and promotions or assess upcoming financial periods.
In an ever-growing digital world, how well is your brand represented online across websites and social media platforms? If your business operates as part of a franchise or group, this is particularly important. Our teams can carry out brand consistency checks to find out exactly how you’re being perceived by customers.
As part of the checks, we’ll tell you:
- If there are any variations in the product or service offering. The brand and its core values must remain consistent for the customer to be able to seamlessly pass from one franchise to another without even realising and, like any effective marketing campaign, all aspects affecting the customer’s experience will need to work in harmony with one another.
- Whether each customer touchpoint matches branding guidelines and promotional materials -this should be consistent.
Case study: A vehicle rental company recently wanted to ensure that the most up to date promotional materials detailing current offers were being displayed correctly at each of their branches. In addition, they wanted to check that all email communications with customers had the correct signature and content, matching the company style.
We asked mystery shoppers to visit their sites to enquire about hiring a car and covertly took photos of all promotional displays. They gave their email addresses and waited to be contacted by staff, then took screenshots of all of the responses to show the email content. The franchisor found that 56% of their vehicle rental centres were using out of date email templates.
All photos and screenshots were provided to the relevant managers with an assessment form detailing which posters and email signatures required updating with files and instructions attached to allow managers to action the changes immediately.
Mystery shopping can also be used to test product trials, test team’s knowledge and capabilities, and even check how contract data is perceived by users.
Why is mystery shopping data better than a customer survey?
Unlike a standard customer satisfaction survey that simply scores generic areas, you’ll gain a significant amount of information drawn from actual experiences, with objective feedback given. Mystery shoppers are given a brief to complete, based on all the areas you want insight on, as well as the areas we know are important to the customer.
If you’re a business start-up, you’ll want to build a competitive edge. Mystery shopping programmes can deliver this cost effectively. If you’re an e-commerce business wanting a deeper understanding of your sales journey and how you can increase revenue, mystery shopping can do all this.
Our teams don’t just stop at delivering the data. Once we’ve sent your report to you, we’ll work with you to put improvements in place. It really is the ultimate tool to invest in!
Whatever industry you work in, we’re confident that a bespoke mystery shopping programme would benefit your business in a multitude of ways. To find out more, get in touch with our team on 01409 255025,
enquiries@mystery-passengers.com. Or complete an online enquiry form.