With the 4^th quarter fast approaching, everyone involved in retail management is gearing up for yet another incredible selling opportunity. Are you fully prepared? Are you comfortable in answering the following question: Who’s Minding the Store? 

Having spent countless hours and dollars developing a solid sales team, giving them proper training, selecting the perfect retail location, designing the space to be pleasing to the shopper, stocking your stores with the latest and greatest product mix and advertising your locations with a multi-pronged approach, you are now ready to watch it all come together like a well oiled machine. And it does…so long as the owner, district manager or store manager are standing within ear shot of the salesperson and the customer. There comes a point in time where your sales team is alone with the customer. Like sending your kids off to school, you hope they act how they’ve been taught to act… you hope they say what they’ve been taught to say.

When you’re not there: Who’s Minding the Store?

If information is power, secret shopping is the power to see more. A well designed secret shopping program tailored to your company’s specifications allows you to see your stores the way your customers do. Get their take on your products. Learn how they feel about your employees’ product knowledge and customer service skills. Find out what they think about your store’s layout, displays, upkeep and more. Some secret shopping companies utilize state-of-the-art technology allowing for this information to be delivered to you real time…real quick…real flexible in the format of your choosing.  Now that’s powerful.

In the ultra-competitive wireless business, who benefits from secret shopping? Everyone! Wireless Carriers…Master Agents…Independent Dealers…Manufacturers…all need to ensure that their goals, policies and on floor expectations are being met. And a secret shopping program offers one of the most effective tracking mechanisms for accountability.

How can your wireless business benefit from a secret shopping program? Here are a few examples:

Monitoring Business & Competition
A secret shopping program can help you improve your strengths, minimize weaknesses, take advantage of opportunities and understand threats to your business. Use it to:
·         Understand your competition
·         Identify profit opportunities
·         Identify problem areas, employees, etc
·         Reduce buyers’ remorse
·         Reduce churn and spot fraud

Evaluating Staff & Training
A secret shopping program can help you evaluate the effectiveness of your sales force and your training programs. Use it to evaluate your staff’s:
·         Presentation skills
·         Ability to upsell rate plans and add features, warranties, etc.
·         Knowledge of products, programs and services
·         Ability to attach accessories
·         Problem solving skills
·         Customer service skills
·         Closing skills
·         Compliance with policies, procedures and paperwork

Assessing Store & Product
A secret shopping program can help you see where a specific offering is being presented and how it is being “talked”. Use it to:
·         Review store appearance and atmosphere
·         Evaluate your display space
·         Make sure your dummy phones and literature are in place
·         And much more
 
What can you do with all that knowledge? Just about anything you want. There are literally hundreds of ways your retail operation can benefit from a secret shopper program. Designed and managed correctly, a secret shopper program is a powerful business tool that can allow your sales force to reach their full potential and provide a healthy ROI to your company. NOW is the time to put a program into place, so that the sales force is a well oiled machine for the peak selling season.

Who’s Minding the Store?  You of course…with a little help from a secret shopper!
A typical secret shopper program involves qualified “shoppers” that are hired to visit your locations and shop a specific product or service, then report back on the experience. Secret shoppers report back and log their observations at the end of the day based on criteria decided on by you, the retailer. Depending on the services you select, the information can be made available how you want it and when you want it.
This column was written to detail the benefits of a well designed secret shopping program tailored to your company’s specifications.  Written by Bob Fahey, Business Development Manager of New Retail.   bfahey@theretailexperts.com or 877-639-6565 x 102