Customer Research…a vital component

Hold on to what you’ve got and get more…

Once the outline of the mix of your business is known then it is important to understand what makes each segment tick. Once that has been established then it is possible to market to them and to influence which camp they should lean towards.

Whilst a one off approach at discovering your customer types will give you a great bench mark  a regular work out is needed to keep your brand in shape.

Mystery Shopping is one of the best ways to take the temperature of any business and helps in the identification of the above key customer segments.It gives your company, the brand, a work out that keeps it in the best possible shape to deal with all market conditions. A brand that can change pace fairly rapidly to keep up with trading conditions will have more chance of sustained profitability.

It is an early warning system giving the company time to make adjustments and change factors that would discourage Resistors and not give Acceptors cause to be woken into negative action.

Clear benefits arise in Cost Control – financial planning and resource allocation can be adjusted. Cost to Serve is reduced and the prevention of potential customer Walkaways are outcomes of a good Mystery Shopping programme.

Accountability, not only financial but Staff Accountability to make sure that customer service and presentation are top of their agendas.Training programmes are kept up to date and enhanced by good customer feed back mechanisms.

Strategy Development has to be on going and results of any feed back can be used to Predict what might happen and to plan for any “What If” situations. Resources can be directed to recruitment and training long before the need has passed into a crisis. All this improves the customer experience and the profitability of the business.

More Generators and less Resistors with the middle ground leaning on the desired side of the fence is a very achievable outcome.  Mystery Shopping is one part of any customer feedback system but a vital one. Results can inform other aspects of research, online surveys and Focus Groups  and even face to face interviews as exit polls or more structured feed back events.