Mystery Shoppers
A while back my buddy Zouk wrote about the Mystery Shoppers that tend to visit establishment that have a high concentration on Customer Service. I agreed to every word he said, well not much since he was describing it and all that jazz but I am going to tackle it from a different view. As a person who works in the field of providing great Customer Service, it’s hard for normal people to understand the stress one is put under to perform. Yes I said perform because in the end we are putting up a front instead of being the person that our family and friends see. It’s also difficult dealing with all the pressure and stress that most customers put on you because let’s face it the CUSTOMER IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT! And nor will he ever be, simply because of one thing, the customer LIES CONTINUOUSLY! And don’t tell me no and that’s not true and all that, I entered the field with the customer is always right vision but then I started to realize that realistically the customer will try every devious way to get something he doesn’t deserve. Example would be a guy who has had lots of outstanding liabilities and wants to get a loan and based on his salary is not able to, the first question you ask if he has any outside liabilities and he immediately says “NO I don’t have anything” once you start checking around you figure out he’s got the debt of the world on his back and when you tell him that he starts screaming and yelling that if he wants to do this to himself it’s his choice. So you see it’s not that easy.
Recently however, I got the results for my first two Mystery Shopper visits in June. It was funny to see that the first visit I scored a very low score, 50% and yet the second one I scored an 84%. So you see in one month I was not consistent. However, it was in a way not supposed to count because I am still a trainee in this field and learning how to go along the way but to get that score and improve it is better than starting off high and falling down the hill. I am anxious to see July’s scores which should be out soon, as well as August’s. I laughed however at the contradicting reports, simply because one report mentioned that I wasn’t friendly at all and the other said that I was, one said that I wasn’t wearing an ID at all and the other said that I was. One didn’t want to deal with me again and another gave me an “Excellent” comment and said that they would love to do it. Today I realized who came to me for the month of July because the same guy came to my new branch, when he came before he was using the excuse “I just moved into the area it’s hard getting here can you help me by describing the way, I did and he then went on to dissecting the loan process that we’ve got but I treated him well enough that he still remembered me today. Funny right? Today he came however to another friend and not me but that’s cool as well.
This has gone long enough, I hate the weather outside and I believe tomorrow will be contacts day. Let me go now relax, and unwind and prepare for another battling day with the creatures we call customers!
August 29th, 2007 at 12:35 am
Well you are right, Our company is a service provider and although I don’t deal with cutomers personally bas I know that some of them are manipulative & are ready to lie flat to your face so YES the customer is not always right… allah ye3enak on you job and what you have to face, i never have trouble with my branch when it comes to honesty :)
I did some “shopping” as part of my Marketing research and sister, it’s tough work bas enshallah you’ll do well..
Now, go relax :)
August 29th, 2007 at 2:19 am
wala sara7a i can never do what ur doing
the whole plastering a smile on my face and dealing with brats that dont know wat their talking about and insist u are wrong
hmmm… actually now that i think about it my feild requires much of the same thing eventhough its totally differant, bs ppl are afraid of wat i do and that tends to make em shut up :)
goodluck!
August 29th, 2007 at 8:52 am
I have been in the field of support before. It is not pretty, the people you meet and do work with can be very obnoxious. Especially when they are high positioned people within the company itself! Anyway, It is not that easy to just let things pass, but it can be done. Mabrook on your 84%! Hopefully that should improve. I heard a few occasions where a friend of mine got a bad review because simply the other girl just didn’t like her, lol. Oh well.. good luck!
August 29th, 2007 at 10:19 am
I worked for a non-profit, and people would come in, telling me the biggest, saddest stories to get money. What were they thinking, that I wouldn’t make a couple phone calls to check their story, that I would just write a check based on what they told me??
It was so so so hard not getting hard-hearted after so many scams. I had to treat every customer as if they were telling the truth. Even when I caught a lie, I had to be really polite about it.
Customer service is really, really HARD!
August 29th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
:razz: we will be in Q8 the night of 31st with lots of things for u only u :lol:
check the flight details ….
:!:
August 29th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
chikapappi : Relaxing is more fun than work I want to sleep now!
eshda3wa : Thanks and yes it is hard hehe sometimes you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and people come to u with issues that is obvious is their problem but you’ve got to solve them but at the same time you’re like ugh get a life bozo! :P Hehehe oh well!
N. : Well they hire people for that now, they call some already customers at the bank or new ones and send them out to judge but sometimes it becomes obvious when they target one person only.
Intlxpatr : I totally agree but now that you see most of them already putting themselves into the debts they are and asking for more it makes you think that people are really spoiled, I have learned one thing and one thing only from all of this, NEVER EVER GET A LOAN unless it’s a most dire situation, i.e. if you don’t have the money for that emergency and you need to do something really soon then borrow it otherwise loans for travelling or cars isn’t worth it!
davinci : I can’t wait, we’re going to pick the bags up I mean you guys up soon :P I’m planning on having a daddy’s day of fun with you soon :P
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:04 am
Great article and yes the consumer is always right hun. I know as a mystery shopper I have to act as a customer and examine every aspect of my experience. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are downright aweful. I don’t think everyone can be a perfect shining example of a csr every minute of every day they work, they can try to, but you will find days when people are just not happy. However I can say that in general, I find everyone I deal with to be very helpful and friendly.