For most of us, Christmas means shopping and at this time of year, in particular, we’re prone to moan about the customer service we receive. Something’s sure to ‘get our goat’, whether it’s rude assistants in crowded stores, queues that are too long, inaccurate descriptions of goods or services, poor returns policies, overpriced and cheesy Santa’s grottos, or lacklustre festive food served in restaurants. The good news is that as consumers, we can exercise our power. We can be proactive and do something about it (rather than banging our fists/sticks/handbags on the counter), while earning a few quid to help us through the recession.

Although it may sound like a help centre for shopping addicts, Shopper Anonymous, based in St Leonards, is a national mystery shopping service that started ‘down under’ in Australia 15 years ago and launched five years ago in the UK. The company exists to help other businesses step up to the mark when it comes to treating us – their customers – properly. And, clearly, with widespread worries about declining standards, this service is badly needed.

Shopper Anonymous sends people from all ‘walks of life’ to visit various businesses – be they play parks, garden centres, farm shops or chocolate emporiums. The idea is to see whether everything is ship-shape and well signposted, the assistants are doing their job properly, and value for money is being provided to customers. Businesses who sensibly still think the customer is king, rather than just a purse to be emptied, enlist Shoppers Anonymous to gain an accurate impression of “are you being served” and, if not, why not?

So what, exactly, does the mystery shopper do? As opposed to snooping around Sherlock Holmes style, or prodding things in the style of Mr Bean, they take an anonymous look at a business and describe the whole “customer journey” from start to finish. This includes the ease of accessing the premises, how long they spent queuing, whether the employees made eye contact and adopted positive body language, whether they were greeted and “farewelled” warmly, and was the product or service up to scratch? The mystery shopper then writes a report giving constructive feedback, so the business owner can address any areas of their operation that fall short or aren’t customer-friendly.

To discover what was involved at first hand, I ventured out with my two under-fives and their aunty on a real mystery shopping mission. Our assignment was to mystery shop Monkey Bizness in Lewes, a nationwide company that runs large-scale, indoor play parks for children. The Lewes branch is the head office and Shopper Anonymous visits all Monkey Bizness branches every two to three months so that standards across the group can be compared. Would we find that Lewes measured up or would the staff be monkeying around?

During our visit, we carefully observed the employees and discreetly noted their names. Were they correctly attired? Were they wearing name badges? Did they deal with our requests quickly and politely and provide the information we required? Was our food well-presented and served at the right temperature?

We were pleased to find that, during our visit, the whole team was polite and helpful and our snacks (Aberdeen Angus beef burgers) were, indeed, suitably tasty and hot. Our constructive criticism largely revolved around the logistics of car parking and toilet cubicle design. We were able to make suggestions relating to the menu and the climbing wall. The whole experience proved quite fascinating and it was rewarding to be doing something that could impact other customers positively.

Sue Ford, customer relationship manager at Shopper Anonymous, is keen to improve UK service standards. She says: Businesses who use mystery shopping are the ones that care what the customer thinks. We’ve found some interesting extremes during our shoppers’ visits but we like to focus on the positive. Mystery shoppers report on what actually happens during their customer journey so that businesses can use the feedback to monitor their service.”

She adds: “We do a lot of work with farm shops and fine food outlets that want to maintain high standards and ensure that employees are knowledgeable and helpful about the products. Some of our local clients include Montezumas, the Sovereign Centre, Eastbourne and Rother District Council, which has had its various departments mystery shopped for three years.”

The Shopper Anonymous concept is proving so popular that the company is offering a West Sussex franchise. This will help more local businesses to improve their customer service, while giving the operator a chance to prosper during the downturn by doing something that’s genuinely useful to the public.

So how does a person sign up as a mystery shopper and what personal qualities are required, other than the ability to provide polite feedback (as opposed to “it was rubbish and everyone was rude”)?

According to Sue, mystery shoppers can be aged 16-80, male or female and from all different backgrounds. They may carry out between two and 12 mystery shops a month. The work is flexible, which is ideal for those with jobs, kids or hectic lives. It’s also rewarding in a way that isn’t just financial: I, for one, have been persuaded of its benefits and would choose to do it again.

To find out more about mystery shopping, visit www.shopperanonymous.co.uk.

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