Two Types of Mystery Shoppers, Two Types of Data

The Professional-Type Mystery Shopper: Verifying Standards

In professional-type programs, evaluators are salaried employees. They can complete a large number of missions per week across a variety of contexts. Their role is to verify whether the company’s operational standards are being met. They’re not asked to have genuine purchase intent: they’re asked to validate standards.

This type of program is particularly relevant for companies in a standardization or rapid expansion phase. When opening new locations and ensuring every branch follows the same procedures, the professional mystery shopper is a rigorous and effective tool.

Sample questions: professional-type mystery shopper
“Were you greeted within 10 seconds?”  (Yes / No)
“Were any ceiling lights burned out?”  (Yes / No)
“Were the store hours posted at the entrance?”  (Yes / No)

Each Approach Has Its Place

At Lanla, we use both types of programs, based on the nature of the mandate and the client’s objectives.

The professional program is often the starting point for growing organizations: it ensures standards are applied consistently across a network that is standardizing and/or expanding. It’s a solid foundation. It’s also relevant in contexts where the required mystery shopper profile is very specific, or where the goal is to verify a legal standard.

The real consumer program is preferred where the overall client experience needs to be measured: retail, food service, financial services, hospitality, pharmacy, and more. These are the contexts where the perceptual dimension makes the most meaningful difference. It’s well known, it’s not only what you do for the customer that matters, but also (and above all) what the customer perceives of what you do for them!

What defines the choice is the question you’re trying to answer: verify that a standard is being met, or understand what your customers actually feel when they interact with your network.

About the Author
Christian Watier is Chief Scientific Officer at Lanla. With over 25 years of experience in customer experience measurement, he has worked with more than 200 Canadian brands. He has delivered over 1,000 conferences and training sessions on the topic.