One of my clients is a small retail chain in North Alabama. Each month I send out an email communication to their store managers and I always include an article that I feel is relevant to their business to give them some food for thought.

This month the topic was “If your store were mystery shopped, would you pass?” and the article included a sample mystery shop survey that has 35 questions. I challenged them to “shop” their own store and be brutally honest in their answers. Would they pass the test? And if not, what can they and their staff do to ensure that they would pass?

As I was drafting the email to them, I realized that this challenge could be put forth to any organization, regardless of the industry they are in.

The focus areas of the survey include:

• Cleanliness and Appearance: Is the parking lot clean of debris? Is the office/store neat and well maintained?
• Employee Behavior: Was the customer acknowledged within 30 seconds of entering the facility? Did the employee offer to assist the customer? Did the employee greet the customer with a smile?
• Path to Purchase: Were the items the customer needed available? How long did the sales transaction take?

While granted some of the questions on the survey pertain specifically to a retail environment, they can be adjusted to apply to almost any type of business.

If your organization was mystery shopped, would you pass the test? If not, what can you do to ensure that you would pass?