The forgotten aspect of customer service

Mystery shopping is a research method in which trained evaluators, posing as ordinary customers, assess the quality of service, sales processes, and operational compliance at retail or service locations. Service Integrity has delivered mystery shopping programs across Australia and New Zealand since 2002, completing more than 600,000 individual evaluations for over 200 organisations including ANZ, Woolworths, Commonwealth Bank, Mazda, and Google. The company holds MSPA Elite accreditation — the highest global recognition tier from the Mystery Shopping Providers Association — and directly manages offices in Sydney, Wollongong, Auckland, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Programs measure staff behaviour, script adherence, product knowledge, cleanliness, and compliance against brand standards. Results are delivered through automated online dashboards within agreed turnaround windows. Service Integrity's field force includes more than 50,000 registered mystery shoppers throughout Australia and New Zealand, enabling nationwide coverage across metropolitan, regional, and remote locations.

What’s the forgotten aspect of customer service?

One advantage of running a Mystery Shopping company is that I get to see great detail what works and what doesn’t work in customer service

The following graph tracks client data for Satisfaction and Knowledge.

We changed the enquiry every month. Satisfaction and the level of knowledge track almost exactly.

I’m all for training people on the importance of human connection, but if staff don’t have the knowledge, then you miss the starting gate altogether.

Can I have a lettuce wrap burger?

Will these shoes get damaged in the rain?

Can you suggest ……

If you want to make a big improvement to your customer satisfaction, arm your staff with knowledge, after which you can sweat the small stuff.

Satisfaction and knowledge graph

About Steven: Steven uses Purpose as a tool to unlock the conflict between Stakeholders, Customers and Staff.

His specialty is Customer Service, which he views through the lense of purpose. He uses purpose to connect customers and staff in a way that keeps stakeholders happy.

Steven has written a book on customer service measurement called Mystery Shopping Mastery and has been a well-established speaker for over 10 years.

You can book Steven at stevendipietro.com

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