Once you have put in place the standards of service you want your patients to experience each and every time they visit your practice (Optician 25.09.09) and implemented a system to retain patients (30.10.09), you need to ensure that this level of service continues unabated even when you're not there to enforce it.
With the economy as tough as it is today and competition from larger chains and supermarkets getting stronger, you need to take full advantage of every selling opportunity in your practice. Having systems in place for holding your staff accountable and standards they are expected to maintain certainly helps, but you shouldn't stop there.
So, what can you do to ensure your practice operates at full speed, whether you are there or not? The answer is easy and not new: you send someone out there to tell you. A mystery shopper. Every practice in your business should be 'mystery shopped' on a regular basis. You want to know that each person who walks into your practice gets the best possible service and that every attempt is made to convert that customer into a buyer.
There are many companies that offer mystery shopping services for a fee, but they may not be the best or most cost efficient way to go. The criteria they base their report on may be different than yours. Or, they may have a different philosophy on how a customer should be looked after.
To obtain the information that you want, you can easily set up your own mystery shopping service. The first thing you should do is develop a mystery shopping report. Be as specific as possible in how you phrase your questions. For example, you want to be certain that your staff are consistently trying to add on to each and every sale. Don't just phrase the question as 'Did the staff member attempt to sell you an additional item?' A yes or no answer will not give you the entire picture. By breaking down the question you will get considerably more detailed information as illustrated below:
- How many items did they try to sell you? One, two, three, four, five.
- Did they suggest another item before you decided on the first item? Yes, no.
- Did they ever show you a second item? Yes, no.
- Was the second item:
a) A possible alternative if you didn't like the first item?
b) A similar product, price or brand to the first item?
c) A completely different item? - If you took the second item, did they try to add on yet another item? Yes, no.
- Were contact lenses offered?
Now, not only will you know if the member of staff attempted to add on, you'll also know how much, how often and the type of item.
Your report should cover all the steps of a sale from how the staff member approached the customer to whether or not they said thank you. Keep in mind that in many cases, a yes/no type question followed by a brief explanation will work just as well as a six-part question.
Once you have your mystery shopper report, you'll need people to complete it. You can recruit friends to shop for you at a nominal fee, or run a help wanted advert in your local newspaper. The heading 'Want to earn extra money while you shop?' followed by a brief explanation is sure to draw response. Depending on the geographic location of your practice, you may be able to get a great report for as little as £10 each. You'll have to meet briefly with your hired customers to go over the report and explain what you are really looking for.
After reviewing the completed reports, you should formally praise or reward those members of staff who received good reports. And likewise, staff should be informed of poor reports and held accountable.
But, don't stop there. Once you know how your staff are performing, how about finding out how you compare with your competition. Just remember that sending someone to mystery shop your competition is not a replacement for going out there yourself. It just gives you an outsider's point of view.
Finding out how your staff are performing by using mystery shoppers is simple, inexpensive and can be very effective. Having your practice mystery shopped on a regular basis will help to keep your staff on their toes, whether you're there or not. ?
? Dennis Reid is chairman of Retail Performance Specialists and has written this article in conjunction with the Vision Care Institute of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. RPS specialises in improving retail performance and can be contacted on 0870 4283200 or via www.rps-global.com