Quality Trumps Cost in Mystery Shopping

Clients sometimes make the mistake of thinking that mystery shopping is a commodity. So they request five bids, pick the cheapest one, and think that they’ve saved money.

But mystery shopping isn’t a commodity like, say, detergent or running shoes.

And that’s because what you get is NOT the same with every provider. Mystery shopping companies vary tremendously in terms of quality.

A True Story

One of our clients recently learned this the hard way.

After a productive year with us in 2008, they were lured away in 2009 by a new company offering impossibly low prices.

We cautioned them that the prices were too low, and that they would surely suffer severe lapses in quality and service.

But they decided to take that risk.

So they signed a one-year contract with this other provider. And they suffered.

How did this other company manage to offer such a low cost?

They completely cut corners on all the aspects where quality matters.

• They paid the shoppers next to nothing
• They outsourced all of the scheduling
• They outsourced all of the editing
• They offered poor service

So shops went unfilled. Other shops were filled by the most desperate and inept shoppers around.

And because all of the actual work was outsourced, the “provider” was nothing more than a middle-man who got in the way of resolving issues and questions.

The client’s frustration went off the charts. And when they called or emailed with questions and concerns, they would have to wait for the “provider” to track down their outsourcing partners to get answers, which slowed things down tremendously.

Happy Ending

After their one-year contract expired with the other provider, the client called us back.

They expressed regret that they had ever left, emphasized their appreciation for the quality of our work, and asked us to work with them in 2010.

In the end, the quality of our work prevailed over the bargain basement prices of a competitor.

Quality trumps cost in mystery shopping.

Happy holidays!