In This Edition:

• What is the best way to reward your staff in 2015?
• Five tips for creating a buzz amongst your staff.
• Open for business or ‘just closing?’
• One of our clients demonstrates their enthusiasm in sharing their mystery shop results for all staff to see.
• An update on Shopper Anonymous news.

Have a great month!

Judy Randon | Regional Director, Norfolk & Suffolk | 07909 5427375

At Shopper Anonymous we discuss ways to make your customers feel special. As it is the beginning of a new year why not set your strategy to do likewise. Those of you who have been on our training courses will know that your teams and colleagues are the most important customer in your business.  After all, if your team is happy then it’s easier to be happier with all external customer groups.

Analysing businesses in which staff are engaged, enthusiastic and productive always leads to the same conclusion; staff feel valued and appreciated.

Some staff reward programmes are well documented and transparent. In John Lewis for example, all 70,000 permanent employees are Partners who share in the benefits and profits of the business. On the other end of the scale, my local newsagent takes all the staff including the paper boys/girls out for a slap up meal every Christmas to thank them for their hard work throughout the year.

Your reward and recognition programme will depend on your type of business, the number of employees and the nature of the work you do. And it is important to remember that ‘thank yous’ don’t necessarily have to be monetary or tangible.

There are four things to consider when establishing a strategic reward system:

• compensation,
• benefits,
• recognition, and
• appreciation.

Some of our clients use a traditional system of reward and recognition such as monthly prizes or vouchers for the ‘staff member of the month’ using data from our reports or feedback surveys.

Other businesses we work with simply make a point of praising staff when appropriate and giving spontaneous rewards such as the afternoon off, flowers or a one-off bonus.

One thing is common in all successful reward and incentive programmes we have come across; the reward doesn’t have to be expensive. Just praising your staff, just saying you have noticed their work and just saying you really appreciate them is often more than enough.

A happy and productive staff equates to happy and satisfied customers. How can you NOT make some positive changes this year?

• A hand written thank you note or card.
• Create a Wall of Fame or Employee of the Month award program.
• Have a weekly meeting or catch up (it might only be for 10mins) where everyone can have a say. This is great for making everyone feel like they are part of a team. If it’s not possible to all meet, try emails or newsletters as a way of staying in touch with staff.
• Have a suggestion or ideas box.
• Give an on-the-spot cash prize or voucher occasionally for outstanding work.

Interested in booking a conference weekend, I recently stumbled across the answer to all my problems. An Internet search led me to Unique Hotels4You*. Very professional website, excellent imagery, easy to access information and, in one quick glance, I concluded this company would find my conference venue for me AND it would be fantastic. I was delighted.

The ‘contact us’ tab listed three numbers belonging to Sarah* or Kym*, the company directors, who would be happy to discuss my event planning ANYTIME.

The first number rang through to an answer machine ‘Hello, this is Sarah…….I’m now out of the office until Thursday 8th January…’

No problem. I would try Kym on the second number. The call went to an answer machine ‘Hello, this is Sarah…….I’m now out of the office until Thursday 8th January…’

Mmm, perhaps Kym was on the third number? I dialled….and you guessed it: ‘Hello, this is Sarah…….I’m now out of the office until Thursday 8th January…’

Read more here…..

Cruise118.com is a company that cares about customer service; their strapline stating ‘Exceptional As Standard’. The company states on their website, like a lot of companies do, that they ‘will go above and beyond the service that you would expect from a cruise retailer…’ However, UNLIKE many other companies Cruise118.com are intent on filtering down their customer care philosophy to ground level.

Cruise118.com recently asked Phil Heaven, our Lancashire Regional Director, for a mystery shopping program to enhance their customer service.

Phil set up their first ever Mystery Shop exercise in November, organising 30 shoppers around the UK to make web and phone enquiries, masquerading as "first time cruisers".

The objective was to assess their customer response, their empathy and knowledge to help a first time cruise enquiry, and the level of consistency of response across an in-house call centre and some home workers.

The project provided valuable data on all three, and it was evident that their ‘Concierge Service" is strong when they speak to new clients. They have been very proactive in delivering feedback to their staff and are adopting mystery shopping as part of their Business Development Plan for 2015. Their aim is to be the No 1 booking agency in the UK for all cruises around the world.

Cruise118.com have even created a dedicated space to post all Mystery Shop Reports with targets and performance data.

Well done Cruise118.com – recognition and reward is key to motivating staff to continue to offer exceptional customer service.

We are happy to announce that our Sussex region is now in the hands of a leisure industry expert. Paul Matthews, 36, has 18 years-experience in the leisure industry working for some of the best in the business including DC Leisure, Bannatyne’s Health Clubs and most recently Serco Leisure.

Paul said “I am delighted to have joined the Shopper Anonymous team. Having successfully used Mystery Shopping via Shopper Anonymous for the last ten years to improve morale, customer service and ultimately profit, I know first-hand what a wonderful management tool it is. The reports produced by Shopper Anonymous are second to none and allow you to walk in the shoes of your customers. The reports allowed me, as a manager, to review how my business was perceived and helped me coach, train, motivate and incentivise staff. I know Mystery Shopping changes businesses because I’ve done it. It gives you the information you need to make sure your customers get a consistently great experience when they visit you.  If your customers love you, they’ll come back time after time.  And they’ll tell others!”

The team will be present at three conferences in February:

• 100% Optical at Excel – this is an annual international optical trade event for industry professionals. Jim Smith, our Surrey Regional Director will be presenting on Sunday at 4pm.
• Farma conference in Wyboston Lakes - members, guests and farm retailers come together to refresh their business ideas, build relationships and discover innovative ideas to drive their businesses forward. With FARMA under new management, this year we can see an exciting line-up of new speakers and a real focus on take home messages aimed at improving business performance.
• Scot Hot - Scotland’s largest hospitality, tourism and catering show. It brings together key buyers and decision makers from top hospitality and catering establishments, with a wide variety of suppliers from all areas of the hospitality, tourism and catering industries.

Come along and say hello.

The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it is selling him. ~ Peter Drucker

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