Undercover boss: How to mystery shop your business to results

How can you measure your customer experience without relying on anecdotal staff feedback?
Mystery shopping lets you set customer service expectations, and see how they’re playing out in your business.
Aileen Day is a customer experience expert who has worked with major retail chains such as Bunnings and Officeworks. In this SmartCompany Plus piece, she lays out her methodology for achieving the best results through mystery shoppers.
While her focus may be on physical stores, there are lessons to be learnt for all business owners, and different benchmarks that can be applied for online interactions too.
This article shows you:
How to set up a mystery shopping evaluation sheet;
Why you should clearly define expected behaviours;
Why getting employee buy-in is crucial; and
How to reward staff for improvement.

Many business owners want to start building a relationship with their local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community, but they might not know where to start.

Anthony Cavanagh is chief executive of Ganbina, a charity that helps Indigenous kids transition from school to work, and regularly connects these communities with the SMEs in their local area. In this guide, he explains how.

Once you have an authentic relationship, it can last for decades. However, creating these relationships requires a long-term approach, over one-off, transactional-style interactions.
This article explains:
Where you should make your first point-of-contact;
The importance of speaking to a local Elder, or Cultural Authority first; and
Why it’s okay to start with not knowing anything.

This interview with Angus McDonald, the chief executive of Barbeques Galore, covers his retail career, how the industry has changed over time, and what he’s learnt by managing teams across Woolworths, Super Retail Group, and his current role.

Covering investment decisions, the changing value of retail space, and lessons learned from taking opportunities, it gives you a behind the scenes look into how the bigger retail chains approach growth strategies.

This interview teaches you:

Why you can’t ignore what’s happening in your business right now under the guise of ‘being strategic’;
That the best opportunities for growth are often the most challenging ones; and
How retail has changed, and how the bigger chains are approaching the new reality.

How can you measure your customer experience without relying on anecdotal staff feedback?
Mystery shopping lets you set customer service expectations, and see how they’re playing out in your business.

Aileen Day is a customer experience expert who has worked with major retail chains such as Bunnings and Officeworks. In this SmartCompany Plus piece, she lays out her methodology for achieving the best results through mystery shoppers.
While her focus may be on physical stores, there are lessons to be learnt for all business owners, and different benchmarks that can be applied for online interactions too.
This article shows you:
How to set up a mystery shopping evaluation sheet;
Why you should clearly define expected behaviours;
Why getting employee buy-in is crucial; and
How to reward staff for improvement.

Many business owners want to start building a relationship with their local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community, but they might not know where to start.

Anthony Cavanagh is chief executive of Ganbina, a charity that helps Indigenous kids transition from school to work, and regularly connects these communities with the SMEs in their local area. In this guide, he explains how.

Once you have an authentic relationship, it can last for decades. However, creating these relationships requires a long-term approach, over one-off, transactional-style interactions.
This article explains:
Where you should make your first point-of-contact;
The importance of speaking to a local Elder, or Cultural Authority first; and
Why it’s okay to start with not knowing anything.

This interview with Angus McDonald, the chief executive of Barbeques Galore, covers his retail career, how the industry has changed over time, and what he’s learnt by managing teams across Woolworths, Super Retail Group, and his current role.

Covering investment decisions, the changing value of retail space, and lessons learned from taking opportunities, it gives you a behind the scenes look into how the bigger retail chains approach growth strategies.

This interview teaches you:

Why you can’t ignore what’s happening in your business right now under the guise of ‘being strategic’;
That the best opportunities for growth are often the most challenging ones; and
How retail has changed, and how the bigger chains are approaching the new reality.
How can you measure your customer experience without relying on anecdotal staff feedback?
Mystery shopping lets you set customer service expectations, and see how they’re playing out in your business.
Aileen Day is a customer experience expert who has worked with major retail chains such as Bunnings and Officeworks. In this SmartCompany Plus piece, she lays out her methodology for achieving the best results through mystery shoppers.
While her focus may be on physical stores, there are lessons to be learnt for all business owners, and different benchmarks that can be applied for online interactions too.
This article shows you:
How to set up a mystery shopping evaluation sheet;
Why you should clearly define expected behaviours;
Why getting employee buy-in is crucial; and
How to reward staff for improvement.

Many business owners want to start building a relationship with their local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community, but they might not know where to start.

Anthony Cavanagh is chief executive of Ganbina, a charity that helps Indigenous kids transition from school to work, and regularly connects these communities with the SMEs in their local area. In this guide, he explains how.

Once you have an authentic relationship, it can last for decades. However, creating these relationships requires a long-term approach, over one-off, transactional-style interactions.
This article explains:
Where you should make your first point-of-contact;
The importance of speaking to a local Elder, or Cultural Authority first; and
Why it’s okay to start with not knowing anything.