At a certain point in my career I worked as a Mystery Shopper for a company which conducted this type of “audit” globally. It provided a terrific opportunity for me to experience all sorts of different hotels in different countries – a mixed bag of encounters which presented me with a wide variety of learning experiences.
In turn I felt I was performing an important role in supplying the hotels I visited with a valuable snapshot of where they were doing well, and what could be an opportunity for improvement.
Invariably, though, when I tell people in the hospitality industry that I did this work, they look at me as though I am some sort of traitor – one person even said they felt I was working with the “dark side”!
So are mystery shopping programs friend or foe?
A hospitality mystery shopping (or mystery guest) program is a tool used by companies principally to measure compliance with company standards. They are not normally designed to measure subjective satisfaction, as this can be done really effectively today using tools such as TripAdvisor which gives feedback about real guest experiences.
In other words, from my experience the benchmarks that a property is being measured against are set by the brand, and in most cases are the simple answer to a closed “yes/no” question: Are there 2 hooks behind the bathroom door? Did the Receptionist make eye contact with you when you approached the desk? Were you offered a beverage within 3 minutes of being seated?
The areas assessed in the mystery shop should be what the brand has decided are the physical representation of how their unique guest experience is created – the combination of individual ingredients which, when combined, symbolises their recipe for success.
The answers to questions such as these should provide the General Manager/the F&B Director/the Rooms Division Manager/whoever with a glimpse into the guest perspective which the average guest is not qualified, or interested, in providing. They provide information more about whether the brand promise is being met consistently, by individual hotels and across the brand, than whether the guest is receiving a positive experience.
In an ideal world, mystery shop results should be seen as an opportunity. Once the mystery shop is completed, the information should be broken down as the foundation for celebration or for training and development programs to address areas of concern. Areas that are regularly missed across the property can become the inspiration for a targeted program for all team members. Reinforcement activities can be developed and implemented hotel wide. And Departmental trainers can play an active role in embedding consistent messages
Contrary to popular belief I don’t believe that mystery guests enjoy delivering low scores. Indeed, having performed dozens of these quality audits myself, I can assure anyone working in a hotel there is nothing better than delivering a high score because the score is then reflective of a property that is operating at a high level of compliance which is always impressive to see.
If as much effort was invested in using the information provided by the mystery shop as a foundation for training and development of the team as is often invested in trying to “spot” the mystery shopper, then the win/win outcome would be reliable delivery on the brand promise and enhanced motivation for a team that is achieving.
About the author
Timothy Millett’s training roles have seen him deliver programs across Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and America ensuring cultural sensitivity as well as a broad base of experience in lecturing, teaching and training.
A graduate of the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, his hospitality career spans management and director positions in Front Office, Guest Relations, Public Relations, Food & Beverage and Training with organisations including the Regent of Melbourne, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Mövenpick Gastronomy. He was also a founding staff member of the internationally renowned Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School in Australia.
Tim is currently the Director of Training and Development at iperform, an organisation that specialises in Sales and Service, Leadership and Effective Personal Organisation programs.
