Let's Review and It's Time to Focus on Fall Customer Service!

by Danny Summers

Now is the BEST TIME to make sure your customer service will be the best it can be in the coming weeks. Each year a larger percentage of Mystery Shops are performed in the spring and summer weeks. While we still have four and a half months to go, we can take a look at YTD performance compared to Group Averages. Now is also a great time to order shops at your center for preparing for the Fall Season (if you don't already have them scheduled). So, first, let's take a look at how we did so far this year.

The following chart shows us The Group Total Score YTD for each major area of shop reporting compared to the same period in 2016 and the 15 year average (2002-2016). This includes shops performed through August 11th in both 2016 and 2017.

This graph illustrates how we improved on every category over the same period in 2016 and the 15 year averages, except one... Specific Employee where we lost ground. This one category brought our Total Score below both the YTD for 2016 and the 15 year average (see the far right columns).

This is not a new trend. The category of Specific Employee has traditionally been the most difficult category to make gains. The ole saying "You are only as strong as your weakest link" is at the heart of this scoring and emphasizes how much training is needed, even for seasonal staff. In the previous blog post "Sharing Spring 2017 Results" Kerby's Nursery's Joey Bokar shared the following: "Internally, we implemented a 'Kerby's Culture Shock' training program to make sure all staff are on the same page when it comes to the Kerby's Culture." This type of documented training program can help to bring everyone (especially new staff members) into the same level of procedures for the customer experience.

Key Challenge: What is your center's training program for staff members?

Fall is the Time to Raise these Averages!

Looking back at previous years, we have traditionally scored slightly better in the fall season than earlier in the year. Considering the differences, it would appear we have fewer seasonal staff in the fall and a higher percentage of permanent staff members. This makes training easier for the fall season and more likely to have higher scores on Mystery Shops.

Are Your Mystery Shops Scheduled for Fall?

So now is a great time to consider scheduling some early fall mystery shops. Think about your fall peak weeks and schedule 3 to 6 shops ahead and leading up to that time. Take some time to review a sample report with your entire staff and share overall scores of any shops from the spring (if you have any and have not already done so). Discuss areas of weakness and how to improve. Tell your staff what the plan is (except ...not what week it will take place).

Here's a sample Mystery Shopper Report - DOWNLOAD PDF

Here's the Mystery Shopper Order form to get mystery shops scheduled for your center for this fall - DOWNLOAD PDF. For a maximum cost of $110 per shop and a minimum of 3 shops, Mystery Shops are one of the quickest training programs for Customer Service.

REMEMBER: John Kennedy is Now Available "On-Demand" 24/7/365

And the next level for your training should be the new video training series John Kennedy now has for you. More details on that is found here. Can you imagine having John Kennedy with you for a weekly staff and leadership training for less than $10 per week?  Check out this amazing opportunity!

If you have any questions, just give me a call and I'll be happy to help.

Thanks,

Danny