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Mystery Shopping vs. Surveys
How many times have you been asked to complete a survey to give feedback on your experience as a customer? How many times did you actually take the time to complete the survey?
Surveys are a good tool to get immediate feedback on your customer’s experiences.
Mystery shopping is also an effective tool. The difference is mystery shopping provides results based on specific interactions with an employee(s) where surveys are less specific.
An effective survey needs to be simple with no more than 10 basic questions. Anything longer and more complicated will most likely not generate the results you are looking for.
I visited a fast food restaurant and after 3 minutes taking an online survey, and still not being close to being done, I just raced through the rest of the questions to get to the incentive at the end, not thinking of the answers.
Combining mystery shopping with an effective customer survey is the most beneficial. If you notice a common problem by reviewing your survey you can incorporate those concerns with your mystery shopping program and monitor that area of concern.
Having a mystery shopping program is a very effective, inexpensive way to promote employee morale by giving incentives to your employees for high scores, it will allow you to monitor policies you have in place, and provide an objective view by the shopper on their perception of your business. It is also an effective way to uncover loss prevention issues.
NEW! NWLPC now offers, to our clients, vacation giveaways to give to their employees as an award for an exceptional score on their mystery shop. Call (425)271-0312 or email doug@nwlpc.com for details. NWLPC, as far as we know, is the only MS company that has an incentive program of this nature.
PRE-EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND SCREENING
Do you know who you are hiring?
It is extremely important today to conduct pre-employment screening as a final part of your hiring process. Just because an applicant has an impressive resume. The fact is the majority of applicants stretch the truth on resumes.
Whether you have 1 employee or hundreds. due diligence in hiring is a must to prevent (or defend) yourself from negligent hiring lawsuits.
For example, let's say you are going to hire a receptionist. A month or so later another employee is upset because her ID was stolen only to find out the receptionist you hired was the one who stole the ID and that the receptionist had a criminal background of theft. You, the business owner, can be held liable for damages since due diligence of not performing a background was not conducted.
Are backgrounds 100%? No. Any screening company that says otherwise it not being up front.
A good background would include: Past employment verification, national criminal, the county in which the applicant has lived within the last 7 years, social security and 7 year address verification. Backgrounds also can include credit, driving records, drug testing, education verification among other areas.
A couple of key factors FCRA Requirements):
1. Anyone you conduct a background on MUST sign a release. The release must be a page of its own (not part of the application).
2. If you decide not to hire someone based on the background an adverse letter must be sent to the applicant. This is to give them a chance to request a copy of the results.
It is also important to conduct backgrounds on anyone you hire to work in your home, be it a nanny or care giver. I did a non scientific study where I called several people advertising they were looking for a live in care giver. None of them were required, nor did they want to do a background. I thought that was amazing.
The following can help in your screening process and hiring:
- In your job announcements include the fact that you conduct background checks.
- All applicants will be required to sign a release of the backgrounds that will be performed
- The application should state that any false or misleading information will result in the application being denied.
- Check references and past employment
- Include in the release that future backgrounds can be conducted at random for purposes of relocation or promotions. It also keeps the door open if backgrounds are needed as part of any investigations where criminal activity is investigated within the company.
You have worked hard in building your business and you want to not only protect your business but you want to protect your employees and customers.
You may also want to consult your insurance company to see if having a background screening policy will give you a discount on your premiums.
Background screening is not expensive, especially when you realize that the average negligent hiring awards are $600,000. This would put many businesses out of business.
If you have any questions regarding pre-employment backgrounds please feel free to email me.
SANDWICH THIEF!
Here is something interesting I came across. In today's economic times more people are bringing their lunch to work.
How many times has someone stole your sandwich? What can you do to compat this?
The answer...a plastic sandwich bag that has a design printed on the inside that looks like mold! When the sandwich thief takes out the sandwich bag they think it is moldy and leaves your sandwich!
EMPLOYEE THEFT ISSUE
Some employees who participate in theft, fraud or corruption feel they are owed by their employer. Others could be having serious financial difficulties and need a solution.
Although major corporations endure sizeable losses from employee theft, small businesses suffer disproportionate fraud losses, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner 2006 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse
The median loss suffered by organizations with fewer than 100 employees was $190,000 per scheme, the report found. This was higher than the median loss in even the largest organizations.
The most common frauds in small businesses involve employees fraudulently writing company checks, skimming revenues and processing fraudulent invoices
(Washington Business Journal Sept. 12, 2008 Hugh Carroll)
QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Q: I am a bar owner. I know my bartender does not ring all sales but he is a good bartender and brings in alot of business. I consider the loss as a part of doing business.
A: It has been my experience that if an employee steals and does not get caught it turns into a cancer. Not only does their confidence go up, but it shows you condone this type of behavior. Before you know it more will be taken and it won't be long before other employees start becuase they think there are no controls. Before you know it your situation is out of control.
If someone takes $5 and your profit margin is 10% you will need $50 in sales to make up that lost profit. If they take a $20 you would need $250 in sales. So is it just the cost of doing business? No. | 
