A sale can be made or broken at the store, depending on the performance of the sales people who represent the brand. Because of this, it is imperative that management has a way of gauging and monitoring their sales force’s actions.

Enter the mystery shopper.

The mystery shopper is an average person like you and me�??party of your target market and virtually undetectable by your sales force. They are normal individuals hired to rate the service in a store. They come in and interact with the staff, and with a criteria in mind, they evaluate the store. Typical criteria include lines of display, quality of service, and cleanliness and attentiveness of the staff.

Using a mystery shopper is a great way to measure how you’re doing at the most critical point of your value chainâ€???the point of sale. Great in-store service can result in significant gains if you can turn the customers who walk in “just to peek” into people who walk away with a smile on their faces and bags in their hands.