MYSTERY AUDITS / MYSTERY SHOPPING

Authored by Huzefa Kaka, Director

Compelling need

Mystery audit popularly knowns as decoy customers/ mystery shopping/ secret hopper is a tool used externally by market research companies, vigilant organisations, or internally by companies themselves to measure the quality of service, or compliance with regulation, or to gather specific information about products and services.

In modern times management, competitor, and regulator use technique of mystery shopping or mystery audits to identify facts, frauds, to check on ethical and responsive behavioural traits, etc. Recently regulators have also come up with guidelines in various fraud-prone areas with a requirement to mandatorily have mystery audits conducted by independent agencies at branches for better conformity to the guidelines, evaluation, and monitoring.

JHS approach

Mystery audits / Mystery shopping is done through an independent agency for better control check and reporting. Scope and approach cover:

• decoy scenarios designing specifically to the organisation
• roll-out strategies
  • approach with decoy identity, through online modes:
    • Phone or Video Call
    • Dummy email
  • Online interviews / surveys / Request for Quotations
  • persuasive techniques to circumvent the set policies and guidelines
  • mixing of spurious with original
  • domination to gain undue advantage
• timings

Mystery reporting highlights opportunities for improvements in all areas of your organisation client service experience improves dramatically. 

Reporting Kit

• Flash reporting of possible fraud
• Detailed Report to the management on actions/scenarios performed with outcomes
  • Check on cross-selling / up-selling / misselling
• Develop a scorecard to track, trend and match with past performance

Delivered Benefits

• Increased customer satisfaction
• Demonstration of the importance of ethical relation of staff with the customers
• The motivation of employees to be always professional
• Detection of any deficiencies, honest feedback, displays, etc.
• Reduction in cost of advertising due to new customers from these satisfied customers
• Competitive advantage
• Keep update of current pricing strategies and market sentiments

JHS Experience

• A leading fast-growing private bank in the areas of:
  • Branch audit
  • Gold audit – mixing spurious gold for more substantial gold loan benefit
• A foreign bank:
  • Branch audit
• Consumer electronics:
  • Pricing & Discounting strategies
• Hospital:
  • Disguised as prospective patient’s relatives and checking on lab test rates

COVID TIMES – SCENARIOS

There is an unprecedented rise in thefts and crime incidents where the organisational guard has weakened. It is a perfect time for fraudsters to take advantage of open vulnerabilities and collude with customers, vendors, and competitors to make petty gains/ strike deals.

Information assets, trade secrets, pricing strategies are at risk. Desperate selling and Mis-selling is on the rise as targets are not achieved under such difficult circumstances.

Mystery audit is an excellent tool in spotting the black sheep in the organisation.

For more information, you can contact huzefa.kaka@jhsassociates.in