Sunday 30 September 2012

Service Hero of the Month


Retail Active is the leading British brand auditing and mystery shopping company and we like to reward brilliant customer service and service excellence where we can.  Mystery shopping companies see it all – good service, bad manners and everything in-between through secret shopping reports and we believe that the best service should be rewarded.

Every month, we single out a customer service representative who has upheld high standards of customer service for their company and who we feel epitomises the idea of a ‘Service Hero.’

We invite all of our mystery shoppers to put someone forward for this award.  They don’t have to be a staff member for one of our clients – anyone who has stood out to one of our secret shoppers can be nominated.

We are pleased to present our September Service Hero of the Month, who will be setting our standard for our Heroes in the future.

Ricardo works for Elior – contract caterers – and is based at one of their Costa franchises in the UK.

Ricardo has been nominated for this award by one of his long-standing customers.  He always takes a personal approach to his work and remembers different customers’ orders from day to day, delivering perfect service and perfect coffees every time. His dedication and enthusiasm sets a precedent for all customer service representatives, and his attitude to all of his customers is warm, caring and that of a friend. 

If you want to nominate someone for our Service Hero of the Month, please email shoppersupport@retailactive.com with your nominee’s name, the company they work for and the reasons for your nomination.

Remember, the nominee doesn’t have to come from one of our mystery shopping visits or brand audits. They can be from your regular coffee-stop or supermarket – we are happy to receive all recommendations.

Please include your contact details in the email in case we need to get some more information from you with regards to your nomination.

If you want to become a mystery shopper for us, please visit www.retailactive.com or if you’re interested in our services, please email info@retailactive.com for more details on what we can provide for your company.

The Retail Active Difference


In order to be the best you need to learn from your mistakes.  Retail Active is the leading British Mystery shopping company and there is a reason for that.  We review and improve our techniques constantly, staying a step ahead of the competition and providing a high-quality mystery shopping and customer research service for all of our valued clients.  It’s important to be quick to recognise mistakes and just as important to fix them quickly.

Lack of Communication


From the client to us, from the secret shopper to the proof-reader, communication is key.  Too often, companies will come to us with complaints about breakdowns of communication and one of their key requests is an Account Manager that will be with them throughout their engagement with us.  We have built our Account Management around this ideal to ensure that all of our clients’ needs are listened to and met.

Managing Change


Every client is important to us and we go to exacting lengths to ensure complete client satisfaction.  Our own research tells us that clients want meaningful and lasting relationships with their service providers, so we don’t change any of our key relationship contacts without carefully checking first.  As we grow and gain new clients we continue to recruit new secret shoppers for new, exciting mystery shopping jobs.  All of our mystery shoppers are graded after each and every assignment. 

Lack of Groundwork


You wouldn’t promise to build a skyscraper without laying the correct foundations. All of our client projects run on a tried and tested system that is proven to provide reliable secret shopping and brand auditing results so when we make a promise, you can trust that we can deliver it.

Inconsistency of service


Secret shopping is a very different to brand auditing, or any of our other products and services.  We have a graded and profiled International panel where it is possible for someone different to be assessing your business at every interaction.  Our reporting style means that our processes are consistent, but our mystery shopper’s opinion is relevant, fresh, considered and timely.

If you would like to learn more on how we can help you, contact us on 01235 438413.

Friday 28 September 2012

A BIG Thank you to our mystery shoppers all over the world



A BIG Thank you to our mystery shoppers all over the world.

Thank you to Leslie from Gwent:
You are always happy to help with our visits in South Wales and complete reports to an excellent standard.

Thank you to Barry from Aberdeenshire:
Your attention to detail is superb and your recent reports have been spot-on – thank you.

Thank you to Emma from Cheshire:
We can call on you for anything and we can trust that you will complete anything to a high standard, and on time. 

Thank you to Justin from London:
Your hard work on our stations project is unrivalled. You are a credit to secret shopping, and we are glad to have you on the team.

Thank you to Anoop from London:
You were allocated three last minute, high-priority test visits and completed them the same day with zero proof-reading queries, and you only joined us last month – you’re a star!

Thank you to Carole from Oxfordshire:
You joined us in July and have completed assignments varying from calls to detailed visits and we are grateful for your excellent reports. We managed to fit you in a hotel stay as a ‘thank you’ and we hope you have a lovely break away with your husband!

Thank you to Elin from Edinburgh:
You always manage to fit in our in-the-middle-of-nowhere mystery shopping jobs, and your help on our most recent project has been greatly appreciated throughout the scheduling team.

Thank you to Martin from London:
You’ve helped out on so many last-minute visits over the past few months for us and we truly appreciate your dedication – you’re our perfect mystery shopper.

Last but not least...
Thank you to all of our secret shoppers – you help to make Retail Active the leading British mystery shopping company.  For more information about becoming a secret shopper, or to make an enquiry about mystery shopping or brand audits, please visit www.retailactive.com

Monday 24 September 2012

How To Turbo Charge Your Sales & Profits

Over the last year, Retail Active has played a vital part in the success of our client’s business performance.  We don’t pretend to be the silver bullet, but are very proud to announce the average YOY revenue increase experienced by our customers is over 18%, in a very challenging market. 

As a Mystery Shopping Company, Retail Active provides a holistic service to improve customer loyalty and satisfaction.  We use a range of products and services - from Mystery Shopping, Brand Auditing and Customer Satisfaction Surveys to Employee Opinion Surveys.  With all of our programmes we carefully research our client’s specific requirements, taking care to immerse ourselves in their culture, spotting opportunities to share our unique research capabilities.  Research is driven by our expert team to analyse results, spot trends and communicate ways to maximise behaviours, revenue and profits.

We often identify quick wins and over the years have learnt that 90% of customers who have left a store without making a purchase do so due to poor service.  In other words, poor service has forced 90% of your potential customers to buy your products elsewhere.

Your current customers should be your greatest asset in recommending your brand, your best way to increase profits, your most frequent visitors and your greatest critics.  Current customers, when kept happy, return more often, increase their spending and recommend you to family and friends.

70% of customers are prepared to pay more IF they receive a better service.  Improving your service would result in 70% of your customers being happy to pay more.

If you are wondering how customers rate your service, you can contact us on 01235 438413.
If your customers are spending more money, more often, are happy to spend more on your services and are shouting your praises from the rooftops - then you then you must be one of our clients.  If not, please visit www.retailactive.com to find out more.

Retail Active is a British research organisation, specialising in secret shopping, using carefully selected mystery shoppers.  If you are looking for mystery shopping jobs and would like to join our panel, please contact us. We take huge pride in being one of the globes most successful mystery shopping companies and are always looking for talented secret shoppers to join us.