What is your TRUE customer experience like?
That is the key question that propelled PFSbrands to develop a Secret Shopper Program back in 2018. Since then, we have been happy to provide this valuable tool for our retailers so that they can analyze their business operations from a high-level standpoint and from an unbiased third-party perspective. We’ve heard countless store owners say they don’t know what goes on in their store when they’re away but our Secret Shopper program gives store owners eyes on just that!
Our secret shop program is a required initiative for all of our franchisees (Champs Chicken, BluTaco, Hangar 54 Pizza) as they receive 4 quarterly shops per year. The idea here being if we can improve store operations on a micro level and strengthen the brand experience, we all win! In addition, we are also pleased to provide this program for our other branded food programs like Cooper’s Express, Hot Mex Express, and Private Label. If you are interested in setting up secret shops for your location, please contact us or reach out to your business advisor.
Secret Shopper Program Measures:
- Service/Hospitality – Friendly service, completion time, and order accuracy.
- Marketing/Brand Image – Exterior/interior signage, and menus.
- Cleanliness & Presentation – Store presence, hot case display, and restrooms.
- Food Quality & Value – Product’s freshness, flavor, temperature, and overall quality
- Overall Recommendation – Would the shopper be likely to recommend to a family member or friend.
In addition to those categories, there are four photos also included with a secret shop report
- Building Exterior
- Hot Case
- Food Ordered
- Receipt
Motivate Your Employees
Another by-product of this program is that it can be a great way to strengthen engagement of deli staffs since they know secret shops can happen and they want to make sure they’re at the top of their game. This creates a great opportunity to incentivize employees and celebrate WINS when they earn high secret shop scores. Motivate your employees by offering gift cards each time they earn a certain score.
Here is a great example of a WIN:
“Sounds great, but how much does this service cost?”
Each secret shopper report costs $69, however, there is zero out-of-pocket cost to our retailers for this program if they have sufficient Marketing Development Funds (MDF) available. That’s right, our secret shop program is 100% MDF eligible! Plus, if you are a Champs Chicken or BluTaco location already receiving shops you can even request more if you’d prefer.
Below is an example of a store that opened last year and received their first secret shop report in July. It did not go well, only scoring 45.5%. The store owner understood that action must be taken to improve operations so he scheduled weekly shops for the next ten weeks and the graph below shows how their performance gradually improved and held consistent in the mid-90’s. Now that’s a success story!
At PFSbrands we always say, “You never get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression.” Make sure your customers receive a great 1st impression with our secret shop program!
MDF@PFSbrands.com | (573)-563-0300