Check Customer Service...When You're Away

Ever wonder what happens on a course when management is away?

Before you can even begin to comprehend and address the issues of customer service at your course, you need to have a full understanding of what is going on when you are not there. That is why I suggest secret shoppers. Many courses now are using secret shoppers to help pinpoint what is happening on a course and who and what makes things better or worse.

Golf courses are hiring marketing research companies to secret shop the quality of service in their pro shop, restaurant and course; these companies use the mystery shoppers to get information anonymously by assigning them particular purchases or to play a round of golf and then report on it.

The most important reason for conducting these mystery shops is to see your golf course and its operations through the eyes of your customers and to help the company focus on the areas that need improving... based on the customer’s reactions.

Too often course management believes that there needs to be changes in an area and the customer feedback shows that needs are elsewhere in order to keep them as a loyal customer. For example, a course owner may think that tightly merchandising their pro shop space is giving the customer the selection they want, and it turns out that the customer says it is too cramped to find anything or shop comfortably.

It is also a way to hold your employees accountable. If your employees are taught certain course protocols and they do not perform, the shop will tell.

The Cirlot Agency, a full-service public relations firm, lists the following tips when establishing a secret shopper program at a golf course.

Create Measurable Expectation – The mystery shopper evaluation form should include the employee’s job requirements and the overall impression you want customers to be left with after an encounter with an employee.

Advice Your Staff They’re Being Shopped – Employees should know mystery shoppers will visit your facility at some point, but they should not be informed of the date of the actual shop. Making staff members aware of the program conveys your commitment to customer service excellence and the importance of individual employee performance.

Hire Trustworthy Shoppers – Repeat customers make excellent mystery shoppers. Acquaintances and personal friends are effective too. By asking (and paying them) to participate, you should gain customer loyalty and create new players.

Share the Results – Discussing individual evaluations privately with each employee provides valuable feedback that can be used to improve their performance. This discussion could be part of a quarterly or annual review. Also, be sure to place a copy of each review in the employee’s file for future reference.

Recognize Top Performers – Mystery shopping can be used as a key element to any employee incentive program. It’s important to remember however, that excellence should be rewarded and areas of improvement should be identified with a set of objectives and clear tactics to accomplish them.

Mystery shopping is just one of the many ways businesses can utilize market research to their advantage with just a small expense. Utilizing a combination of market research to their advantage products such as focus groups, mystery shopping and competitive intelligence gathering will provide your business with the information and direction it needs to move to the next level. In the end, the return will far outweigh the cost of the service.