A conversation with a successful community bank Consumers are increasingly going for online and mobile versus brick-and-mortar when it comes to purchases and services. However, there are some situations when meeting with a person in a physical location is necessary. Banking is one of those competitive services that must offer excellence online and in-person. According … Continued

How Social Media Tracker Works Charles Stiles, President of Mystery Shopper Services, has been testing a new service to help businesses protect their brand and reputation online with one easy app. He says, “The Social Media Tracker empowers businesses to manage their brand and reputation online by quickly responding to social media comments, positive or … Continued

By Charles Stiles and Carl Phillips Together, we have over forty years of experience with mystery shopping, customer service, and running retail spaces. The methods for connecting with customers have quadrupled, even over the last couple of years. However, people, in general, seem more and more disconnected. Everyone wants service faster, and they want someone … Continued

The excel report shows each location and their overall scores.   Each report depicts scores from the most recent period and year-to-date. Custom views with specific information desired can also be crafted, monthly, weekly, or even daily.   With log-in access, you can view and create your reports from the issdirector.com   Here’s a couple examples … Continued

Imagine 100 female employees under the age of 25 and put them into a clothing consignment retail environment for the same age bracket, and you’ll get a sense of Grady Farmer’s training and marketing challenges. Grady Farmer is a second-generation owner of several Plato’s Closet franchise outlets in North Carolina’s Piedmont region. Plato’s Closet pays … Continued

Travis Roberts is the Guest Experience Manager for the Angels baseball team in Anaheim, CA. He incorporates mystery shopping into aggressive, on-going customer service training for a group of employees that play a critical role in delivering a great experience, whether the team is winning or losing. “We see our fans as guests.” Travis Roberts … Continued

Crowdsourcing is an inexpensive method to acquire key data on a larger scale. It is the notion of outsourcing work to a “crowd” of people at a low cost.   At MSS we are always on the lookout for the next new thing in the realm of guest satisfaction measurement and brand monitoring. We took a close look … Continued

By Emily Caldwell To maintain or establish any profitable business, you must be aware of your changing environments and always be focused on expanding your customer base. The current generation, called Millennials, is the largest and most influential generation since the Baby Boomers. As Millennials make up 25% of the current population,* an active restaurateur … Continued

Giving business away to competitors is not what any business desires. You may be losing revenue to your competitors if your pricing and customer service does not meet customer expectations. Charles Stiles and Carl Phillips, Mystery Shopper Services executives, have helped companies fine-tune customer service for over forty years. They both believe that competitive shops … Continued