Mystery Shop

Mystery shop is so intrinsic to the sales environment at Coral Gables Federal that Shopping scores are taken into account during branch managers' annual reviews.

"Shopping cannot be punitive," says Carabelli. "This is not an attempt to find out who's naughty or nice." At Coral Gables Federal if an employee fails a shop, there is counseling, retraining, and more shopping and more training. The goal of the program is to build a sales and service environment, not to punish. However, if employees fail their shopping transactions three times, they are either transferred to a different position or terminated. This, however, is far from being a common occurrence; it has only happened once or twice since the program's inception.

Nakamoto agrees. "To our customers, we want to offer the best service possible. The shopping and other surveys are a tool to show that we hear them. For our employees, we want them to understand that mystery shopping isn't about what you're doing (wrong). The survey is not a reprimand. It is kept totally confidential."

When employees worry about losing their jobs, chances are that their attention is not focused on serving the customer. For this reason, shopping used as a punishment tends to fail in improving employee behavior.

One of the most effective uses of shopping results is a comprehensive incentive system. This is best accomplished by using positive survey results to reward employees for appropriate behaviors and to retrain, not condemn, employees for deficiencies the survey detected.

"We at Coral Gables Federal have an on-going seven-year program." says Steene. "Mystery shopping is used as an integral part of a behavior modification program." Coral Gables I has numerous rewards for good results, including monetary rewards, parties, plaques, luncheons and dinners. Fan mail for good performers is published in an employee newsletter. Top performers share their trade secrets and sales tips.

Rewards re structured on individual and team levels because, as Carabelli notes, "Some people only seem to be motivated by the team concept in which they are pushed to perform by fellow workers who are counting on them for their incentives and recognition. Money motivates some people, while others are more driven by praise."

The cross-sales ratio is currently at an all-time high of 1.25 (selling an additional product to one out of every four customers, or selling five products to four customers; 5 divided by 4 = 1.25). This includes only financial products that earn money for the institution such as home equity loans, and savings and checking accounts. There are no easy add-on cross-sales such as ATM cards, direct deposit or overdraft protection. Coral Gables' management is convinced that shopping has had an impact on achieving this level of performance.

Another example of shopping results that Coral Gables Federal is proud of is a statistic that has been tracked and verified by a national survey. Over a period of seven years, approximately twice as many prospects and customers are reporting a high level of satisfaction. And while this figure has not shown a continuous upward movement, it has been fairly consistent. Carabelli is especially pleased with this figure, considering that staffing at the institution has been reduced by 20 percent (due mostly to attrition), showing that even though there are fewer employees doing more work, customers are more satisfied.

Mystery Shopping |