This week, I was asked to do a mystery shop. Four, in fact, on different branches. It was a pretty eye-opening exercise, both for me and for the agency owner, let’s call him Martin.
Before I did the calls, Martin gave me his ‘criteria for success’ which is as follows:
We have solutions for all associated services, i.e. conveyancing, mortgages and relocation via The Guild and Relocation Agent Network. We would expect the following from a call:
- Warm, interested & enthusiastic welcome, building rapport as opposed to form filling
- Take accurate contact information incl. e-mail, mob – best way to contact
- We should fully understand the buying position and how soon a buyer is looking to move
- If a buyer wants a large garden “why” – if 4 bedrooms “what will you be using the rooms for” etc
- If a buyer asks after a single property, we would expect others to be offered, particularly (have you considered a new home)
- We want to know when are you next in the area
- We expect staff to encourage a viewing
- A buyer should know what happens next!
My list is a bit simpler, and possibly a bit easier for them to get a high score:
When I’m assessing these team members, I’m identifying whether their telephone manner (and therefore conversion performance) can be improved with training, or if in fact it’s an attitude issue, and therefore potentially not repairable.
So here’s what happened.
(I’ve changed their names.)
I called and asked about a specific property – at the top of the listings for that branch, all between £500k and £750k. I just asked them to tell me about the property, and asked them to put the details in the post to me – hard copy – as I don’t have a printer, and I’d like a physical copy.
As you can see from my Scorecard, I’m hoping they are interested in my property search, knowledgeable about the property (or be able to get their hands on the details – not just the Rightmove listing), ask me about my property and invite me to view the house.
I’ve done over 500 mystery shops over the last 20+ years, and we still do one every month as part of our team training. I very rarely get someone that can fulfil even these four crucial tasks. Here’s how these team members fared:
Linda
Linda sounded on the face of it like she was trying to be helpful, but she didn’t listen properly, so kept offering me information – reading from Rightmove – I didn’t want. She kept talking about the B&B potential of the property without checking whether that’s what I wanted. She wasn’t very friendly and made me feel my call was unwelcome. I felt like just a number to her, and that my property search didn’t matter to her at all.
Potential for improvement: Very low. Linda just isn’t suited to this role at all.
My recommendations: I’d recommend a performance improvement plan, and see if moving her to a non-client-facing position might be a better fit for her.
Carol
I found Carol a bit passive-aggressive, with not a very nice phone manner. I was clearly interrupting whatever it was she was doing, and I felt she was trying to get me off the phone so she could finish it. She didn’t ask me a single question other than email and phone number, and didn’t offer to refer me for a valuation within the Guild network. When I asked her to send me the property details, she said “We don’t do post”. I pressed her on it, and she said she couldn’t, as it was company policy. (Absolutely not true.)
Potential for improvement: Very low. This lady is unmotivated and lacks humility.
My recommendations: Needs an in-depth review with a senior executive to determine if there are any personal issues that are preventing her from improving, then either putting her on a performance improving plan, or letting her go.
Kirstin
Kirstin was young and bubbly, and much easier to talk to than the previous two ladies. Even though she wasn’t very knowledgeable about the house in question, she did make the effort to try to find out more information for me. We had an initial call then after it ended, she called me back, apologising and saying she’d forgotten to ask me some further questions. She then went on to ask me about my buying position, and timescale.
Potential for improvement: High. I think she would take well to a solid training plan, and would embrace the opportunity to develop herself and progress her career.
My recommendations: Monthly PAD (Performance and Development) sessions and a detailed training plan, to include both guided and self-guided learning. Plus create a Career Development Plan so she stays motivated and on track.
James
James was the best of the four, by quite some margin. In fact, Martin told me afterwards he’d been presented with an award for his contribution at their annual conference, specifically mentioning the number of referrals he gets to the Guild network of agents.
He was interested and engaged, and asked all the right questions. He introduced the Guild’s referral scheme, explaining it in detail and telling me clearly how it might benefit me. During our conversation I felt unhurried, like my call was welcome. He was a little negative about the property I’d asked about, but I think this is a training issue, and not intentional.
Potential for improvement: Very high. I think James would really appreciate a senior executive taking an interest in his training and career development, and with his people and sales skills, I think he would make an excellent senior valuer.
My recommendations: Monthly PAD sessions and a Career Development Plan so he can clearly see his progression and work towards accelerating it.
Let’s wrap this up
I find mystery shopping to be a reality check. I remember reading that Steve Jobs opened every piece of post sent to Apple for many years, to make sure he knew what was really going on, on the ground, in his company. I think of mystery shops in the same way. You can kid yourself that you’re the best agent in the area, and that your team all share the same culture and values you do. But having someone else test those theories in an unbiased way like this strips you of your rose-tinted specs. And it’s easy to think that clients can see past this, to the brand underneath. But when someone answers a call into your office, they are the brand.
For Martin, the gap between his expectations and the reality was pretty stark. But for him, it was reassuring confirmation that he has a couple of diamonds in the rough with Kirstin and James, who can be developed into real assets for the company. He wasn’t surprised by my assessments of Linda and Carol, and he knows that hanging on to the wrong people is costly, both in lost opportunities and potentially damaged reputation.
Training + testing = improvement.
The lesson here is simple: mystery shops work, but they have to be supported by a clear training plan. You can’t expect your team to succeed if you haven’t given them the tools to do so. Otherwise, you’re just trying to catch them out. And that’s not nice.
Would you like me to mystery shop your team? Pop me an email at sam@ajmastermind.co.uk and diary permitting, I’ll happily do one for you. I genuinely enjoy doing them, especially when I come across a Kirstin or a James. After all, they’re the future of our industry, so let’s identify them, applaud them, and reward their success.
Sam
