Mystery shopper helps businesses evaluate their service to customers

That is just what 1st Class Marketing, Inc., based in Hendersonville is doing.

“We’re a small operation and sometimes you have have to think outside the box,” said Executive Vice President Lynn Tillman.

1st Class Marketing is a food broker/sales agency that acts as a go between for manufacturers and food wholesalers.

Their primary function is to promote both new items and established products for manufactures to those who will ultimately sell their products.

But a plane ride for Tillman and company president and CEO Ron Elliott has provided a new service for the company, mystery shopper.

“We were on a long flight across the country and got to talking to this lady. She and her husband had gotten involved in this kind of thing. They have been sent to hotels across the country to evaluate service,” Tillman said.

In looking at ways to expand their business, Tillman and Elliot decided to institute a mystery shopping program.

“This is something that is completely separate,” Tillman said, adding there are only so many lines of products out there to sell and sometimes looking at other avenues will provide needed diversification.
The mystery shopper program gives retail companies, whether they are restaurants or retail stores, the opportunity to evaluate their staffs and service.

“We go in after getting approval from the parent company, and act like a normal customer,” Tillman said.

If they are going to a hardware or home improvement store it might mean looking for a paint brush and then seeing how easy they are to find and how helpful the staff is to customers.

“We are able to evaluate the business at the store level. Is the service friendly or non-friendly? Do they taking care of their customers.”

If they go to a restaurant the mystery shopper will order a meal, and evaluate both the service and the food, Tillman said.

After the mystery shopper has completed their visit the 1st Class Marketing staff will complete an extensive evaluation and forward the results on to the parent company.

“This gives companies a better feel about how their employees are serving customers,” Tillman said, adding they feel this works better than having a team come in when everyone knows they are their.

“When a supervisor comes in everyone on best behavior,” Tillman said. “No one knows we are coming in and we act as a normal customer would act, and then come back and evaluate.”

Tillman said his company has not yet done an evaluation for a local company, but in the month that the program has been in operation they have done some for out-of-town companies.

“We think this is something that could really catch on,” the company vice president said. “I think it already has on the west coast. It’s not a new idea, but seems like it is catching on.”

1st Class Marketing has been in business in Hendersonville since 2001 with its primary function being the promotion of new products in the food industry.

“We are sort of like a stock broker, but we broker food items,” Tillman said. “We are the middle man for manufacturers and wholesalers.”

The company has also instituted a pricing survey for retailers giving them needed information on how they compare with other companies providing similar products, Elliott said.

In addition to Tillman and Elliott, Bob Goodall serves as director of national accounts.

The company also has eight part time employees who work on special projects, including the mystery shopper.

1st Class Marketing is located at 639 East Main Street, Suite B101.

For more information about the company or the mystery shopper program go to www.1stclassmarketing.net.

Originally published Wednesday, December 29, 2004