Is "mystery customer" really not desirable?

Recently, the news about McDonald's recruitment of "mystery customers" has caused quite a controversy in the industry. It is said that the third-party investigation company commissioned by McDonald's recently posted on an online forum, and hired some "interested people" to spend money at McDonald's stores at will, with the aim of monitoring the whole process of food quality, cleanliness and production service without employees' knowledge. Ordinary McDonald's employees have posted on the Internet to express their anxiety and dissatisfaction. In fact, it is an open secret that McDonald's adopts the "mystery customer" system. As early as 2003, this American fast food company introduced its system adopted in major markets around the world to China. McDonald's said that on the one hand, "mysterious customers" help managers objectively reward and punish employees and urge them to improve their performance; On the other hand, it is also an important way for companies to know whether customers are satisfied with the whole service experience. It should be said that employees of McDonald's China have adopted a tacit attitude towards this practice for several years. So, why did this incident trigger their mood swings? The most important reason is that employees have some doubts about the specific implementation of this system: can the "mysterious customers" recruited randomly on the Internet without any training guarantee the professionalism in supervision? Is the grading questionnaire provided by the company scientific and reasonable? Is there any quantifiable objective standard? In foreign countries, mystery customer method, like customer satisfaction survey, customer complaint and suggestion processing system and lost customer analysis, has always been the main method for enterprises to collect customer opinions. In China, more and more service-oriented enterprises, such as restaurants, hotels, retail terminals of durable consumer goods enterprises, after-sales centers and call centers of IT enterprises, have begun to use this method to evaluate their service level. China Mobile, Haier and Lenovo. They are all successful examples of joining this ranks a few years ago. The advantages of the mystery client system are obvious. For example: comprehensive: enterprises can include all the service details they want in the questionnaire and inspect them one by one; Reality: Random mysterious customers make it difficult for employees to deliberately disguise and conceal, and the situation reflected by the survey is highly consistent with daily situations; Strong pertinence: according to the "experience investigation report" provided by investigators, it is clear at a glance which is better or worse, and the next training of managers can be based on evidence. For example, an electrical appliance company finds that a salesperson can't distinguish the different functions of various models of products well, and providing him with relevant product training in time can directly promote his performance. However, if this system is not properly implemented, it is really easy to cause some negative effects. Just like this McDonald's incident, some people in the industry are worried that the results are unprofessional and the rewards and punishments are unfair, which may bring oppression to employees and is not conducive to creating a sense of belonging and a relaxed working atmosphere. It can be seen that the key is not whether this method itself is desirable, but how to learn how to gain advantages and avoid disadvantages in concrete implementation. First of all, the "mystery customer" supervisor must undergo professional screening and training in advance before he can start working. For example, the mysterious customers employed by China Telecom Call Center should be trained in service process, etiquette and business knowledge. Supervisors must first have the basic qualities of an agent, so as to ensure the professionalism of their supervision work and make employees believe in the results. Sometimes, it is also a good choice for managers of cross-regional branches to communicate as mysterious customers. Second, reasonably design the questionnaire, try to combine what the mysterious customer may experience with the daily staff training content, and communicate with the staff in advance. McDonald's survey has seven aspects: friendliness, speed, accuracy, quality, cleanliness, satisfaction and others, most of which are required for employees to achieve in training. For example, the article "Calculate the time from ordering to receiving all the ordered meals in seconds" has specific requirements in the training manual. If you know the contents of the mystery customer survey, employees will not blindly speculate and psychologically reduce their sense of rejection and tension towards the mystery customer. Third, communicate the survey results honestly with employees, and reward and punishment are well-founded. If the employee fails to achieve a certain goal, the supervisor should also give the employee an opportunity to explain and discuss the improvement plan. Finally, because most of the "mystery customer" surveys are conducted by third-party survey companies entrusted by enterprises, it is also very important to carefully select third-party companies and establish a set of restraint systems. Temporary recruitment without any training is an unprofessional practice and needs to be avoided.