IN SUMMARY
 
Mystery shopping is being used more and more by companies as an ongoing measure of customer service performance.  Some companies incorporate mystery shopping as a tool to continually maintain their competitive advantage while other companies use mystery shopping periodically.  Some reasons for periodic use would be when new locations have opened, or when retraining initiatives have just been met, or during peak sales periods.

Whether companies use mystery shopping continually or periodically, it is important to realize the importance of such programs.  Studies show that companies that focus on customer satisfaction can be 10 to 15 percent more profitable than companies that do not.  Satisfied customers will pay 10 to 25 percent more for a product or service than a dissatisfied customer.  When customers are happy, they gladly pay more.