When you get a mystery shopping report on a regular basis, it's easy to take a cursory look and send it on to the file.  If you receive hundreds of secret shopper reports, in some cases on a daily basis, you have to be careful not to have a sense of apathy due to the sheer volume.

Make it your resolution to nit-pick each and every report.  Not just for the results, but for the quality of the reporting.  Are the comments rich?  Could you determine the results of the secret shopper's report without looking at anything other than the comments?  Do they paint a rich picture of the moment in time that is being measured?  Are there errors or misspellings?

Next, take a look at each section.  Trend the results for each section.  Ask your managers, or you if you are the manager, to create a specific plan of action -- bullet points only -- on corrective measures you can take immediately.  Share this plan with all employees on your team.  Ask for their ideas and suggestions as to how you can improve results.  Reinforce why each element of the mystery shopping report is so critical to your business. (You should be able to articulate this, if not, see New Year's Resolution #1)

For employees who do a great job (100%) send them a personally handwritten note.  It doesn't matter if you see the employee every day, or sit across the room from them, a simple, 2-line handwritten note will give you more mileage than you can imagine.  The larger your organization is, the more impact the note will have.  If you have an employee newsletter, make sure you recognize these employees here too!

We at The Service Quality Department and ServiceQuality.US have always advocated public praise and to keep a positive focus on your mystery shopping program.  Otherwise, the program becomes a hammer that can kill employee and customer loyalty. More about this in New Year's Resolution #10