Two of our team members, Emma Harte, our Chief Executive Officer, and Lynn Carr, our Senior Project Manager, were delighted to meet with Minister Simon Coveney at an Enterprise Ireland event in DKIT this month. The purpose of this meeting was to celebrate and discuss Customer Perceptions’ prestigious accolade: the All Ireland Business Foundation award for ‘Best in Consumer Research Services.’
The All-Ireland Business Foundation (AIBF) stands as a beacon of excellence in the Irish business landscape. It serves as an independent, national accreditation body with a noble mission — not just to support enterprise development, but also to champion and promote the ‘Best-in-Class’ among Irish businesses.
During this encounter, Minister Coveney was impressed by the invaluable contributions we make to businesses across Ireland and the UK. Our focus on enhancing the customer experience is vital in today’s competitive business environment, and he recognised the significance of projects we deliver.
Our conversation with Minister Coveney delved into the diverse range of programmes we deliver for our Clients. From innovative mystery shopping programmes that produce comprehensive insights to detailed audits that examine every facet of business operations, we leave no stone unturned in our quest to support our clients.
Furthermore, our ongoing consumer research projects have a profoundly positive impact on the strategies and outcomes of the businesses we collaborate with.
However, what truly captured Minister Coveney’s attention was our groundbreaking technology, ‘TellUsFirst.’ This innovative tool has not only streamlined, but redefined the landscape of customer feedback for our clients. ‘TellUsFirst‘ empowers businesses to collect instant customer feedback through a user-friendly dashboard that is easy to interpret. It equips businesses with the certainty that they are providing their customers with a direct channel to express their thoughts and concerns before resorting to public platforms.
The most remarkable aspect of ‘TellUsFirst‘ is its cost-effectiveness. It levels the playing field, making the power of customer feedback accessible to businesses of all sizes. Regardless of their scale, every business now has the opportunity to gather invaluable insights, thereby enabling them to fine-tune their services and offerings in alignment with customer preferences.
As we continue our journey to excellence in consumer research services, we look forward to furthering our collaboration with businesses in Ireland and the UK. The encouragement and recognition received from Minister Coveney have strengthened our resolve to remain at the forefront of the customer-centric revolution, ensuring that businesses of all sizes thrive in their pursuit of delivering exceptional customer experiences.
In today’s highly competitive business landscape, providing exceptional customer experiences is paramount. To ensure you’re consistently meeting and exceeding customer expectations, it’s crucial to set clear customer experience goals. In this blog post, we’ll explore how Mystery Shopping Companies help business owners define specific goals and metrics that align with their overall business objectives, ultimately engaging and informing them for success.
Define Specific Goals: To effectively improve customer experiences, it’s essential to set specific goals that align with your business objectives. Identify areas where you want to enhance the customer journey and pinpoint the key aspects of the customer experience that require improvement. Examples of specific goals could include enhancing customer satisfaction ratings, improving response time, or increasing customer loyalty and retention.
Align Goals with Business Objectives: Your customer experience goals should be closely aligned with your overall business objectives. Ensure that your customer experience initiatives contribute to the larger vision and mission of your organisation. By aligning your goals, you create a cohesive strategy that supports your business growth and success.
Establish Measurable Metrics: Setting measurable metrics is crucial for tracking progress and determining the success of your customer experience initiatives. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your specific goals. For instance, if your goal is to improve customer satisfaction ratings, metrics such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer survey results, or online reviews can provide quantifiable data to measure your progress.
Regularly Monitor and Evaluate: To stay on track and make informed decisions, it’s important to regularly monitor and evaluate your customer experience goals. Track your metrics, analyse customer feedback and conduct periodic assessments, such as mystery shopping evaluations, to gain insights into the effectiveness of your initiatives. This ongoing evaluation process allows you to make data-driven adjustments and improvements as needed.
Communicate and Engage: Engage and inform business owners by keeping them involved and informed about customer experience goals and progress. Regularly share updates, reports and insights related to the customer experience metrics and milestones. Effective communication ensures alignment, fosters accountability and encourages collaboration among stakeholders, driving the success of your customer experience initiatives.
Continuously Improve and Evolve: Customer experience is an ongoing journey and it’s essential to continuously improve and evolve your strategies. Regularly review your goals and metrics, reassess customer needs and adapt your initiatives accordingly. Stay up-to-date with industry trends, leverage customer feedback and embrace innovation to consistently enhance the customer experience.
Setting clear customer experience goals is a critical step in delivering exceptional experiences and driving business success. By defining specific goals, aligning them with overall business objectives, establishing measurable metrics and regularly monitoring progress, business owners can engage and inform themselves on the path to achieving outstanding customer experience. Through ongoing evaluation, communication and continuous improvement, you can ensure that your customer experience initiatives are effective, leading to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty and business growth.
In today’s competitive business landscape, understanding your customers is the key to unlocking long-term success. By gaining a true understanding of your target audience, their needs, preferences, and pain points, you can tailor your products, services, business strategy and overall customer experience that exceeds expectations. In this blog post, we’ll explore effective strategies that Customer Perceptions employ to help business owners engage and inform their customers.
Conduct Market Research: To truly understand your customers, you need to delve into their world. Conduct comprehensive market research to identify your target audience and gain insights into their behaviours, demographics and preferences. This research will serve as the foundation for all your customer-centric strategies, enabling you to make informed decisions that resonate with your audience.
Collect Customer Feedback: Customer feedback is an invaluable resource for understanding what drives customer satisfaction and loyalty. Implement various feedback channels, such as surveys, feedback forms and online reviews, to gather insights directly from your customers. Actively listen to their opinions, suggestions and concerns to identify areas for improvement and refine your offerings.
Analyse Customer Data: Harness the power of customer data to uncover meaningful patterns and trends. Analyse data collected from various touchpoints, such as sales records, website analytics and social media interactions. This data-driven approach will help you identify customer preferences, pain points and emerging trends, allowing you to tailor your strategies accordingly.
Embrace Mystery Shopping: Mystery Shopping is a powerful tool that allows business owners to experience their brand from a customer’s perspective. Partnering with Customer Perceptions, you can gain objective insights into the customer journey, evaluate staff performance and identify areas for improvement. Mystery Shopping provides an unbiased assessment of your business, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses.
Develop Personas: Creating customer personas can further enhance your understanding of your target audience. Personas represent different segments of your customer base and provide a deeper understanding of their motivations, goals and pain points. This knowledge enables you to tailor your marketing messages, communication strategies and overall customer experience to resonate with each persona.
Nurture Customer Relationships: Understanding your customers goes beyond just acquiring knowledge; it involves building meaningful relationships. Engage with your customers through personalised communication, social media interactions, loyalty programs and exceptional customer service. By fostering strong connections, you build brand loyalty and transform customers into brand advocates.
In the ever-evolving business landscape, understanding your customers is vital for business success. By gaining a deep understanding of their needs, preferences and pain points, you can tailor your strategies to create exceptional customer experiences. Through market research, customer feedback, data analysis and the power of mystery shopping, business owners can engage and inform their customers, fostering loyalty and driving business growth. Embrace the power of understanding your customers and watch your business flourish.
In today’s cutthroat business landscape, companies face intense competition and ever-increasing customer expectations. To gain a competitive edge, businesses must prioritise delivering exceptional customer experiences. This is where mystery shopping comes into play. Mystery shopping, a method of evaluating customer interactions through anonymous shoppers, has become an indispensable tool for organisations looking to understand their customers better, identify areas for improvement and stay ahead of the competition.
In this blog post, we will explore the importance of mystery shopping in today’s competitive market and how it can drive business success.
Customer Experience Differentiation: In a sea of competitors, businesses must find ways to stand out and differentiate themselves. Exceptional customer experiences have become a key differentiator in the market. Mystery shopping provides organisations with unbiased feedback on various aspects of the customer journey, including service quality, staff performance and overall satisfaction. By uncovering gaps and areas for improvement, businesses can take proactive measures to enhance their customer experience, exceed expectations and create a positive brand perception that sets them apart from their rivals.
Identifying Operational Strengths and Weaknesses: Mystery shopping allows businesses to evaluate their operational strengths and weaknesses from a customer’s perspective. By analysing mystery shopping reports, companies can identify specific areas where they excel and leverage those strengths to their advantage. Similarly, it enables them to pinpoint weaknesses and address them promptly. Whether it’s improving employee training, refining processes, or optimising product displays, mystery shopping provides actionable insights that drive operational excellence and continuous improvement.
Monitoring and Maintaining Consistency: Consistency is vital for building trust and loyalty among customers. Inconsistent experiences can lead to customer dissatisfaction and a negative impact on brand reputation. Mystery shopping plays a crucial role in monitoring and maintaining consistency across multiple locations or touchpoints. By regularly evaluating different outlets, departments, or even online channels, businesses can ensure that their brand standards are upheld consistently. This level of consistency builds trust, fosters loyalty and gives businesses an edge in an increasingly competitive market.
Competitor Benchmarking: Staying ahead of the competition requires a deep understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Mystery shopping allows businesses to benchmark their performance against their competitors. By deploying mystery shoppers to evaluate rival businesses, organisations can gain insights into what their competitors are doing well and identify areas where they can outperform them. This knowledge enables businesses to fine-tune their strategies, differentiate themselves and seize growth opportunities.
Empowering Data-Driven Decision-Making: In today’s data-centric world, making informed decisions is critical for success. Mystery shopping provides businesses with tangible and quantifiable data about customer experiences. This data, combined with other metrics and feedback mechanisms, empowers organisations to make data-driven decisions. By analysing trends, identifying patterns and leveraging insights from mystery shopping reports, businesses can prioritise initiatives, allocate resources effectively and implement targeted improvements that drive customer satisfaction and business growth.
In today’s competitive market, the importance of mystery shopping cannot be overstated. It serves as a powerful tool for businesses to understand customer experiences, identify areas for improvement and strategically differentiate themselves in the quest for success.
As companies navigate the challenges of a highly competitive marketplace, mystery shopping offers a way to gain a competitive edge. From understanding customer preferences to fine-tuning operations, monitoring the consistency and benchmarking against rivals, mystery shopping empowers businesses to make informed decisions, enhance the customer experience and foster long-term success. In this dynamic business environment, embracing the power of mystery shopping is no longer an option but a necessity for organisations striving to thrive in today’s competitive market.
In late May, Emma and I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Portugal to attend the 2023 MSPA Europe/Africa conference. The MSPA, or Mystery Shopping Professionals Association, is dedicated to helping its members deliver world-class mystery shopping solutions and provides us with invaluable support and expertise. Customer Perceptions are proud members of this organisation.
Hosted in the beautiful Algarve, the theme of this year’s conference was “The Human Asset | Driving Operational Excellence.” The venue itself, a superb hotel set on a beautiful beach just minutes from the buzz of Albufeira, provided us with the perfect backdrop for what was set to be a wonderful few days of connecting, learning and sharing.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the conference was the sheer diversity of the attendees and speakers. The talks, delivered by a series of renowned industry experts, were nothing short of awe-inspiring. As I sat among the audience, I found myself engrossed in presentations that challenged my existing knowledge and expanded my horizons. Among the speakers who delved into thought-provoking subjects, sharing their research and experiences, was Emma Harte, our own CEO. Emma delivered an inspiring presentation entitled “Improving the business performance through the performance of our people.” In her presentation, Emma spoke about the single most important asset in any business, the human asset.
She brought the room through her own inspiring journey to CEO, what we as an organisation do to maximise on and acknowledge the value of our people for the success of the business strategy and how, in the words of Peter Drucker, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast!”
We also attended workshops and networking sessions which covered a wide array of topics, from operational excellence through people, cutting-edge innovations, to overcoming industry challenges. Each session was a provided a rich array of ideas and perspectives, with discussions leaving no stone unturned. These sessions fostered an environment of collaboration and camaraderie, where we felt encouraged and empowered to exchange ideas, seek advice, and build lasting connections.
One of the greatest treasures of attending this year’s conference was the networking opportunities we were presented. We had the privilege to connect, learn from and share with professionals from all over Europe and Africa, with each peer bringing their unique expertise and insights. During coffee breaks, meals, and evening social events across the conference, we engaged in insightful conversations with other mystery shopping professionals from diverse cultures and backgrounds, enhancing our professional networks, working knowledge and expertise further.
Attending the 2023 MSPA Conference was an eye-opening experience for professional growth. We deepened our knowledge in the field of mystery shopping, broadened our perspective on global challenges, spent time with friends, new and old, building friendships and making memories that will last a lifetime. The connections we made and the insights we gained will continue to inspire and guide us for a long time!
Many businesses understand the importance of competitor analysis but generally only focus on pricing and products. With the arrival of social media, understanding your competition’s marketing techniques and how you can improve your company’s digital marketing strategy has become as important as pricing and product research. What are some benefits of conducting a competitive analysis?
Customer reviews highlight what your competitor’s product lacks, offering you the opportunity to add elements to your product that will meet their needs.
You can identify marketplace opportunities on which to test out new marketing strategies your competition is not using.
Learn what your competition is doing well and what you need to do to stay relevant and competitive in your industry.
Gain a benchmark against which you can measure your company’s growth.
At Customer Perceptions, we offer competitor analysis services that measure your competitor’s customer journey, pricing, point of sale (POS), promotions, policies and procedures. Let’s look in more detail at competitor analysis.
They are Industry Specific
Are your ideas about your competitors and the market up to date and accurate? An industry-specific competitor analysis creates a more comprehensive picture of the market and industry in which you compete. There are similarities between industries, but there are also differences. The hospitality, retail, and financial industries offer promotions as part of their business strategy, but their target market and products differ.
Do you want to measure, compare and benchmark your performance against your competitors? We can do a competitor analysis for clients in the travel, restaurant and dining, retail and online, hospitality and tourism, medical and care, financial, and professional services industries.
Strengths & Weaknesses From Other Businesses Are Identified
Have you spent time with your sales, marketing, and customer service teams to gather the data you want to use to benchmark your company? The next step is to collect information about your direct competitors to learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Research the following factors:
Product. How do the qualities and features of the products compare to your own?
Pricing. Can you estimate their cost structure? What is their discount policy?
Place. What is their geographic reach compared to your business?
Promotion. What is their presence on social media, and what marketing tactics are they using?
Positioning. Review their websites, catalogues etc. What is their unique selling proposition?
Reputation. What are people saying online, and on social media about your competitor’s products and services?
People. How big is the organisation?
Partnerships. Who are their suppliers and how long have they been working together?
Once you have all the above information, do a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis for an effective competitor analysis.
Market Opportunities are Revealed
A competitor analysis will reveal market opportunities, however, look further than your direct competitor towards indirect and even substitute competitors. They might offer other insights and markets you never considered. Indirect competitors are businesses in the same category as yours but have different clientele, products, and services. An example of an indirect competitor would be a winery and brewery. Both sell alcohol, but their products and clients are not the same. A substitute competitor has different products and services than you, but they target the same customers in your geographic area. They might be doing something distinctive to attract potential customers.
The Most Important: Performance Evaluation
Once you collect all the information and complete the SWOT analysis, it is time to do a performance evaluation. How does your business, products, or services compare to your direct, indirect or substitute competitors? What competitive advantage do you have that appeals to your target market? When you understand where your brand is positioned, make strategic decisions that help grow your brand and translate those into actionable results with timelines.
At Customer Perceptions, we follow a partnership approach. We adapt our solutions to suit your changing business needs. When was the last time you benchmarked your business against your competition in the marketplace? The importance of competitor analysis cannot be underestimated. Contact us today.
Customer Perceptions were absolutely delighted to attend the Retail Excellence Retreat this year, with a fantastic lineup of speakers.
The spectacular venue – Carton House in Maynooth was the perfect setting for this long-awaited catch-up with colleagues and friends. Fantastic food and service throughout the event.
The dinner on night 1 was delicious – and even better with the Guest Speaker lineup on the night. First up was John Fahy – Senior AIB Economist. A very difficult topic to have to speak on in the current environment and not much positivity about it i.e inflation having a negative impact on the economy’s growth prospective, and customer spend. However, if there was a glimmer of light, it was on that the customer spend hasn’t dropped as much as it was predicted. The big take away is the impact of the energy crisis, and its massive impact to retail.
Next up was Stuart Lancaster – Leadership and Coaching with Leinster Rugby Team. Such an inspiring talk and discussion on the ups and down of his career to date and what keeps Leinster at the top of its game. Stuart had two very useful take aways for me. Firstly contact with everyone at least once a week, even if that is a quick chat in the hall to stay connected with everyone and being approachable. Secondly, he has read an incredible number of books and referenced many, the one I found interesting for me personally is called ‘How to help Children find the champion within themselves’. It’s all about getting kids to reflect on their own performance, rather than it being solely about goals, points, try’s etc. Seems like a much healthier approach. I have ordered this book, however, yet to read! In terms of impact on retailers, this was very much targeted at being an effective leader and/or business owner, how to get the most from teams through effective communication, discussing the good the bad and ugly, the power of reflection, but then planning for the future and next steps and move on
The next morning, we made the trip back to Carton House for what we knew was going to be yet another exciting session. After a super opening from Minister Damien English and MC Sonya Lennon, we were treated to a fantastic session with Geoff Ramm on Celebrity Service! Such a simple yet effective concept as to how we should be treating each customer as they are a celebrity…. What more can we do? Turns out.. when we think about it, there is always more room to dazzle our customers. We need to be in the mindset of treating each and every one as a potential customer! Geoff shared some fantastic stores with us of how he experienced Celebrity Service and really had us all captivated at how such simple actions can have such significant effects. I would definitely recommend for anyone to check out his YouTube Channel on https://www.youtube.com/user/geofframm.
So many standout speakers at the event, we were spoilt for choice. We headed on down to the Princess Grace Suite for a conversation with some Retail Managers on hot topics at the moment. We listened to Colin Curtis (Harvey Norman), Karl Fitzgerald (Applegreen) and Laura Hendron (Butlers) about the challenges they are currently facing. Sonya facilitated this session and topics such as staff recruitment, employee progression and the talent market at the moment. All agreed there are serious challenges in recruiting and retaining staff at the moment, and that businesses need to be as creative and flexible as possible in order to attract new blood. Some great ideas including offering employees as much flexibility as they can (although won’t work in all circumstances) and to also have a clear path to progression laid out to entice the younger workforce.
Just before lunch we were treated to an inspiring story from Marie Gleeson on the topic of Overcoming Adversity – Stronger than Before. Marie told us her captivating story of her career in the Irish Navy on the frontline in such horrendous conditions, her personal tragedies in life, and how the leadership she had shown throughout her life has made her the amazing, strong person she is today. The importance of leadership really resonated with the team here. A fantastic speaker to really make us think.
After a lovely tasty lunch we were also treated to an interesting conversation with Duncan, Sonya and Operation Transformations Karl Henry. Duncan led the discussion with Karl and Sonya both discussing the challenges they faced with their infant businesses. Karl (although already well done from Operation Transformation) talked about his new project – his own range of fitness equipment and how he managed to create a partnership with the leading Irish Retailer Dunnes Stores. He spoke to us about the perseverance of being focused on what he wanted and how we learned and adapted the journey along the way. Sonya also spoke about her own businesses, the downfalls when thinks go wrong and how to get back up on your feet again. This was super to hear about real-life experiences and how so many others are facing similar challenges, and most importantly how they have the resilience to over-come them.
So many more fantastic speakers on the day presented their topics and it really was fantastic to see everyone in person again. Huge thank you and well done to Duncan, Keelan, Antoinette and all involved in organising this great event! We are already looking forward to next year.
Customer experience (CX) is the cornerstone of success in many industries. In ‘3 Reasons Why Customer Experience Increases Sales’ we argue that this is because it can put your brand above the rest. Retaining customers is also more cost-effective than attracting new ones — and what’s more, great CX usually brings with it free word-of-mouth marketing.
As businesses become more digital, QR codes are now emerging as one of the best ways to streamline and enhance CX. Though many think-pieces have been predicting its downfall for years, the QR code has only continued to grow in popularity and mainstream usage. Juniper Research predicts it will generate $3 trillion (2.95 million Euro) globally by 2025 — just for facilitating payments.
This only hints at the virtually limitless potential QR codes have to improve CX with your brand. Below are a few ways you can use them to streamline CX.
Woo new B2B clients
It’s crucial that your business actively reaches out to new clients, especially if it’s relatively new. QR codes embedded into digital business cards can make all the difference in networking. Doorway notes that these digital business cards can make connecting with clients more accessible and convenient, especially for them. They simply need to scan the code — and your details will instantly be saved on their device. This, along with the fact that you’re the one initiating contact, can give the impression that you’re an efficient and effective business to work with.
Enhance customer interactions
In attracting new clients and customers, QR codes can promote engagement with your marketing materials. This can result in increased traffic to your website. Digital Signage Today suggests that in brick-and-mortar stores, most consumers now want a DIY shopping experience — and QR codes can provide that by providing information on various products when scanned. We even mentioned above that QR codes can facilitate payment. By streamlining nearly every customer interaction your business is likely to make, QR codes thus enhance the convenience they now crave.
Ramp up personalisation
QR codes can even provide data insights into customer behaviour. For example, brick-and-mortar stores can check which product QR codes were frequently scanned so you can invest in promoting them more. If embedded into your marketing materials, you can check which strategies resonated the most and can be used again. Both B2B and customer-facing businesses can even include QR codes in their packaging. Inc. explains this can prompt customer feedback, testimonials, and points of improvement. These insights are what can help you further streamline the process of CX personalisation.
Cut on costs
QR codes help you save time and resources precisely because it streamlines multiple aspects of CX. With digital business cards, you no longer need to spend money on printing physical copies. You can improve engagement in both online and offline marketing without having to pay for premium advertising. You don’t need to spend time sending emails and messages to customers just to get feedback if you already have QR codes in your packaging materials. In short, QR codes can help you improve CX just as effectively without breaking the bank.
The versatility of the QR code is one surefire way for your business to get creative and curate an impressive CX. Looking for more customer insights? Check us out here at Customer Perceptions.
Emma Harte (CEO) and Susan Reilly (Head of Sales and Marketing) were both delighted to attend the Mystery Shopping Professionals Association (MSPA) annual conference in Varna Bulgaria earlier this month. This conference brought together almost 200 Mystery Shopping Companies to work together to share their experiences over the past number of years and also what the future holds for mystery shopping.
The theme of this conference was Assess|Adapt|Act and carried the theme of how we need to assess the current situation for both ourselves and our Clients, adapt to the changing environment and act on the learnings to ensure we are bringing our Clients the most insightful and up-to-date programmes we can.
The conference saw a number of experienced mystery shopping professionals present their stories on challenges they themselves had experienced over the past 2 years and how they adapted their processes in response.
Day 1
First off we had an introduction from the President of MSPA Europe/Africa Luis Duarte who opened up the 2-day conference. Luis spoke to us about the theme of the conference Assess|Adapt|Act and what this meant for Mystery Shopping Professionals. This set the context for the other Speakers that would deliver their findings over the coming 2 days.
First of the presentations was from Cyriel Kortleven, a Global Speaker. Cyriel talked to us about “The Change Mindset”. This was a really impactful presentation which told us the power of using phrasing such as “Yes, and…” instead of “Yes, but…”. Such a simple but strong way to allow us to see the potential in every challenge, and not the pitfalls. Through some group exercises, this message was really hammered home and we all left this session feeling so positive and upbeat. A fantastic opening session to have.
The rest of the morning immersed us in Case Studies delivered by other Mystery Shopping Professionals. One case study delivered by Juliana Goranova from Client X in Bulgaria (our Host country), showed us some unusual mystery shopping programmes such as sending mystery shoppers out to restaurant to take samples of the fin from a certain variety of fish. This was to ensure the restaurants were not serving a protected species of this fish. Juliana also spoke to us about the work they did with Charitable Organisations. This really was food for thought!
Another really interesting case study was presented by Jill Spencer from ReactCX – Money for Old Rope. This presentation was a powerful delivery how of we need to demonstrate to our Clients the return on investment of their programmes. Although this can sometimes be difficult to measure as some of the returns are intangible such as customer loyalty, staff satisfaction etc… Jill showed us some really useful ways of demonstrating ROI by working with our clients to gather the data we need to show this. This is something we have definitely taken on board and are working away on at the minute for our existing and potential clients.
The afternoon session on Day 1 saw us being divided into 3 different breakout sessions (depending on the colour of MSPA baseball cap we received). I attended the Proposition Zone and Emma attended the Global Zone. These breakout sessions were a good way to work with other Mystery Shopping Professionals to examine each of the themes and really discuss what the challenges/solutions were. One thing for certain in the Proposition Zone was that data is crucial to business and is becoming more and more the backbone of how businesses operate and grow. We chatted about exactly how we should be collecting data for our Clients, exactly what data we need to collect and what the future looks like here. The importance of Exploratory Workshops with our Clients pre-commencement of the programme is an important factor here.
Day 1 ended with some fantastic networking opportiunites for all Participants and a lovely dinner in the International Casino and Hotel restaurant, and lots of lovely Bulgarian wine.
Day 2
After having a lovely dinner and networking event the previous night, Participants were buzzing on day 2 for what the day ahead holds with their new found friends/partnerships. The day was opened again by Luis Duarte – President of MSPA who recapped on what we had learned the day before.
We then listened to Tony Allens presentation of some fantastic new intuitive hardware that can actually check the age of shoppers in a store. He had the machines with him and demonstrated exactly how this worked. This seems like a fantastic tool for companies to streamline their age verification checks in-store. This was really an eye-opener on how technology is evolving for all aspects of business. If anyone would like more information on this hardware, please contact me on [email protected] and I can get you more information.
Another really interesting presentation came from Hannah Weekes of ProInsight. Hannah’s presentation was titled “The Modern Mystery Shopper – Creating Brand Loyalty/Obsession”. This insightful session showed us the power of not only connecting with our Mystery Shoppers but Engaging them to the point where you are creating an obsession with your brand. It is so beneficial for us as a Company, but also for our Mystery Shoppers to feel part of an engaging community. We took lots of learnings home from this session. Thank you Hannah!
Finally, to wrap up the session Andy Firth, from Ipsos UK spoke to the group about how the world is changing so rapidly and what can we expect next. Andy’s insights were a perfect opportunity to encompass all we had learned in the past 2 days and really summarise where we were now, and how we need to be prepared for what is to come next. The good news was that there is so much opportunity for mystery shopping, regardless of how the world changes and it is up to us as Mystery Shopping Professionals to anticipate these changes and adapt our businesses to continue delivering powerful and impactful programmes to our Clients.
After a hugely interesting 2 days, we wrapped up with an amazing traditional Bulgarian dinner on the Beach with some super entertainment. We heard stories of Bulgarian history, listened to some traditional music, watched some traditional dancing and even got to see two wonderful people demonstrate Bulgarians ritual of firewalking! As conferences go, we have to say that the Bulgarian hospitality for the duration of our trip was outstanding. Such a wonderful place to visit. Even with the extremely sore heads on Friday morning, we were sorry to be leaving such a beautiful city.
Well done to all at the MSPA for organising such a fantastic experience for its members!
Customer Perceptions & Optimum Results were delighted to attend the Retail Excellence Ireland’s SIRA Launch in Fallon & Byrne on the evening of Wednesday, 8th of June. SIRA (Sustainable Irish Retail Action) is an excellent initiative designed to create a practical sustainability guide for the retail community to help:
1. Raise standards around ‘Sustainability Understanding and Practice’ within the Irish retail industry.
2. Empower and enable SMEs to ‘build more sustainable solutions’ into their business models by providing them with access to education, tools and support.
3. Develop a community of retailers, whose ambition is to authentically support each other on this sustainability journey within the industry, through best practice sharing.
We were delighted to get a first preview at of the SIRA guide, which is bursting with invaluable information to implement positive sustainability changes in the workplace.
This informative and fun evening featured Mark Mellett, Vice Admiral (Rtd) Former Chief of Defense as a key note speaker, sharing his expertise in the area.. This was followed by an interesting and engaging panel discussion on sustainability in retail and finally, a SIRA presentation to launch the SIRA Guide. With beautiful food and wine provided by Fallon and Byrne throughout the course of the evening, it certainly was a wonderful event, and one of the first that we have had the pleasure of attending in over 2 years!
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__cfduid
1 month
The cookie is used by cdn services like CloudFare to identify individual clients behind a shared IP address and apply security settings on a per-client basis. It does not correspond to any user ID in the web application and does not store any personally identifiable information.
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement
1 year
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
JSESSIONID
Used by sites written in JSP. General purpose platform session cookies that are used to maintain users' state across page requests.
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Cookie
Duration
Description
YSC
session
This cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_ga
2 years
This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gid
1 day
This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_fbp
3 months
This cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website.
fr
3 months
The cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
IDE
1 year 24 days
Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
test_cookie
15 minutes
This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
5 months 27 days
This cookie is set by Youtube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website.
