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My last column focused on how garden centers scored during mystery shop visits in categories like telephone skills, general appearance and the purchase process. This time we'll delve into more personal functions -- staff skills and interactions with shoppers.

And like the previous report, comments from the actual shoppers provide a glimpse into what people strolling down your aisles really experience, which is sometimes not quite what you had intended when making claims of great customer service.

What do customers expect?

The firm that provides our company with mystery shoppers conducts a survey of potential shoppers. The company asks them what they expect from any retailer as consumers, not just those they were assigned to shop. Their top five responses were:

1. Courtesy and respect from all employees.
2. Knowledgeable but more so, helpful staff.
3. Clean and orderly premises.
4. Pleasant shopping experience.
5. Price/value equation.

Nothing on the list should come as any big surprise, but how much time is spent discussing these basic but critical retail challenges with staff?

When companies shopped by this firm were asked to list the factors they intend for all of their shoppers to experience, their list included:

* Our company's brand promise is evident.

* Our service standards are aligned with customer needs.

* Customer's expectations are exceeded.

* Because of our customer service efforts, our customers will return often and recommend us to others.

It's obvious that this is a commendable, but also challenging, list of goals. Consider the effect on your position in the market if each of these ambitions became part of the everyday shopping experience at your center. That's the reason behind a consistent mystery shop program: to have a method that measures how well a company is actually doing compared to its promises and goals.

Great employee attitudes and skills

When the mystery shop evaluation was created, how employees deal with customers before their horticulture skills are even needed played a large role in how the company would be scored.

We ask shoppers to be aware of several important issues that deal with employee readiness and attitude, such as:

* Were all employees easily identifiable?

* Did all employees greet you?

* Did all employees at least smile when you approached?

* Were employees focused on tasks or customer needs?

Here are a few shopper comments about garden centers that scored 100 percent in this category:

"Even the staff that were restocking or watering greeted me verbally and with a smile like they really meant it. How pleased I was to have this happen during a very busy time of day."

"The employees I shopped with seemed more than eager to help me with my intended purchases including putting them in my cart when needed. I seldom find this kind of service at the other garden centers where I shop."

"The attitude of the employees I encountered was very upbeat in spite of me being there during what was probably their busiest time of day. If they were stressed from the number of shoppers asking for attention it didn't show."

The not-so-good skills

But not every shopping experience at garden centers that claim great customer service produces similar results:

"There wasn't near enough employees for the number of shoppers looking for assistance. Another customer also remarked to me about the lack of help. When I found an employee, they were trying to help as many shoppers as possible. But it would take nearly 10 minutes for them to get to me. By then the other shopper had already left."

"Two employees during my trip were as helpful as they could be, but two others seemed to be more interested in each other than helping customers. In spite of browsing near the register area for some time, neither the cashier nor the other employee offered assistance in any way. These two definitely ruined what could have been a much better score for their company."

"I only met with one employee that seemed to know what she was doing. I walked past another three who seemed too busy to even acknowledge that I was there. When I approached them and asked a question, one just pointed and the other said to ask up front for help."

The key to great customer service and a top score on mystery shop reports? One standard of customer interaction for every employee, regardless of their job function or retail experience. It doesn't take a lot to score big with people. All it takes is a great attitude, a smile and the willingness to help.

Specific employee with great attitude and skills

This is the part of the mystery shop evaluation where heroes are made and others feel the peer pressure to perform.

Our shoppers are instructed to ask one or more employees for a specific product, then score the interaction based on a possible 26-point scale. They are also asked to get the employee's name or description.

(Quick aside: Want to find a way to get all your employees to wear their name tag? After a no-name description like, "The plump lady with short, dark hair who looked to be in her 50s" or "The short, balding man with glasses and a chip on his shoulder," everyone will make sure their name tag is clearly in view.)

Some of the specific employee attitudes and skills we address are:

* Was the employee courteous, smiling and responsive?

* Did they seem knowledgeable about the question they were asked?

* Was the employee neat, well-groomed and easily identified?

* Was the employee's response enough for you to continue shopping on your own?

* Did the employee offer to help you or find other assistance for you?

This is where garden centers are supposed to shine with a friendly and knowledgeable staff supposedly not found at other places selling horticulture products. Here are a few shopper comments from centers that do a terrific job at setting their staff apart from other shopping options:

"When Patty spotted me she called out with, 'Hi. What can I help you find this morning?' She listened attentively to my needs and showed me three different plants that I might want to consider. She stayed with me until I made a decision, loaded the plants onto my cart and verified the price on the tags. She was tuned in to both the type of plant I needed and the price range I wanted to spend. She is definitely an asset to this business."

See, even customers know a real asset when they see one. This 100-percent score was the proper combination of listening skills, selling skills and a helpful attitude.

Employees with less than stellar performances

Compare that shopper experience with one that took place at a different garden center on the same day:

"I interrupted an employee who was stocking. His name was Guy. He could tell me here they were but was at a loss when I asked him about details of planting in the shade. He suggested I talk to anyone other than him and suggested I go back inside to the register. I did this and encountered an employee named Betty, who came across as less than helpful and a bit surly. She interrupted a conversation with another customer and asked where my products were. I said I need help first. She responded abruptly and said I wasn't supposed to bring my cart into the store. She pushed it back to where it was outside and said in a cool and impatient tone, "You don't need that."

"While the plant quality was better than I expected, the employee experience was not. Especially disappointing was the fact that I had to seek help with every question, but the one unpleasant employee was enough to not want me to ever shop here again."

Here's an example of how even with great products on the bench, all it takes to ruin any customer's shopping experience is one bad encounter with an employee not living up to the expectations the company tries to put in place.

Why hire a mystery shopper?

You've heard them all before, so much so that any redeemable value has long since departed. Sayings like:

Quality, value, service and selection. I call these "The Four Tombstones of Business Failure." These ambiguous terms are bantered about by companies hoping consumers will somehow be enamored by a claim that almost every other retailer espouses.

Where customers always come first. You don't have to be in the industry very long to recognize that the worst example of customer service happens at almost every garden center on days when they should be at their best. Customer service on a warm, sunny weekend in spring usually means there's, at a minimum, crises in parking, checkout lines and shopping carts.

Our people are our greatest asset. This one continues to be used in brochures, advertisements and even company mission statements.

Actions speak louder than words. The purpose of a mystery shop program is to record a real-life experience of shopping at your business through the eyes of a customer. It's a way to check if your cliched store values live up to the hype.

An example of the impact you can have on people when everything is in place and the staff is providing the level of service garden centers strive for, can be summed up with the comments reported by one mystery shopper at Mostardi Nursery in Newton Square, Pa.:

"Overall, this was an exceptional shopping experience. The store was stocked extremely well, and the entire place was neat and inviting. The employees I encountered were friendly and knowledgeable, eager to help and offered excellent advice. Checking out was done quickly and in a friendly manner. I will definitely be shopping at this location on my own time and will highly recommend it to my family and friends."

When you want to know what really happens at your garden center, take a look through a customer's point of view. What you discover may either please or shock you. Either way, it's always best to know.

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© 2006 Branch-Smith Publishing