This week's Mystery Shopper in Selby was a simple request from a couple looking for an early-summer holiday in Tenerife. They didn't mind whether the holiday was on a half board or all-inclusive basis, but they wanted to stay somewhere upmarket.
Generally all the agencies did well - all received full marks for appearance. There was little in it between Thomas Cook, Thomson and Co-op Travel, all also scoring top marks for customer service.
Worldchoice Abbey Travel scored less for customer service, getting 6o% of the available marks under that criteria. Mystery Shopper wrote: "I would have preferred her to show me the computer screen as she was describing the holiday details."
How important a sales tool is the computer screen? Are your clients interested in what you are looking at, even if it is Viewdata? Do you show them?
The screen can be a useful tool depending on the customer - those who are more interested in what they're getting, where they're going etc will probably want to see what the agent can see. Those who want "two weeks somewhere hot from the local airport" don't want to be bothered with an explanation of codes and numbers.
One thing that annoys me about the mystery shopper is that agents' reference to personal experience is appreciated and rewarded in the scoring. As a customer I don't give a monkeys about whether someone else enjoyed such and such a product (travel or otherwise), I want the salesperson to focus on what would suit ME! Therefore I always avoid recounting personal experiences when selling.