Mystery shopping franchise leads to 10% boost for award winning animal attraction
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A mystery shopping franchise has helped the world-famous wildlife park at Port Lympne, part of The Aspinall Foundation, address customer service issues resulting in improving the uptake of one of its main attractions by an impressive 10%.
Shopper Anonymous Kent (www.shopperanonymous.co.uk), part of the UK’s leading mystery shopping company, employed twenty mystery shoppers including parents, grandparents and single visitors to visit the top attraction ‘under cover’ and report on their experiences.
Managing Director of Shopper Anonymous Kent, Graham Seymour explains:
“Our mystery shoppers not only got to have a great day out at the attraction with their families, but were trained by us to look at a whole range of factors. These encompassed everything from researching their trip on the web and their experience at the ticket office right through to the food and customer service but also smaller things that can make all the difference to a day out such as signage, litter bins and even the cleanliness of the toilets.
“Over the course of a year our mystery shoppers reported back to us on their experiences and patterns soon emerged, with certain factors repeatedly being cited as not customer-friendly. We were then able to report these to Port Lympne and work with them and their staff to make the changes that really improved the customer experience.”
As a result of feedback from Shopper Anonymous mystery shoppers a whole range of changes were instituted, from asking all staff to wear name badges to training all staff in customer service, with training provided by Shopper Anonymous.
One of the most significant changes was in the promotion of The African Experience, an exciting four-wheel drive safari to see wildlife including zebra, giraffe and wildebeest. Following mystery shopper feedback, the location of ticket sales for the safari was changed, contributing to a 10% rise in ticket sales.
Other customer feedback included the fact that visitors loved the occasions on which drivers on the African Safari switched off the pre-recorded commentary and introduced it live, so the staff are now being trained to do that more often. Port Lympne also made changes to signage (including ‘You are here’ stickers on maps, a minor factor that makes a huge difference) and made sure that feeding times and keeper talks took place at the advertised time.
According to Port Lympne Retail Manager Gary Gould, the changes, though subtle, have made a big difference:
“The advice we received from Shopper Anonymous, tied with other marketing campaigns, saw almost a 10% rise in uptake of The African Experience Safari from 2009 to 2010.
“We are going into our second year using Shopper Anonymous and we are really happy with the service. Howletts and Port Lympne are committed to giving our visitors the very best customer experience at every stage. The reports we receive have made a big impact internally, helping to reinforce our culture of excellence in customer service across every aspect of the visitor experience. Off the back of the reports we were encouraged to put all our retail and safari staff through customer service training, ensuring they are fully equipped to give the very best experience to our customers. This training has actually been headed by Shopper Anonymous themselves, who can approach the training through their extensive experience from a customer’s perspective.
“Seemingly small suggestions like ensuring every member of staff wears a name badge, can make a big impact, and we will continue to use the mystery shopper reports to make sure we maintain our high standards across the board.”
The Shopper Anonymous work at Port Lympne continues, with regular reports from mystery shoppers ensuring customer service standards are kept up and attraction management know what their visitors really think.
Graham Seymour of Shopper Anonymous Kent says that there are a number of lessons that any tourist attraction can learn from Port Lympne’s experience:
“Staff should be encouraged to interact with visitors, even if they’re just selling them an ice-cream, as it makes people feel welcomed and makes staff feel like part of a team, not just a worker. An engaged customer is more likely to revisit and recommend to friends.”
“It is definitely worthwhile testing the business to see what customers really think, in real time, not just waiting for comments or complaints to appear in a comments box. Staff really do value training as it helps them become more engaged and loyal. A mystery shopper programme helps set the benchmark for staff behaviour and actions, something that is not always in place. How can staff live up to expectations if the expectation is not set?”
