Customized Sales and Service Inspections
Legislation Prompts Increased Use of Mystery Shopping Into Healthcare and Government Realms
(Archive – advancedfeedback.com – SAN DIEGO, CA, Apr 15, 2009) – Traditionally, mystery shopping has been thought of in terms of the private sector, but increasingly public entities have turned to this service for monitoring compliance with regulations or measuring customer service levels (though the latter is primarily found in the UK.) As a result of legislation passed last year (HR 6331) that might be changing, says Kurt Adams, Senior Accounts Director of Advanced Feedback, a leading provider of telephone monitoring services. “It may the dream come true for many Americans” who wish for greater accountability and higher customer service levels from their government, commented Mr. Adams.
While the law passed last year deals with Medicare Advantage and how it is marketed to the public, it may be a portent of things to come, he speculated. (Specific concerns were allegations of ‘bait and switch’, ‘misrepresentation’ and ‘misconduct’ on the part of agents and brokers.) “It could well be that this model could be a harbinger of things to come. In this case, both the government and private agencies have seen the wisdom of using secret shopping as a means for ensuring compliance, but our hope is it will be used to increase customer service awareness as well”, he concluded.
