Less Than 1/3 of Jewelers Have Had Their Stores Mystery-Shopped

THIS MONTH’S QUESTION: HAVE YOU EVER HAD YOUR STORE MYSTERY SHOPPED?

Yes: 28%

• We received great feedback we could use for improvement. Sometime you don’t see the forest for the trees. — Don Unwin, Sterling Jewelers, Wethersfield, CT
• Tacori has mystery shopped us as have several jewelry-store owners both in and outside of a Plexus group. We learned we need to go for add-on sales, which my staff is sometimes shy about. — Dorothy Vodicka, The Gem Collection, Tallahassee, FL
• Pandora: Got great marks. Shane Decker. Got fair remarks. — Dan Decker, Decker Diamond Jewelers, Ebensburg, PA
• Rolex regularly mystery-shops their stores. I know of two times for sure, and both of those had very good “grades.” — Kim Hatchell, Galloway & Moseley, Sumter, SC
• I’ve had friends do it, by phone and in person. I gave them scripts. The results were not good.— Andrea Riso, Talisman Collection, El Dorado Hills, CA
• The Platinum Guild did it. They were not happy because we didn’t push platinum. A little skewed. But they loved everything else we did and our store. — Meg Rankin, J. Rankin Jewellers, Edmonds, WA
• Results were as expected: we need to show high and don’t offer discounts. — John Hayes, Goodman’s Jewelers, Madison, WI
• [A well-known former jewelry magazine editor] came in and it was obvious I knew who she was and she tried to fool me. I just started to laugh until she joined in. — Buddy Bear, Buddy Bear Jewelers, Merion, PA
• Well, it wasn’t intentional. The boss of one of the shareholders came in and gave us a not-so-glowing review. We took her suggestions to heart and fixed the holes in the ship right away. — Elysia Demers, Barnhardt Jewelers, Spencer, NC

Everything good except we do not have anyone standing close to the front door. — Scott Lefcourt, Scottsdale Fine Jewelers, Scottsdale, AZ

• I ask friends who are in marketing programs at university or in the marketing field to mystery shop us. — Shahraz Kassam, Shamin Jewellers, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• A friend/jeweler from out of town. He looked at my merch mix and employees. He also shopped my competition. What an eye-opener! — Frank Eilberg, Marlen Jewelers, Rocky River, OH
• I hired Customer Perspectives to design a form with specific questions that were based on a set of “non-negotiables” that we train on. I was pleased with the results and so proud of my staff! — Kristin Cornwell, Cornwell Jewelers, Athens, OH
• It was the owner who had us shopped and he had it done by someone who was potentially the new store manager! — Alisha Moore, Toner Jewelers, Overland Park, KS

No: 72%

• My clients have no social filter and tell me everything bad that happens. — Kent Bagnall. Kent Jewelry, Rolla, MO
• Social media tends to be our “mystery shopper.” At any day or any minute you could have an interaction with a customer that winds up on Facebook or Instagram. — Mary Jo Chanski, Hannoush Jewelers, Rutland, VT
• I don’t want my staff to feel I don’t trust them to do their job. — Whitney Lang, Burkes Fine Jewelers, Kilmarnock, VA
• We are a small store and I prefer to go out and shop the competition! It has always worked well for us. — Frank Salinardi, Linardi’s Jewelers, Plantation, FL
• Our online reviews tell us about how we’re doing and what we need to improve. — Jennifer Farnes, Revolution Jewelry Works, Colorado Spring, CO
• There’s only me. Kind of pointless to hire somebody to tell me what I did! — Janne Etz, Contemporary Concepts, Cocoa, FL

This article originally appeared in the July 2017 edition of INSTORE.