(Australia-NewsWire.Com, February 26, 2014 ) Queensland, Australia -- One thing sure to spike anxiety into retail workers is discovering that secret shoppers have been in the store.
Topping the list of one of the things first looked for by a professional mystery shopper, is whether the staff member is wearing a name badge.
An audit conducted by Australian secret shopper experts Mystery Shopper Pty Ltd revealed that 71% of customer service staff was not wearing a name badge.
According to Simon Dangerfield from Australian name badge supplier Signal Advantage, these staff are jeopardizing their retail businesses.
“Name badges not only are part of a branded uniform, but they help improve customer relations by creating rapport with the customer,” said Simon.
A survey of 1000 retail customers in the US showed that 96% of customers want to recognize a person by name during a transaction. More than 76% of the respondants said they trust and considered the company to be more professional if its customer facing staff were wearing name badges.
“Name badges keep staff accountable for the way they represent their employers but also open avenues for customers to provide positive feedback.”
Research, conducted in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom shows an instant 12% customer rise in customer satisfaction in retail businesses which required staff to wear name badges compared to those who didn’t.
“In many cases a name badge is like a uniform. It lets customers know they are dealing with an expert and helps the sales assistant initiate a conversation which may lead to a transaction,” said Simon.
He said Signal Advantage often receives phone calls from retail managers after a tip-off that their store might be the target of secret shoppers or that senior management is coming to visit the store.
“We’ve helped many businesses, at extremely short notice, come up to scratch for inspection from senior management. Because all of our manufacturing is done out of our offices, we usually produce the name badges on the same day that the order is received and we don’t have any minimum order requirements which means that we can easily make up a small order of badges for one shop and deliver as fast as possible.”