Mystery Email
EVALUATE AND DEVELOP THE QUALITY OF CUSTOMER CONTACT WITH MYSTERY E-MAILS
Mystery emails are test emails in which a trained tester (mystery shopper) sends a typical request for a given authentic scenario via email or submits via a customer contact form and evaluates the response according to objective criteria.
Mystery emails are used to collect information that serves to develop quality in written email contact. The overall purpose of test emails is to improve customer satisfaction, customer orientation, customer service, and service quality.
The focus of the development measures is predominantly on topics such as:
- Response speed
- Responding to inquiries
- Friendliness
- Professional competence
- Quality of advice
- Closure behavior
Synonymously used terms are test email, test mail, and mystery email.
Typical test elements are:
- Accessibility
- Speed of response
- Address
- Personalization
- Responding to request
- Naming
- Professional competence
- Thanks
- Content quality
- Closing orientation
- Formal standards
Mystery emails are used in all industries where customers communicate via the email channel. This is most frequently done in these industries: Car trade, banking, DIY stores, call centers, computer trade, consumer electronics, DIY, retail, specialized trade, gastronomy, trade, hotel industry, furniture trade, motorcycle trade, service centers, telecommunications, tourism, publishing, insurance.
Mystery emails are used to test and develop the quality of customer contact in our own internal or externally commissioned call centers or service centers. The spectrum of requests of the test emails ranges from information requests to complete order processing including consultation, conclusion, delivery, and return.
Test emails are often combined with the test of other contact channels (letter, chat, fax). Test emails also allow the tester to identify himself at the end of the test and give direct feedback to the tested employee. This feedback is very well received by most employees, because the test shows from the customer's point of view what was positive in the communication and where there may be room for improvement.
SERVICES OF CONCERTARE IN THE FIELD OF MYSTERY E-MAIL
concertare generates up to 100,000 mystery emails annually. Automated mailings are not used, as these are usually immediately identified as test emails. Behind each email, there is an individual email account and all email inquiry texts are individualized very efficiently using special procedures, so that only authentic tests indistinguishable from real inquiries are generated.
concertare also offers special training measures for call centers and service centers, in which employees in customer contact are familiarized with the standards of modern and customer-oriented email communication.
This can also be combined with consulting measures in which processes are structured and optimized across departments, for example, through text modules or compendiums with the relevant FAQ of employees or teams.
MYSTERY E-MAILS AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT FOR OPTIMIZING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Today, emails are a frequently used touchpoint in the customer journey when in contact with customers. High-quality e-mails contribute to a good customer experience and high customer satisfaction. Many consumers today prefer written contact via email when it comes to obtaining general information, asking questions about a product, or providing feedback on a specific issue. The younger generation in particular prefers digital contact to face-to-face or telephone contact.
With the help of mystery email, you can find out how your employees react to the relevant emails and whether they comply with company-specific guidelines. After all, emails - especially in customer contact - should not be answered "on instinct" without being checked. The seriousness of a company and its employees is particularly evident in the careful handling of apparent "trifles", such as the signature used, or the amount of time that elapses before the sender receives his reply. Of course, we can also check the WhatsApp contact, as the checking processes are very similar to those of the email contact channel.
WHAT IS THE FOCUS OF MYSTERY E-MAIL?
The criteria that can be tested in the field of mystery email are very versatile and can be adapted to all internal company standards and specifications. For example, our mystery shoppers often first send a classic customer email with a typical request. The subsequent response is evaluated in terms of friendliness, competence, customer orientation and service, among other things. With the help of appropriate documentation and reporting, it is then often much easier to sensitize the company's own employees to better customer orientation in email correspondence. The findings from a mystery email program can also be used to tailor the content of relevant training courses even better to customer needs.
WHAT GOALS CAN BE PURSUED WITH MYSTERY E-MAILS?
Mystery emails are used to improve the customer experience in the area of written communication. Regardless of which employee answers the respective email, the customer should always be encouraged to continue and expand contact with the company with a convincing mix of competence and friendliness. In addition to the formal understandable criteria such as signature, self-evident criteria such as high reactivity, etc., however, aspects are especially important that give the customer the feeling that his concern is being taken care of individually, appreciatively, and comprehensively.
Since processes associated with the email or contact form channel can be optimized relatively quickly and sustainably through mystery emails, this also leads very quickly to a higher quality perceived by the customer in customer contact and thus to increased customer satisfaction.
With our tester pool of over 150,000 testers in Germany and several 100,000 worldwide, we can carry out mystery email projects of any size, both nationally and internationally.
We will be happy to advise you on this.