Mystery Shopping Professionals Association appoints Jill Spencer as global chair for Year of the Customer
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The Mystery Shopping Professionals Association (MSPA) has appointed Jill Spencer as global chair. She is associate director of React CX, the UK customer experience specialist and has launched the ‘International Year of the Customer’.
MSPA represents the worldwide customer experience industry. The 450 member companies’ services include customer experience strategy, market research, merchandising, private investigation, training, coaching and mystery shopping services.
“Every year should be a ‘year of the customer’ – but the challenges of 2019 demand smart strategies to counter the huge disruption across the traditional retailing sector, with unrelenting pressure on profits,” says Jill Spencer.
“Recent published financial results in the US and Europe show that focus on value propositions – the promise of value to be delivered – out-performs discounting and other tactics, as buyers continue to demand more from their in-store experience.
“The importance of a positive experience has never been clearer; 64 percent of shoppers say customer experience is more important than price. Millennials are willing to spend up to 21 percent more to get great customer service. Whilst competitive pricing will always remain a factor in a company’s strategy, great service is the key factor. And that’s where the MSPA can help”.
MSPA members help businesses understand what their customers want and road test each step of their experience, she says – from entering a store, to selecting goods and services, asking for help from staff and making payment.
“We operate as a temperature check – measuring designed experience against delivered experience – or tactically to address specific situations, such as complaint handling. Ultimately, we can identify where things are going wrong and advise how to put them right. The MSPA and its members have services and systems to measure, benchmark and report on performance from the experience of mystery shoppers,” she says.
