Let’s take a deeper look at the benefits of simplicity:

• Alignment
  • It’s easier to communicate with others in a straightforward way using terms that everyone can understand. There are many different aspects to our services, so we work hard to educate our clients on the features, benefits, and limitations without over-complicating the process.
• Buy-In
  • Everyone can get on board with taking the path of least resistance. Challenges and obstacles are inevitable – Whenever we are in problem-solving mode, we gather all the necessary information and then look for the easiest option to move forward with.
• Productivity
  • In a nutshell, it’s the 80/20 principle. By focusing on what matters and not focusing on what doesn’t, you are able to get a lot more done in less time. For our industry in particular, if shoppers are asked to do too much, they may miss the most important parts of the evaluation – they are human after all.
• Fulfillment
  • By avoiding confusion and frustration, we are able to consistently show up to work as the best version of ourselves and bring a higher degree of mindfulness to our interactions with those around us. Keeping it simple makes life more enjoyable!

Less is more! We enjoy working with clients and shoppers that subscribe to this same belief system and we find that it leads to the best outcomes for everyone involved.

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What gets measured, gets done

A lot of business leaders and managers make assumptions about the way their staff members are interacting with customers or potential customers, and higher education is no exception. Particularly in the admissions process, where there are so many touchpoints with prospective students and the pressure is so great to hit the annual enrollment goal, it is easy to lose focus on the experience that those prospects are having along the way. You can ask them during the process, through surveys or anecdotally, how they’re feeling about things, but that is just one piece of the puzzle (and you often won’t get a straight answer). You can look at your numbers: leads, applications, deposits, etc., and compare them to historical data to ensure that there aren’t any glaring issues. However, unless you have a mechanism to truly put yourself in the student’s shoes and objectively analyze the process, such as Retail Compliance Auditor, then you are likely missing some easy opportunities.

Customize and adjust your approach

One of the great things about Retail Compliance Auditor is that you can tailor the details of the program to your goals and needs, which are always evolving with the times. From the shop itself (over the phone, online, in-person, virtual meetings, etc.) to the instructions that the shoppers are required to follow, to the questions on the report they fill out, to the scoring of the reports, to the schedule of how many and when the shops occur – it is all in your control to determine these things so that the information you are receiving has maximum benefit. We are happy to help at the beginning for new clients by providing some general best practices, but we often find that after a few months of shops that some major blind spots are uncovered, which leads to changes in the program details afterward.

Build it into your culture

We find that clients who see the best return on investment with us, across all industries, have a strategy for integrating the Retail Compliance Auditor program into their company’s culture. Everyone needs to be bought into the purpose and value of the program, otherwise, morale can be negatively affected and the shops can become very contentious. Instead of approaching shoppers as a “gotcha” tool, we recommend sharing and emphasizing the great points on the reports just as much as the opportunities for improvement. Many of our clients even have incentive programs tied to mystery shop scores for their staff, which can be very useful if done correctly.

As always, if you are interested in learning more about Retail Compliance Auditor for the college admissions process, please reach out to us!

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Most people aren’t familiar with the extent to which we can customize our shops. The value and uniqueness of Retail Compliance Auditor centers around the ability to hand tailor every aspect of the scenario as well as how the information is organized and reported back. We often suggest to clients: “Put yourself in the shopper’s shoes – What exactly would you be looking for?”

Here are some examples of criteria that we can specify:

• Scheduling parameters
• Order requirements
• Shopper demographics
• Things the shopper should (or shouldn’t) do and ask about
• Picture requirements
• Audio recording
• And many others…

For your next LTO, ask us about setting up a project to have our shoppers evaluate the item in great detail, as well as how your team is describing and selling it. This information will empower you to make better decisions and hold your organization accountable, which will ultimately help boost sales.

You may even consider partnering with your supplier and sharing the cost…

Contact us here

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