In todays world ALL of your customers are mystery shoppers. Here’s what I mean. I recently went to a new steak restaurant in my neightborhood. To set the stage, where I lve is not known for fine dining. Up until recently,great restaurants where typically family owned affairs but recently we’ve seen an influx of larger restaurants and some chains.

On Sunday, I decided to try a new restaurant named Flemings Steak House. I sat at the bar ( I was alone) and  ordered a shrimp appetizer, a filet and a salad as well as a single malt and a lager. As I was waiting  I was using my Iphone to write a review on http://www.Yelp.com and once the appetizer arrived I was well into the review.

The appetizer tasted good but it was slightly cold and kind of gooey but I ate it (it was spicy and I like spicy food) anyway. When I finished the bartender Jason, asked how I liked the dish and I mentioned that it was cold. I was getting ready to write my review when the restaurant manager came over and asked me how I liked the dish. Again I hemmed and hawed but told him the dish was cold. He immediately took the dish of the bill and offered a sincere apology. They went above and beyond normal service to ensure I was happy and turned a OK review into a great review (see my Yelp.com review of Flemings SteakHouse).

The point is in today’s world all of your customers MAY be mystery shoppers. They all can (and more often will) review your business online and expose your warts to the world. If you’ve got shitty products, the world could know, if you have great service the world will know. The question for you is “CAN YOU CONTROL THE PROCESS”. The answer is a resounding MAYBE, but doing something is better than doing nothing.

Discover what to do NOW, Discover HOW you can influence your customer reviews.