Mystery Audit, also commonly known as ‘incognito inspection’ and/or ‘Mystery Guest service’, is a strategic tool for all companies that aim to take a ‘snapshot’ of what a guest and/or customer experiences in terms of quality of experience. The purpose of this service is to identify what is already effective and optimal and what, instead, can be improved and developed.
This strategic tool has been established for many years in the world of luxury at 360°: in hotels, retail, catering, events and every other segment of the luxury sector.
Focusing on the world of hospitality, we notice that the mystery audit in hotels has become an essential tool to meet the challenges of an ever-changing market. With guests becoming increasingly demanding and detail-oriented, hotels need to ensure an outstanding level of service to stand out, especially in this increasingly competitive market.
This type of audit allows hotels and managers to assess the quality of their services, identifying areas of improvement and implementing strategies to exceed guests’ expectations. In a market where customer experience is crucial, the mystery audit is therefore a valuable resource for maintaining and enhancing one’s brand reputation.
Why you should schedule a Mystery Audit in your hotel?
Gathering feedback from our main customers and on the basis of the goals of our auditing tool, we can identify 6 key reasons. In detail, a Mystery Audit is effective in:
- improving the emotional experience of guests
- enhancing communication with its customers
- getting to know how the hotel is perceived from the outside
- improving the guest journey experienced by each guest
- creating unique experiences
- minimising missed revenue opportunities (MRO)
What are the advantages of Mystery Audit?
According to the goals set in the project phase, the needs of the individual facility and according to the overall feedback obtained from the Mystery Auditor’s report, we can identify multiple benefits. Here are some of the main ones:
- Enhancement of the guest experience: receiving specific feedback on how the various touchpoints between the guest and the staff have been handled gives insight into whether the guest experience is already optimal or whether there are certain details that can be enhanced and optimised.
- Authentic understanding of the guests: the report allows management and staff to get a deep insight into what the guest has felt at every moment of the guest experience. Every member of staff has the opportunity to know whether the expressed and hidden needs of the guests have been understood, satisfied or whether dynamics of dissatisfaction have emerged
- Positioning in the luxury sector: working to develop the areas of improvement uncovered by the Mystery Audit enables the hotel and/or facility to position itself effectively and optimally against competitors.
- Increased revenue: with the Mystery Audit, missed revenue opportunities are also identified. Staff can consequently work on improving their sales attitude to increase revenue and develop their proactive approach to selling
- Awareness of emotional impact and emotional engagement: the data collected during the Mystery Audit also provides an insight into how the guest has felt emotionally throughout his or her experience and how the staff have been able to develop positive engagement
- Alignment with standards: when the hotel has specific standards of service and behaviour, we can analyse whether they are being met during the planned Mystery Audits or whether there is a need to plan an adjustment with the staff of the various departments in the hotel.
The Hospite Mystery Audit: our method
In order for Mystery Audit to be a concrete and effective tool, it is necessary to implement method, strategy and long-term vision. To do this, together with the owners and management we follow a specific project line structured as follows:
- Step 1: together with our team we plan an initial briefing to better define the hotel management’s main needs and then define the priorities to focus on during the Mystery Audit
- Step 2: we then start the concrete development phase of the project, defining the number of audits required to monitor the quality of the service offered to guests, and together we draw up the Mystery Auditor scenarios (couple’s trip, business trip, family trip, etc.)
- Step 3: we study the profiles of our auditors internally, then assign those that most closely match the hotel’s needs and set up the assignments
- Step 4: following the Mystery Audit, the Mystery Guest professional sends us the reports, and we start reading, reviewing, analysing and studying the data
- Step 5: we plan and run an online or face-to-face meeting with management to share the Mystery Audit reports and, once the sharing is complete, we send all the material to the hotel team
- Step 6: we define an action plan for the future in order to structure training, on-the-job training and coaching for staff to develop all the areas for improvement that emerged from the incognito audits.
And now?
Now that we have looked together at all the steps to better plan the Mystery Audit, its advantages and benefits, all that is left to do is to define together the project for your hotel and/or establishment. Contact us at info@hospite.it or book a free in-depth call directly: https://bit.ly/Hospite_Call
Martina Dalla Vedova
Marketing Manager Hospite S.r.l.