SAIF Golden Charter

Funeral plan mystery shopping

John Byrne discusses his staff’s reaction to being mystery shopped, and the value the J T Byrne team now place on it…

“Golden Charter’s mystery shopping activity is something I’ve been aware of for a while, but I have only recently fully appreciated the benefits it can offer, to customers and to our businesses.

When I first broached the subject to the team, the idea of having their calls listened to didn’t appeal much at all but having the discussion and going through the process has brought about a complete 360 degree change in their views.

In discussing it with them, we were able to see mystery shopping as not about testing and failing our staff based on the quality of call handling, but as a tool to help us improve the information we were giving to families considering a funeral plan and the overall service we offer as a business.

Following the activity, we sat down together as a team and jotted down which aspects of the mystery shop call had been handled well and areas which could have been approached differently.

The result was that we developed a training aid including a list of points to definitely mention to families, points which could possibly be mentioned, and aspects which weren’t so important to cover. The activity also made us think about how we were giving people information and the language used. It helped us spot terms we used internally (‘a hearse and one’) that weren’t going to be clearly understood by the family and could be confusing.

Feedback from the team has been overwhelmingly positive and from my own perspective the activity is hugely valuable, especially as we move into a regulated world and will need to increasingly demonstrate how we meet certain standards.

In summary, I’d say if we invest the necessary time and effort and use the mystery shopping tool to our advantage, there are always opportunities to deliver a better service for families, and ultimately to protect our businesses for the future.”

Golden Charter undertakes funeral plan mystery shopping as part of the partnership service it offers to funeral directors. Mystery shopping provides insight, support and training to ensure the highest standards for customers in a regulated environment. To find out more, please contact your Golden Charter Business Manager.