During my first week as an intern at Sales by 5, the largest task assigned to me was secret shopping for a client. What is secret shopping? It’s when someone is hired to pose as a customer in order to evaluate the quality of the goods or services provided.

When some hear about this way of gathering information they see it as “tricking” their employees. However, it is a tool to measure the quality of service that is truly being provided to its customers. From past and recent experiences secret shopping, I can tell you that the level of honesty on the services provided from a company increases when they do not know you are representing a firm, and believe you are an everyday customer.

Secret shopping is also a useful marketing tool when trying to gather information about a company’s competitors and the consistency of customer service that’s being provided by a company. Now with Sales by 5, I saw it used to measure the effectiveness of sales training. This strategy helped the employees understand where they were, and where they needed to be. So is secret shopping useful? We can say it is increasing positive experiences with company’s customer base.

Kendall DeWall
PR Producer

This is the 7th year that Salesby5 is part of the Fortune Leadership summit. This biannual learning event keeps our team and our clients ahead of their competition. Our work is shown on Gazelles.com, YouTube and soon, the Fortune iPad app.

Nan Palmero and Erik Darmstetter will be shooting HD video, editing and posting immediately after interviewing Jim Collins, Jim Stengel, Former Global Marketing Officer from Proctor & Gamble, and many of the 650 CEOs attending from around the world. One of our questions to these CEOs will be “What is the greatest business decision you’ve ever made?” Mine (Erik) was to sell my ownership of Creative Link. What was yours?

Here is where you can view and follow our nuggets of information from 2 days with the best of the best business authors of our time.
https://www.facebook.com/gazellesinc 
https://twitter.com/gazellesinc

How do you make your employees, coworkers, spouse, kids, neighbor or pets feel?

In the last month, I have been shopping (often we secret shop at Salesby5 to find out who is selling and un-selling) for assisted living facilities for a family member. I found 2 out of 6 in my area that were excellent. 3 were unacceptable regarding customer service and “FEEL”! and 1 was almost acceptable.

Am I picky? YES! Am I a consumer? YES! For example, on my trips, I experienced:

1. No one acknowledging my presence after entering a facility and waiting for 10+ minutes, while staff walked by repeatedly.

2. Posters are cheesy flyers from a computer on pastel paper.

3. Plants are dusty and fake versus real and attractive plants from perhaps Plant Interscapes (Client).

4. Desks look like a bargain store buy from 1980 something.

What would all this say on how this company is going to take care of your loved one?

A good friend of mine owns Mercedes Benz of Boerne and when he built that facility, special attention was paid to the restrooms. His close to exact quote was, “Your restrooms and how they are kept show how you feel about your guests.” His had music, granite, and  kept them impeccable compared to many restaurants, malls, and office buildings that are poor examples.

Today, I ask you to dissect how you are making people feel. How are they making you feel? If they bring you down and are friends perhaps it’s time to let them know. Recently, I made a call to a vendor to tell them that  5 un returned calls in 2 months is no longer acceptable and I will be shopping for a new vendor.

As a special bonus for attending the party, everyone received a Semper Five shirt. For past and present employees, a special alumni badge was added. If you attended the party and did not receive your shirt, we’d love to provide you one. Reviews have come back quite positively on the shirts, with some saying they “prefer the feel of the shirt over the touch of their baby.” – Anonymous

A special thank you to recording artist Brent Michael Wood who did a great job with the music and Rebecca Creek Distillery who sponsored the Enchanted Rock Vodka & Rebecca Creek Whiskey. More photos from the event are available on the SalesBy5 Facebook Page.