Profiles of Distinction

QSI SPECIALISTS
Mystery Shopping Nevada

QSI Specialists (www.qsispecialists.com) is Nevada’s largest provider of mystery shopping services. QSI Specialists is a division of Global Intelligence Network (www.globalintelligence.net) a full service Private Investigative firm and Nevada’s largest provider of employee background investigations and due diligence investigations for Nevada’s gaming industry. We are a Nevada company based in Las Vegas, and our employees and shoppers are Nevada residents. We currently employ approximately 250 full and part time mystery shopping employees and conduct several thousand evaluations per month in a variety of different industries. In addition to fast food, casual dining and fine dining, QSI performs shops for apartments and new homes, financial institutions and auto dealerships, gas stations and golf courses, hotels and casinos, timeshares and concerts, furniture stores and every kinds of retail stores imaginable. QSI also utilizes new advancements such as computer generated reports available almost immediately via e-mail and direct on-line reporting to clients. We are members in good standing of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA – www.mysteryshop.org), the Better Business Bureau and the Nevada Society of Professional investigators.

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There have been a lot of marketing studies done by a lot of real smart people over the years. But one statistic that always stands out and bears repeating is this. Of all the reasons why a customer leaves one restaurant in order to patronize another, 68% do so because of poor customer service. This is an incredible statistic that should make us all realize that maintaining a high standard of customer service from the time your guest sets foot in your establishment until the time he or she walks out the door is really an investment in the future of your business. From the moment a customer walks into your restaurant, your employees make an impression on that customer. As an operator it is essential that you know what kind of impression they are making. Never assume that just because you don’t hear the yelling, that everything is ok. Also remember that is doesn’t have to be bad, to get better. It takes more than just great food to make it in the restaurant business. It is absolutely essential, that as an owner/operator you know how your customers are being treated. Operators who are using mystery shopping programs consistently see an increase in performance.

Everybody in the restaurant business spends a lot money on the front end to advertise and market their establishment. You work hard to develop a reputation for great food. Advertising, marketing and a great product will get them in the door. Great customer service will keep them coming back.

One of the most effective and inexpensive ways to monitor the customer service of your restaurant is through a comprehensive Mystery Shopping Program. In its most basic form, Mystery Shopping is the use of qualified consumers or professional staff to pose as customers of a restaurant or other business. Mystery Shopping provides management with feedback from a customer’s perspective on what it’s like to do business at your establishment. It gives management the ability to monitor their establishment in their absence. It provides management with the ability to monitor customer service and product quality, as well as compliance with company policies and government regulations. And finally, it provides an anonymous, objective means to highlight procedural strengths and deficiencies to help management train and motivate employees.

Mystery Shopping provides management an opportunity to monitor the quality of their food and the service level of their employees. With that knowledge, they can take appropriate measures to prevent customers from going to a competing establishment.

Taking care of the customer is everyone’s job – whether it’s the reservationist, hostess, server or manager. Monitor your customer service and empower your employees to handle a customer’s complaint or request on the spot and at the lowest possible level. Train your employees how to exceed the customer’s expectations every time. Each of your employees plays a key role in the perception of customer service. The small things, like a friendly greeting, a helpful employee or a simple “thank you for your business”, said with meaning, tells the customer that you care. And by all means, if you know the customers name, address them by name.

NEVADA MYSTERY SHOPPING REQUIREMENTS

It has been determined by an opinion from the Nevada Attorney General’s office that Mystery Shopping services are activities which fall within the definition of a Private Investigator, and would require an individual or business to be licensed as such before performing any services as a mystery shopper in Nevada. (Nevada Revised Statute 648).

Nevada statutory requirements are as follows:

People who conduct mystery shopping activities must be licensed private investigators or employees of licensed PI firms (no independent contractors).

People who conduct mystery shopping activities must obtain a work permit (when required) from the sheriff in the county in which they reside. This includes an FBI fingerprint examination.

People who conduct mystery shopping activities must be registered by the licensed private investigative company with the Private Investigators Licensing Board (PILB).

Anyone hiring a mystery shopping provider in Nevada should first contact the Nevada Attorney General Office, Private Investigators Licensing Board at 775-687-3224 to determine if that provider is a licensed private investigator in good standing.