BestMark partners with companies in various industries to address thousands of unique business challenges. Each requires a slightly different approach tailored to maximize the value of the solution, but we find that the fundamentals rarely change.

The high level approach we take to deliver insight and tangible performance improvements consists of six stages:

Focus Stages: Positioning for Success

Discuss: We have a unique relationship with each of our clients, but each was set in motion in a simple way: with a conversation. With our expertise and experience working across industries, we come to the table with a core understanding of the challenges our clients are asked to tackle. At the same time, we recognize that your business and business challenges are unique. Our initial goal is to gain a full understanding of your specific situation in order to determine how we can best assist you.

Assess: Once we understand your aspirations, we begin an intensive fact-gathering and analysis process aimed at fully framing the factors that connect to your challenges and objectives. The scope of this stage varies depending on the complexity of the challenge and the internal information you provide, but it often incorporates the following components:

• Company Assessment: Understanding your brand promise, strategic objectives, and any relevant current or past initiatives. Analysis of any available training materials and customer satisfaction data.
• Market / Competitor Assessment: Identifying customer and market trends, your competitive landscape and competitive initiatives.
• Customers Assessment: Mapping the customer experience and identifying key attributes and behaviors that drive customer satisfaction, delight, and loyalty.

Design: With an intimate understanding of your challenges, we will draw on an arsenal of proven services, solutions and best practices from industry leaders to design your program. Our survey forms are designed to dissect and isolate human and business factors that create positive surprise among customers and brand distinction among competitors. In addition, we can integrate data from all parts of your organization to produce consolidated reports that clearly pinpoint strengths and opportunities as measured from a variety of sources. The goal is to uncover which tangible elements of your customers’ experiences are most significantly driving customer delight, satisfaction and/or painful outcomes.

Implement: The extensive preparation that goes into the design of your program ensures flawless implementation; our customized suite of solutions will successfully empower your company to improve on specific delight-driving behaviors. This implementation stage sets in motion what we refer to as the “Circle of Optimization,” a continuous cycle of measuring, analyzing and improving the key drivers that directly influence customer delight, return intent and advocacy.

Specific implementation steps for mystery shops, compliance audits, and exit interviews include:

• Shopper Training and Certification: Qualified BestMark representatives (shoppers, interviewers, auditors) must successfully complete extensive web-based training and pass a certification test based on the exact specifications and parameters of your specific program. Depending on the complexity of your program, auditors and exit interviewers may also be trained in person.
• Scheduling: Schedulers assign site visits to BestMark representatives and verbally review specific procedures.
• Shop Details: BestMark representatives download instructions, blank surveys, and read and sign off on all instructions.
• Shop Execution: BestMark representatives physically perform the shops/audits/interviews.
• Validation and Scoring: BestMark representatives complete survey forms and submit to BestMark along with receipts for validation, if applicable.
• Quality Editing: Completed surveys are assigned to core groups of editors who are trained and certified on your specific program. Editors validate receipts, follow-up with BestMark representatives to verify site visit details, and audit the surveys for accuracy including checks for grammar, spelling, and appropriateness of narratives.

Execution Stages: Optimizing the Customer Experience

Measure: Measuring performance is essential to enable you to make data-driven decisions that produce sustainable performance improvements. Depending on the solutions incorporated into your program, this may be achieved using our web survey technology, internal evaluation software or field force of over 80,000 mystery shoppers, auditors, and exit interviewers who will be extensively trained to execute your on-site projects or phone mystery shops.

Analyze: We understand that data has no life of its own. We give legs to the data through our technology and approach to analysis. With the help of our market research experts and GuestLink™, our proprietary web-based reporting system, we use statistical analysis to interpret findings and quantify connections to the factors that influence profitability. The result of this powerful analysis is truly actionable insight that will empower your organization to drive customer delight and limitless profitability.

Improve: This entire process is an ongoing cycle of continuous improvement. We will make incremental adjustments throughout all stages of execution and analysis to make sure we consistently deliver the best and most actionable services and solutions possible.