Making sure of service

A leading firm of business and financial advisers asked us to find out whether their clients were getting the right information and standard of service from its financial advisers.

The brief

A leading professional firm of financial advisers wanted to be sure that its clients were getting the right level of service and advice. They asked us to carry out a mystery shopping exercise to establish if its advisers were conforming to its strict guidelines.

The challenges

The firm wanted to make sure its operations met the National Customer Service Standards of Putting Customers First, and to produce data to support the findings.

The solution

We worked with our client to design a bespoke mystery shopper exercise, which was designed to measure key aspects of customer service, as defined in the Putting Customers First standards.

The execution

Working with our client, we developed a persona for our expert mystery shoppers to adopt. The persona was that of a middle-aged businessman, with assets including stocks and savings, who was looking for advice on financial planning.

The verdict

Through our report, the client was able to gain detailed feedback on the performance of their advisers and identify areas for improvement.

• The National Customer Service Standards of Putting Customers First initiative was the inspiration for the mystery shopper exercise
• We developed a persona typical of the firm’s typical clientele
• This was a middle-aged businessman who had assets and was looking for financial advice on investing his assets of stocks and savings
• We helped our client identify areas for improvement through our detailed report