15 years ago, mystery guest reports were very much about ticking boxes:
‘Was cutlery delivered on a tray?’ ✅
‘Was your beer set down with the label facing you?’ ✅
‘Were you offered coffee?’ ✅
Then, the nitty gritty, protocols became more relaxed, and the mystery guest reports became more about engagement and subjectivity, focussing on how customers were made to feel:
‘How did you rate the food/service/ambiance? Please explain’. 💯
Subjective questions are not always easy to validate with a score but the narrative gives a sense of reality and denotes the truth of how that customer (and others) felt, against their expectations.
Conversely, the internationally recognised NPS score, a completely subjective score based on whether a customer would rave about you rant about you, or, more often than not, feel nothing either way, has been making a comeback.
