Online Mystery Shop Report: Customer Service in Canadian Auto Dealers

This report presents the findings of an online mystery shop conducted on three Canadian automobile dealerships: Ford, Nissan, and BMW. The student created multiple email accounts to submit test drive requests and quote inquiries, evaluating the customer service and communication methods employed by each dealership. The report details the student's experiences, focusing on response times, professionalism, and the use of technology in customer interactions. BMW was rated highest for its customer service, followed by Nissan and then Ford. The analysis highlights the importance of customer care, the professionalism of sales personnel, and the role of technology in modern customer relations within the automotive industry. The report concludes with an overall assessment of the customer service practices observed during the mystery shopping exercise, emphasizing the value of these insights for marketing research and business improvement.

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Online Mystery shop of Canadian Automobile Dealers
Name
Professor
Course
Date

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Online Mystery shop of Canadian Automobile Dealers
Introduction
Canada is an established nation. Over the years, the government of Canada has been
doing everything within its capacity to create a favorable environment for its traders. Automobile
is one of the most prosperous industries in the country. The country has a combination of foreign
and domestic automobile firms. The firms engage in the production and assembly of different
brands and makes of automobiles. At the same time, there are automobile dealers which mainly
specialize in the sale of various automobiles and automobile parts to their clients spread both
within and out of the country. Each of these dealers is wholly reliant on their clients because
without them, they cannot achieve anything. This paper presents a report on the online mystery
shopping that I had conducted in three Canadian automobile dealerships: Ford, Nissan, and
Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW).
The Online Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping is a kind of shopping that is done in cognito. When engaging in a
mystery shopping activity, one does not have to necessarily identify oneself. Instead, what
happens is that one remains unidentified and does not actually state the exact reason for the
shopping or intention to do so. Mystery shopping is an old, but cherished practice that has been
used as a marketing strategy. As a student of marketing, I had to dedicate my time to carry out a
successful mystery shopping. My shopping was mysterious because it was purely organized
through the internet. Meaning, I had to fully-disguise my identity so as to ensure that none of the
people with whom I interacted got to know about my real names, location, background, and the
intensions that I had.

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My mysterious chopping was purely done online. Since I had made a decision not to be
physically-present at the company’s stores, I had to do it online. After identifying the Ford,
Nissan, and BMW as my preferred automobile dealers, I decided to visit them through the use of
emailing system that I had chosen as the most convenient medium of communication to use to
link up with the sales executives for the companies. So, what I did was just to create some three
Gmail accounts using my preferred profile. Each of the accounts was created because it would
enable me to interact with the company representatives without raising any suspicions or
concerns. Once this was done, I had to search through the company websites to get the email
addresses through which I made my correspondences.
During the shopping, I engaged the company representatives in lengthy discussions.
Here, I had to ask several questions regarding the services that the companies offer, the
relationship with clients, customer experience, and the quality of the products that they sell in the
market. In the three email correspondences, I sought to know how each company uses modern
technology to facilitate the communication between it and its customers. At the same time, I took
my time to study the way the companies treat the customers who visit their retail outlets or
approaches them through any medium of communication that are available for usage. I had to
focus on customer care because I acknowledge the significant contributions of client satisfaction
on the success of a business entity. All these indicate that the information and experience that I
got was important because it would enable me to know about the way the companies have been
operating in the country.
Report on My Experiences

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I would like to acknowledge that mystery shopping is quite interesting practice. The
experiences I had when I pretended to be a mystery shopper at the BMW, Nissan, and Ford
dealerships proved to me that, indeed, mystery shopping can serve as an invaluable marketing
research tool. I am saying this because of the pleasant experiences and worthy lessons that I had
learnt during the entire period in which I was communicating with the representatives in these
companies.
The first observation that I made is that these companies value every single client who
expresses a desire to purchase any commodity from them. Although I was not physically present
at the retail shops, I must say, without feat of contradiction, that Ford, Nissan, and BMW value
their customers. The companies have friendly personnel who appear to be accommodative,
understanding, focused, and persuasive. When I sent my email to these companies, it was
responded to in the right manner that I was not even expecting. My inquiries were adequately
responded to and answered using correct, precise, and complete responses that were not only
easy to understand, but persuaded me to go ahead and place all the orders I was intending to
bring to the company. Generally, the three companies have quality customer care services.
However, if I were to rank these companies, I would have considered BMW as the best, followed
by Nissan, and finally by Ford. Meaning, based on my experience, in a scale of 1-5, I would
award BMW 5 points for excellence; Nissan 4 points for very good; and Ford 3 points for good
services. The companies deserve these scores because they are commensurate with the kinds of
services that they had offered me. My experience is a clear indication of the positive experiences
that the companies’ customers have been having all along.
The second observation I made during my mystery shopping exercise is that customers
who shop at the Ford, Nissan, and BMW automobile dealers have a positive experience because

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of the professionalism of the sales personnel in these companies. I made this conclusion because
I realized that these companies value nothing, but professionalism. All the employees with whom
I interacted were professional in their approach, mannerisms, and responses. At no one time did I
notice anything missing in as far as our correspondence is concerned. Even if we never got an
opportunity to physically meet and have a one-on-one encounter, I must say that the levels of
services were beyond my expectation. All my emails were responded to within 24 hours. If I
were to rank the services in terms of professionalism, I would have awarded the three companies
an excellent mark. The communications demonstrated that there is a high-degree of kindness,
courtesy, respect, care, and attention. For example, in my correspondence with the BMW
representative, I was offered huge discounts as well as many alternative offers from which I
could not even make my preferred choice regarding the right orders to place. The same applies to
what I observed at the Nissan and Ford dealerships. Professionalism is a key component of
customer care. An organization that values professionalism ends up satisfying the clients by
meeting all their needs no matter how diverse they might be.
The final observation that I made while engaging in the mystery shopping exercise is
that, at Ford, Nissan, and BMW dealerships, technology matters a lot. The three companies
consider technology as the cornerstone of their customer relationships. Since the companies have
fully-embraced e-commerce, they not only rely on the conventional face-to-face communication.
Rather, communication is done through a wide range of media that have been availed by the
current technological innovations. Apart from using the telephone, and email, the companies
have also resorted to the use of electronic media platforms. Here, the companies use the e-
commerce platforms in which the clients get room to engage them through the online live
chatrooms, quick messaging system, and emailing platforms. At the same time, the companies

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have diversified the communication process by creating room for the use of the social media.
The use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and others show that Ford, Nissan, and
BMW is very much concerned about getting in touch with their clients through whichever
possible media of communication. In this regard, if I were to rank these company’s efforts, I
would have given them an excellent score. The exploitation of the use of all the available media
platforms is a clear indication of the company’s flexibility and adaptability to modern
communication. This is quite commendable because the more the options, the more convenient
the clients get to access and communicate to the company becomes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, mystery shopping is wow. I had a pleasant experience interacting with
customer representatives from the Ford, Nissan, and BMW. When I took time to act as a
mysterious shopper in these companies, I did not know what would happen. However, upon a
successful completion of this exercise, I must acknowledge that I was, indeed, happy. I commend
the three companies for displaying a high-degree of professionalism and prowess in customer
relations. The way in which I was served shows that these companies value their customers and
treat them with the dignity that they deserve. The same also applies to the communication
process that has been enabled to be unexpectedly-efficient and convenient. With all these
awesome experiences, I state that Ford, Nissan, and BMW have exceptional customer care
services.