In a mystery shop there are two main questions types; Yes/No questions and narratives. Each question type conveys a specific piece of information needed to get a well-rounded mystery shop.

Yes/No mystery shopping questions are primarily used for scoring. If the mystery shopper answers “Yes” for a question where that answer is considered positive, points are awarded for that answer.

For example, “Did an associate greet you when entering the store?” A “yes” answer would be worth the 5 points because the associate did what was expected of them. If the shopper was not greeted, those 5 points would be lost.

These types of questions are always great for “incentivized” mystery shopping programs. If employees know that they will get a bonus for having stellar mystery shopping results every quarter, they will be more likely to pay attention to detail and provide excellent customer service to everyone who walks into the store, including the mystery shoppers.

Narratives are great for clients who want to know exactly what it’s like to shop at their stores in “storybook” format. They value the opinion of the mystery shopper, what they see, what things stick out to them during their customer experience and how each part of the mystery shop transpired.

For example, “I walked into the store and was greeted by Amanda, a tall, brunette girl. She told me about the promotions running that weekend.”

Both mystery shopping questions give you the same information, but there is a rhyme and reason for utilizing both types of questions. Definitive answer questions like Yes/No are used for scoring. Narratives are used for recounting the experience and providing details on top of the regular Yes/No answers.

What types of questions do you prefer? Are you a scoring person or a descriptive person when it comes to receiving mystery shop results? Let us know in the comments section.