Word: guesting
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...service. Some shoppers see themselves as crusaders, punishing bad behavior and rewarding unsung heroes. Intrawest ski resorts recently handed out $100 bills to workers who scored especially well on a secret-shopper report. And a top-tier hotel rewarded its staff for finding a way to supply an undercover guest with the late-night Pepsi he requested from the Coke-only establishment. "It used to be about catching people doing something wrong," says Mike Bare, MSPA's co-founder. "But more and more, it's validating people who do things right...
This stealthy approach to quality control got its start in the late 1980s, mainly in the restaurant and retail businesses. There's even a trade group, the Mystery Shoppers Providers Association (MSPA), representing about 1 million secret shoppers and 150 member companies with names like Guest Check and Service Sleuth. The hospitality industry is new turf for these shopping-mall snoops, and increasingly, secret shoppers like Pokodner have become secret travelers, checking up on the world's vacation spots...
...particularly sharp eyes for bad service.) On a recent trip to a top hotel in Korea, Pokodner checked on the cleanliness of the rooms, the smileyness of the concierge and the juiciness of the restaurant's tenderloin-and-shrimp brochette. His approach is straightforward. "I act like any other guest," he says, but one who pays unusually close attention to detail. Occasionally he heads to the rest room to jot down observations, but mostly he just takes mental notes...
...soul could speak only in an Oscar Hammerstein lyric. A cheerleader for Team Katie, he bounded from his seat, genuflected before his startled host, jumped on the couch and pumped his fist, NBA-finals style. "I don't know what happened to you, boy," said Oprah Winfrey at her guest's baby-chimp antics. Still in an orgasmic daze, Cruise replied, "Man, I don't know either...
...boss going to let me play it.'" With his consultant job filled, Coleman started working at Foot Locker. He was a few months away from getting a store of his own to manage when Rich and new partner Big Kenny Alphin offered him a guest spot on their tour and then a record deal...