DATE: Monday, May 5, 1997                   TAG: 9705030505

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  121 lines

BEACH FIRM TAKES MYSTERY OUT OF PROVIDING GOOD SERVICE

Margie Johnson glances at her watch as two bank branch employees chat by a copy machine. A cashier swishes by in a cotton dress so tight that it reveals everything, including lumpy underwear lines.

Any other customer might have gritted teeth at the delay or raised eyebrows at the cashier's garb. But Johnson is no regular shopper; she's merely posing as one. At day's end, Johnson will have plenty of tidbits - good and bad - to report back to the bank's management.

Mystery shopping isn't a new idea. Long ago, business owners hired ``customers'' to spy on employees suspected of gabbing all day on the phone, leaving stores untended and stealing money from the cash register.

But Johnson has turned mystery shopping into an art form that has helped her build a successful consulting business with dozens of clients, including several big retailers, restaurants and hotels.

While some mystery shopping companies might visit a business once and then send in their reports, Johnson digs in. She uses mystery shopping as a tool to identify a company's strengths and weaknesses and later as a device to help train employees.

In the meantime, she's busy behind the scenes, interviewing owners, employees and former shoppers.

``She's going to give you her thoughts,'' said an official with the local bank that hired Johnson, who asked that the company not be identified. ``And maybe that's not what you want to hear. But as a consultant, Margie is compelled to say, `Hey, you really have to look at this another way.' ''

Johnson, owner of Shop Talk in Virginia Beach, has watched her retail consulting business take off as business owners worry about cutthroat competition, lagging sales and their ability to survive.

Their ailments - befuddled or frustrated management, clueless or indifferent employees - are often no mystery to her. She has seen them repeated again and again during her 30-plus years in retail.

Key to her success in consulting is her past co-ownership of two popular businesses on the Outer Banks of North Carolina: The Galleon Esplanade shopping center and A Restaurant by George. She sold her shares in both properties in 1985, and then began advising other businesses and organizing apparel trade shows.

What makes Johnson even more popular is her ability to undress a business without humiliating its owners and employees, her clients say.

Dan Ryan, who owns Dan Ryan's for Men clothing store in Virginia Beach, says he hired Johnson in part because of growing competition. MacArthur Center, for example, will feature

Nordstrom, Dillard's and scores of specialty shops when it opens in downtown Norfolk in 1999.

Johnson, he says, was blunt but not offensive during a meeting in which they discussed an improperly handled incident.

``I take full responsibility for it,'' Ryan told Johnson.

``You should,'' Johnson responded. ``Because you are the one responsible.''

``I said to myself, `Whoooaaa,' '' Ryan said later. ``But it made me think.''

An owner should consider this, Johnson believes, because times are getting tougher. She says there is a more pressing need for employees and management to work together so the company can boost sales and improve customer service.

``For so long, we've been able to dictate to the customer,'' Johnson said. ``But customers are moving very quickly to where they're better served.''

For instance, at the local bank, many customers would have been annoyed by the idle chatter and dismayed by the cashier's apparel. Johnson will report these indiscretions to the bank's management. But she'll also tell them about the good things.

Another client, The Image at Haygood, a popular beauty salon in Virginia Beach, seemed to have no problems at first glance. It was making money. It was packed with customers. But under the surface, Johnson discovered some things that were keeping the business from expanding the way it should.

``I knew that if I was going to grow, I had to do something different,'' said Bobbi Carter-Andrews, owner of The Image.

Mystery shopping revealed that a few hairstylists sometimes annoyed customers by gabbing about personal matters or inappropriate subjects.

Johnson determined that The Image's most problematic employee was one who brought in a great deal of business. He was difficult. He had his own agenda. He nixed Johnson's and Andrews' suggestions.

But there was another problem, and that was Andrews herself.

She was working 12- to 16-hour days. She crunched the accounting numbers, managed the daily operations, acted as marketing director and figured out the payroll.

``I was like a little mouse on a wheel, running as fast as I could but never catching up,'' Andrews said. ``I was just overwhelmed.''

First, Johnson told Andrews that she needed to address the stylists' behavior. Then, she needed to delegate some of her responsibilities.

The third major suggestion was the toughest and a rare one for Johnson. She told Andrews to fire the prima donna hairstylist.

It still took Andrews about a year to follow through.

``I always thought that if the pay was fair, I had empathy and provided a good workplace, that was enough,'' Andrews said. ``In doing so, I was sometimes too lenient and too giving.''

Today, Andrews still works long hours, but she has managers who watch over the daily operations. She has set up policies that address what she expects from her employees.

As a result, the employees are happier, and the company has been growing steadily.

``I have a better staff now,'' she said. ``I don't have the disgruntled feelings around anymore.''

Despite the suggestion to fire, Johnson cringes at companies that use mystery shopping to punish employees.

``We don't use it as a policing tool - to point fingers and say, `Ah hah! We've got you now,' '' she said.

Rather, Johnson believes that mystery shopping should be used to help point out areas where employees need more fine-tuning. Also, she says, managers would do well to reward those who are helping achieve their goals.

Employees are no fools. They know when they're doing a good job and they know when they deserve to be rewarded. That's why Johnson suggests that employees who receive excellent mystery-shopping results get recognition, like a letter from the boss, or rewards such as savings bonds.

Even slightly skeptical employees were impressed with Johnson's concern for their morale.

``They weren't those slipshod meetings or 15-minute deals,'' said Ira Grolman at Ryan's Store for Men, who found Johnson charming and her meetings well-run. ``You took all the time you wanted. She didn't criticize you. And when you left, your chest was a little bit fuller. You thought you had accomplished something.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by D. Kevin Elliott/The Virginian-Pilot

[Owner of the Virginia Beach retail consulting firm Shop Talk,

Margie Johnson, in purple suit, and employee Linda Roberts...] KEYWORDS: SECRET SHOPPER MYSTERY SHOPPER

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