Impact Of Mystery Shopping In Banking Sector

MEASURING SERVICE DELIVERY IN BANKING SECTOR

CASE OF ALBANIA PRIVATE BANK

Ana Buhaljoti (Phd Candidate)

University of Tirana, Faculty of Economics

Department of Marketing – Tourism

Prof. Dr. ArjanAbazi

University of Tirana, Faculty of Economics

Department of Marketing – Tourism

ABSTRACT

This paper will measure the quality of the service delivery in the banking sector of Albania.It discusses the phenomenon of Mystery Shopping,as a valuable form of observation, to monitor the processes and procedures used in the delivery of the service within the banking industry.

By making use of mystery shoppers, well-trained persons who behave as normal customers but are precisely observing what is going well and what can be improved in the service

While service managers set service standards, the task of delivering these standards falls to customer-facing staff.( Wilson )

The inseparability nature of services indicates that the value for customer is created mainly in the consumption process and derives from the customer experience at the point of sale or with service distributor. (Otto 2004)

Because they are intangible, services cannot be stored, transported, or inventoried; and since they cannot be separated from the person of the seller , variations in service performance have a major impact on customer satisfaction.(Donnelly, Jr. 2012)Bateson [1992] emphasized that the customer's experience during thedelivery ofa service is as important to customer satisfaction as is the benefit that the service provides. This means that 'how' you perform a service is often as important as 'what' you perform.( Wilson 1998

In this situation the research performed through mystery shoppers can be focused on the compliance to specific standards, guidelines and position the quality of the service on a standard that should be achieved. (Hesselink 2003).

Study objectives include testing whether the service provided meets declared aims and standards, assessing the administrative functions and interpersonal skills of bank employees, Evaluate professionalism, transparency, appearance , identify strengths and weaknesses and help to show where service delivery can be improved (Morrison et al, 1997)

Various publications are available on the implementation of mystery shopping in Banks (Holliday, 1994; Morral, 1994; Dorman, 1994; Hotchkiss, 1995; Hoffman, 1993; Stoval, 1993; Leeds, 1992 and 1995; Hanke, 1993, Tepper, 1994) asrefered by Hesselink (2003). However, in Albania, mystery shopping has been rarely used by financial organizations, retailing, and hotel and no academic research on evaluating bank performance has been