Something today to make us feel Proud!

I am extremely proud and grateful to become your MSPA Europe/Africa President, announced at our conference in May. Following in the footsteps of Vaclav and other legends of our profession who have helped shape our Association into what it is today, with around 200 members in Europe/Africa, dedicated to our principles of Connect, Learn and Share.

I share this privilege with Monica Luciani from Mebius in Italy as your Vice President - having worked with her for many years on our MSPA EA board I know she brings energy and perspective to our ever growing and diversifying industry.

By way of background, I began my own Mystery Shopping career in 2007 at GfK Mystery Shopping (now Ipsos Channel Performance) under the leadership of my dearly departed friend and mentor Chris White, who introduced me to our unique Mystery Shopping World. Prior to that I worked in the ‘customer research’ arm of GfK, and became intrigued by what my colleagues in the Mystery Shopping division were doing  - what I saw was a methodology that gave clients objective, real-time feedback on performance metrics that were both actionable and deliver real commercial impact.

That conviction has only strengthened over the years, and I believe it is important that as Mystery Shopping Professionals we do not lose sight of the unique advantages our methodology brings to clients. It is much more than just another way of assessing ‘Customer Experience’, but a critical tool in assessing how employees perform and processes work on the front-line. And, whilst we understand the importance of CX research in focussing on customer outcomes, we should also be clear that Mystery Shopping (and other Audit-based methods) can drive real commercial improvement by focussing on Operational Excellence – providing detailed, objective feedback on employee performance and operational process, price, product positioning and compliance. We should be proud that no other method can claim such actionability and diversity.

My primary objective, therefore, as President, is to show our collective pride in the real, unique strengths of Mystery Shopping, broadening our association to welcome companies (who may use auditor panels and, where appropriate, new technologies) that focus on Operational Excellence and Employee Performance. I am sure this will trigger a lively debate, but together with my Vice-President Monica, we hope you join us on our journey over the next few years.

Yours, with pride,
Andy Firth

President MSPA EA
Head of Advisory and Analytics, Ipsos UK, United Kingdom