USPS has improved the Retail Customer Experience program to help Post Offices better serve customers.
USPS has improved its “mystery shopper” program to simplify the evaluation process and help Post Offices address customer service issues as soon as they occur.
The program — officially known as the Retail Customer Experience (RCE) — sends independently contracted mystery shoppers to Post Offices to evaluate customer service. Shoppers then document their experiences by completing a questionnaire for USPS.
Under the improved RCE, shoppers receive RCE assignments via their mobile devices. After the shoppers visit the assigned Post Office, they complete a shorter survey on their device and submit the data.
This approach allows USPS to conduct spur-of-the-moment spot checks and quickly communicate the results to the Post Office, which makes it easier for managers and employees to take immediate action.
“We listened across all levels of the organization and learned there are opportunities to take advantage of,” said Retail and Customer Service Operations VP Kelly Sigmon. “Through new tools and techniques in customer experience management, we can engage our employees and drive actions that will help our customers.”
The improved program began before the holidays. More information — including webinars, service talks and posters — is available on the RCE site.
source: USPS News Link
The RCE program has not been made simpler, the program went from 33 questions to 77 questions that need to be answered by the mystery shopper.
At age twenty I couldn’t recall 77 things within a five minute transaction, 33 items were hard enough at that age. Now you have retires who are doing these RCE surveys and you actually expect them to recall 77 items with a five minute visit?
Who in Postal HQ’s comes up with this nonsense? They should be fired!!!!
Under the new RCE program; if the sales associate does everything perfect and explains to the shopper about the survey at the bottom of the receipt, but fails to circle it, the office looses five points.
Makes you wonder if anyone in Postal HQ’s ever actually worked in the craft??? Because it sure doesn’t seem like it.
The few managers that actually did work in the craft did not do so for long. They usually were pulled into management by a manager buddy, and in most cases, were not good workers to begin with. Currently, many are made supervisors after working as a PSE or CCA for only a few months. Those in upper management usually come in off the streets via the “buddy system” also. A postmaster in our district was in a federal job but got booted out of it, and landed in a large post office as postmaster…without one iota of postal experience, and now he is telling everyone how to do their jobs.
The best transformation of this worthless program, would be to drop it all together.
But since it affects mgmt. bonuses, that won’t happen.
The corruption in mgmt ranks knows no bounds.
useless, stupid program which customers and clerks hate; has nothing to do with quality of customer service
It has nothing to do with customers or customer services, but it is an easy way for managers to find ways to discipline window clerks. I was a window clerk for over 23 years, and loved the job, until I butted heads with our nincompoop postmaster over a mystery shopper question that did not apply to the transaction at all. He threatened discipline, I did not show up the next day…I called in retired.
“This approach allows USPS to conduct spur-of-the-moment spot checks and quickly communicate the results to the Post Office, which makes it easier for managers and employees to take immediate action.”
Immediate action for managers only means issuing discipline to window clerks on the spot for not asking one small part of the redundant “Mystery Shopper” questions.