Broadgate, the 32 acre central London neighbourhood, has increased footfall by 3 per cent to some 64,000 visits per day, with help from data sourced through ReactCX mystery shopping, to further improve visitor experience.
Broadgate is the largest pedestrianised neighbourhood in Central London, sitting adjacent to the busy transport hub of Liverpool Street station. Joint owners British Land and GIC are developing 4.9 million sq. ft. of workplaces, shops and restaurants, with public spaces hosting cultural events annually.
Mystery shopping specialists React CX were appointed in 2015 to measure customer experience throughout the neighbourhood. This included open spaces and in Broadgate’s offices, and food and beverage units.
Mystery shoppers monitored and reported on the quality of visitor experience delivered by staff – ranging from receptionists and security guards, to office cleaners and waste management teams. They also made phone calls and sent emails to duty staff to assess responses, looking at how fast, friendly and knowledgeable the responses were.
Broadgate employs a large and diverse workforce and wanted sound quantitative information on performance levels. There are some 450 staff employed in engineering, security and other services, directly and through partner organisations. With a site of this size, Broadgate faces all the issues of managing a small town.
Broadgate’s project team mapped the customer journey from Liverpool Street Station and other key entry points across the public spaces, through to reception areas, into the lifts, and ultimately to the occupiers’ floors.
The team identified multiple ‘touch points’ where the standard of estate services could potentially affect the quality of the visitor experience. React CX advised on how best to measure each touch point through mystery shopping. From the results Broadgate could then focus on the performance of individual staff members and their contribution to visitors’ experiences.
Trend analysis of the data captured over time provided quantitative information on performance. It showed an upward trend in the scoring for each of those touchpoints over the last two years ensuring occupiers are now even better served and positive about occupying the managed spaces than before, helping build trust in the Broadgate brand.
Mystery shopping evaluations provide reassurance of tangible evidence of performance, produced consistently over time.
React CX mystery shopping teams pay attention to and record when things are going well, so Broadgate can use these reports as a motivational tool to ensure teams are feeling positive rather than demotivated by a rare negative remark.
The reported performance scores are invaluable, but so too are the narratives that go with them. These stories help when designing new training and workshops; real examples show each team how to get better.
Colin Lee-Davie, Director of Estate Services, said:
“There is a clear benefit for our occupiers from increased footfall on the neighbourhood. React worked closely with us to understand our business situation and goals, then created bespoke questionnaires and programmes with experienced mystery shoppers to deliver insights we can trust.”
Broadgate is further tailoring its programme to support its commercial goals, to include extra touch points and analyses. This will help the management team assess how well staff understand and express agreed brand values.”