Service tested – undercover auditor on the move pt.2

In the last blog post, I told you how Mystery Checks in Hotels are done. You can read it here again. Today I’ll tell you about my favorite service test and what I think about my employer TÜV Rheinland.My favorite personal Mystery Checks? Honestly: These are the occasions when we check the service quality of soccer clubs.

Similar to the hotel, the website is examined in advance. We also check the app and the social media channels. In order to evaluate the fan experience, we buy merchandise in the fan shop – sometimes online, sometimes stationary. How is the merchandise packaged and how friendly are the sellers? What is the process when buying tickets? How does the payment process work?

Then it’s game day! We meet with the team of auditors two hours before the start of the match. We all come by different means of transport and park on different parking lots. Here we evaluate the arrival: Is everything well signposted? Where is the traffic jam? Can you find your way around? How full are the parking spaces? How clean are the paths? How safe does one feel in the train? Are there any special safety precautions?

In advance, everyone receives a plan with different focal points. Depending on their qualifications, the colleagues evaluate the security personnel, the catering, hygiene, the toilets, the care provided by volunteers and special campaigns. We enter the stadium like a normal fan – with a ticket. Sometimes these are forged. How does the security staff react? And what happens if you try to smuggle prohibited objects through the security check? You are happy when it works. Then you have just found a security breach that can be fixed.

Test-Object Stadium

During the game you can move around freely in the stadium, you have access to all the necessary areas through an employee card. While the stars are warming up, we stand right next to the grass. Between reporters and cameras we get an overview as the stadium fills up. Kick-off whistle, the game begins. But our work doesn’t end here. Our gaze is trained: Are escape routes kept clear? How is the situation in the fan blocks developing and how are the staff reacting? Have the fire extinguishers been tested?

Halftime break. Time for the fans to go to the toilet or order a beer. But how long does it actually take? How long do the fans queue? Is the gastro prepared and the food warm enough? How quickly will the cleaning staff follow? The game continues. What about the VIP area? Is the price justified?

Even with the final whistle our working day does not end. What is done so that the tempers of the opposing fans don’t meet? How quickly does the stadium empty? Are the processes, concepts, and paths chosen correctly? How long does it take until I can leave the stadium after the match and how long do I wait for the tram? After about eight hours such an audit is over as a mystery checker. The many photos you took and the clues you found are now summarized as a report and presented to the customer afterwards.

Sometimes special projects come – in Viktoria’s last blog post you can read how she accompanied me one day as Mystery Checker in the outdoor pool. Here we have compared and evaluated selected outdoor pools for a publishing company in Cologne.

I studied tourism management and worked in a regular office. My working hours were fixed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., customer appointments were a rarity. At some point this job didn’t challenge me anymore. I was unmotivated and dissatisfied. On recommendation, I joined TÜV Rheinland Cert GmbH at the beginning of 2018 and am happy to have decided to do so. My working hours are flexible, I work very independently and a flexible workplace is also possible. I live 60 kilometres away, but I like to come to the office. In our small team of ten employees there is a relaxed atmosphere, there is a lot of laughter and you profit from the knowledge of your colleagues. The team combines, for example, know-how on environmental management, chemical certifications, gambling law or the financial world.