Frequently Asked Questions

How long has HIDDEN CONCEPTS INC. been in business?
In 1994, HIDDEN CONCEPTS began as a Canadian Mystery Shopping company. Today we offer strategic programs (including Mystery Shopping, as well as other tools) to enable our clients to increase revenue, become more efficient, and reduce expenses.

What areas do you service?
All of North America. Although we began in 1994 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, we quickly realized a growing demand for Mystery Shopping around the world. Today we manage an expansive network of qualified evaluators across Canada and the U.S.A. Our solutions have been used in over 150 companies across North America, and we are currently considering expansion into other countries.

Do you have experience working with clients on monitoring regulatory issues?
Yes - there are various regulatory issues that are unique to different industries. One of the benefits of our customized approach, is that we can focus specifically on regulatory issues that are pertinent to your success. Some regulatory issues that we monitor on a regular basis for clients are:

• Verification of age when selling tobacco products
• Verification of age when serving alcoholic beverages
• Responsible serving of alcohol

How are we different from our competition?
Here are just a few reasons:

At HIDDEN CONCEPTS we attribute our continual success to building successful relationships with each of our clients, and realizing the enormous value of the referrals that come from each of them.

We are not trying to force you into something that doesn't help you reach your goals, or working with a company that is incompatible. Furthermore, we are confident that our GUARANTEE will eliminate any risk for you, in choosing HIDDEN CONCEPTS INC. to work with.

• Intuitive,
• User-Friendly,
• Offers ALL of the data, information, and summary functions that you require.

What is Mystery Shopping?
Mystery Shopping is the practice of using trained shoppers to anonymously evaluate customer service, operations, employee integrity, merchandising, and product quality.

Mystery Shopping goes by many names: Secret Shopping, Mystery Customers, Spotters, Anonymous Audits, Virtual Customers, Employee Evaluations, Performance Audits, Telephone Checks, and more.

Why use Mystery Shopping?
Mystery shopping offers any service related industry with the insight of how your front line employees are performing from an unbiased perspective. Shoppers are actual consumers. Mystery shoppers are trained to evaluated your staff's service, sales and product knowledge, using custom developed evaluation reports that our team develop with you, based on the critical information that you require. Thus you get critical information about both, your customers and your employees.

Does HIDDEN CONCEPTS INC. support Employee Incentive Programs? 
Absolutely. Employee Incentive Programs allow your company to reward your best employees. Recognition & Rewards can be customized to your company and staff interests.

How do you ensure the quality of your shoppers? 
Shoppers are selected by level of experience, shopping quality and reporting history, as well as turnaround times and consistency. Shoppers must also demonstrate the ability to follow directions accurately and to quickly respond when needed. We have found that written and phone interviews provide the highest level of quality shoppers.

By developing voice-to-voice rapport, interactive training, and statistical tracking, we can accurately detect those individuals needing additional training or removal from the program. The "quality" of the shopper is derived from their detail/accuracy in observations and lack of bias and conjecture. Utilizing tools such as user-friendly web applications, redundant proofreading and statistical monitoring, we are able to ensure the quality of the data being gathered.

How do I receive a price quote? 
At HIDDEN CONCEPTS INC. we like to simplify things for you. Proposals are provided to every company that is considering our services. The Proposal will include all services that we will provide you, the costs, and other pertinent details. However, every client is different in many ways. Therefore every program we suggest is different, depending on your needs. We will be happy to provide a Proposal after we have identified more information about you, your company, your goals, and your obstacles. To expedite the process, you can complete a brief form on our website that will provide us with some preliminary information. Just click HERE!

Do you offer competitive evaluations and benchmarking? 
Of course - it is only worthwhile if you compare apples to apples. Therefore, we can use your current evaluation program, and shop your competitors in the same manner as we do for your company. The results can be compared statistically, and the specific details can be utilized for further research.

Do you provide references? 
Certainly - Many of our clients prefer to remain anonymous for competitive reasons. Because we guarantee confidentiality for every company that we work with, we do not provide a full client list or contact list for references. However, we are very fortunate to have many satisfied clients who are more than happy to offer a reference for our excellent service. You can email us with your request, and we will be happy to provide you with whatever information you require.

Is your relationship with your Clients confidential? 
At HIDDEN CONCEPTS INC. we realize the importance of maintaining confidentiality and protecting the information that we learn and obtain about your business. We have implemented various methods of protecting that information to ensure that you are protected.

• Our Shoppers are required to agree to various terms before receiving any assignments from our company. Among those terms are strict confidentiality clauses to protect our clients.
• Our online system is state-of-the art. It was designed with two purposes in mind. The first is to be the most user-friendly online reporting system, yet the most comprehensive in the value of information that clients can obtain and utilize. Our web department has installed the latest security measures (including encryption) to ensure all of your information is safe!

Detailed information is important, but trending is critical
We've already mentioned that the difference is that we don't just provide data. We then refer to our years of expertise, and experience with what solutions are successful, to work with you and use that information to specifically drive measurable results you can see.

By compiling and analyzing our data in close partnership with you, we provide the necessary tools to identify and implement critical changes concerning how your staff interact with customers - changes that can lead directly to increased sales (dollar value per customer), increased referrals, and increased repeat business.