Link Organises First Mystery Shopper Programme

The Link Management Limited held the first Link Awards Ceremony in appreciation of the outstanding shopping centre teams in the Mystery Shopper Programme.

Mr Nicholas Sallnow-Smith, Chairman of The Link Management Limited, said that the company, customers, merchants, contractors and staff would all gain from the Mystery Shopper Programme.

Mr George Hongchoy, Chief Executive Officer of The Link Management Limited, presents the Gold Award of Best Service Ambassador to Miss Lau Chun Lin, a security guard at Lok Wah (North) Shopping Centre, for her good service.

To promote good service at its shopping centres and recognise the performance of frontline staff, The Link Management Limited (“The Link”) held its first Link Awards Ceremony. A total of 25 awards were presented in 5 categories, including shopping centre facilities management and customer service, to teams and individual staff for their outstanding performance during the Mystery Shopper Programme.

The Link Awards Ceremony follows the launch in mid-April 2011 of The Link’s first-ever “Mystery Shopper Programme” at its shopping centres. The Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency, an independent ratings organisation, was commissioned to implement the programme by arranging to have mystery shoppers evaluate the environment and facilities of The Link’s shopping centres. To recognise outstanding staff, improve service quality and establish a customer-minded culture, reference was made to similar programmes conducted by other industry players.

Mr George Hongchoy, Chief Executive Officer of The Link Management Limited, said, “We adopted the direct management model at our property portfolio in November 2009. To provide on-site management, we hired an additional few hundred staff . To enhance service quality, we also mobilised the resources needed to conduct staff training and development. The training areas included customer service, communication skills, complaint handling and crisis management.

“The Mystery Shopper Programme exemplifies our commitment to improving our service quality in line with our Vision, Mission, and Values. In the year ahead, we will continue to provide training to our frontline management, especially on how to communicate with frontline staff and unleash the power of teamwork. Let’s work together to serve Hong Kong better.”

In the first round of the programme, mystery shoppers visited 48 shopping centres and assessed them 300 times within a period of about one month. They conducted detailed appraisals of the centres’ hardware, such as the environment, facilities and hygienic conditions, and also the software, such as customer service. Each of the two appraisal areas shared equal weighting in the assessments. The results were communicated to all staff through the intranet in order to develop a culture of continuous improvement.

Guests joining the first Link Awards Ceremony included the members of the Board of The Link REIT, contractors and all staff members, who witnessed together the accomplishments of The Link’s new service culture.

To sustain the improvements in service quality at the shopping centres, following the conclusion of the first round The Link will extend the assessment period of the next round from July to September.