Question 1

What is a mystery diner?

Accepted Answer

Someone who eats at your site as a normal customer and tells you how it went, without your team knowing. They are paid back for what they spend, up to a cap you set.

Question 2

Who are your mystery diners?

Accepted Answer

Local people who eat out for Tipps and tell you how it really was. Real customers: not food bloggers, not influencers.

Question 3

Why use Tipps?

Accepted Answer

Real customers, as many visits as you like, and every review the evening it happens.

Question 4

How many visits should I offer?

Accepted Answer

As many as you can: more visits, more of the picture. We suggest at least one visit per service, every week.

Question 5

How much should I pay back per visit?

Accepted Answer

Set the cap near a main course and a drink, or your average spend per head. Many places cover a meal for two. Diners often spend more than the cap.

Question 6

Isn't paying diners back expensive?

Accepted Answer

The money a diner spends goes through your till, so it is not all cost. A generous cap covers more of your menu and gets more visits booked.

Question 7

Should I offer a lot of visits?

Accepted Answer

Yes. All you can eat covers as many visits as you like, and diners often spend more than the cap, so more visits can mean more takings, not more cost.

Question 8

Will every visit get booked?

Accepted Answer

We can't promise every one, but we'll work with you on when and where to offer visits so that as many as possible are booked.

Question 9

Who writes the questions?

Accepted Answer

We write them with you: questions on what you want to know more about, plus checks that the basics are still being done right. Not sure what to ask? We've built a lot of these and can suggest the questions that work for your kind of site.

Question 10

Do you cover the whole UK?

Accepted Answer

Yes, across the UK, and strongest in London and the South East. Tell us where your sites are and we'll plan for them.

Question 11

How do you keep the reviews good?

Accepted Answer

Our mystery diners aren't professionals, and that's the point: they are like your customers. Want a particular kind of diner? Ask us. Every review is checked. One that doesn't hold up is thrown out: not paid, and not in your reports.

Question 12

How do you stop people gaming it?

Accepted Answer

You can limit how often one diner visits a site or your whole group. You can ask for photos of the entrance and the food as proof they were there, and of the receipt as proof they paid. And anyone you do not want back is banned from your sites.

Question 13

How does this help my business?

Accepted Answer

Knowing exactly what customers like and do not like lets you fix the right things. You hear it from Tipps first, before it reaches online reviews, social media or word of mouth.

Question 14

What are ad-hoc surveys?

Accepted Answer

A QR code on your tables. Any customer can scan it and answer a few questions on WhatsApp. You hear about a problem before it is posted online, and happy customers can be pointed to your Google reviews.

Question 15

When do I see ad-hoc survey answers?

Accepted Answer

They count like any review and come in your end-of-day and end-of-week reports.

Questions, answered