This mystery shopping project tested the early stages of contact when businesses seek advice from Business Link, focusing on the level of responsiveness, professionalism and timeliness of the service. The study was carried out across all nine English regions and involved recruiting 159 businesses to act as ‘mystery shoppers’. The research tracked the participating businesses through their Business Link journey. The results showed that overall there is widespread satisfaction and approval of the Business Link response and services received. Where dissatisfaction exists, much of it relates to failures in communication at the initial stages. The level of satisfaction increased as the customer journey progressed
