MICHAEL GLAZER
CEO of Montreal-based mystery-shopping service Premier Service Inc.
BEAT THE 1990-1991 RECESSION
PROVE YOU’RE THE REMEDY TO RECESSION
“Wealth is never lost—it just transfers hands,” says Glazer. That knowledge helped him and his business partner maintain the optimism required to establish their mystery-shopping firm in the depths of the early ’90s recession. With that attitude, the pair focused on educating retailers in how mystery shopping could help them increase their sales during the downturn. However, Premier concentrated its marketing efforts on recession-proof prospects, such as low-end clothing retailers, rather than wasting resources on slumping stores that catered to the middle class. Once the partners landed a client, they paid employees on a piecework basis (i.e., per mystery shop) to keep expenses in line with revenue. These days, finding clients is no longer an issue—instead, retailers seek out Glazer and his army of 6,000 mystery shoppers.
