WHO KNOWS WHAT RUDENESS LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF SALES CLERKS?

Rachel Granofsky

It all started with handcuffs, a badge and $6.50 an hour. Working as an 18-year-old store detective, part of MICHAEL GLAZER's job was making sure the cashiers weren't stealing from the till. But while observing the staff, the budding young entrepreneur came up with a million-dollar idea.

Glazer, BCom'93, BCL'98, LLB'98, MBA'98, decided to become a man of mystery. Mystery shopping, that is.

Glazer's Montreal-based company, Premier Service, has grown into a multi-million-dollar venture. Sending trained "mystery shoppers" into retail establishments posing as real consumers and reporting their findings, Glazer's team helps companies see their businesses from their customers' point of view.

Are shoppers greeted with a smile? Not greeted at all? Is the store messy? Are staffers chatting on the phone with friends? Clients might not complain about poor customer service out loud, but they may never shop at your store again once they've encountered it, reasons Glazer.

Much of the planning behind Premier Service stems from an undergraduate research project Glazer completed for the Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies while studying management at McGill. "Peter Johnson, the centre's former director, was a phenomenal mentor," says Glazer. "Without his guidance, Premier Service would have remained a school project."

Fifty businesses across North America, including movie theatres, restaurants and banks, use Glazer's services; his three largest clients have 600 stores across Canada.

Running Premier Service from his home office in Montreal's west end, Glazer oversees a large network of mystery shoppers spanning the country from Newfoundland to British Columbia (he has operatives in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, too).

Glazer believes making business fun is one of the secrets to his success. "I try to keep a positive, upbeat spin on everything, because wit and humour make people enjoy what they're doing."

Glazer's own sense of fun is easy to spot. A perfect replica of rock star Eddie Van Halen's famous red and white striped Kramer guitar, which Glazer painstakingly painted at age 17, is carefully propped against the wall of his office. A few feet away, in his "vintage room," are a 1966 slot machine (originally his grandfather's), a pinball machine and a classic barber's chair.

"A lot of entrepreneurs, from Donald Trump to KISS rocker Gene Simmons, say that they don't like to take vacations," says Glazer. "I totally agree, because my life is a vacation."

WENDY HELFENBAUM