Grace Hill, a talent and performance management solutions provider for the multifamily industry, has acquired The Shadow Agency, a full-service mystery shopping company that provides services to the multifamily, home building, and retail sectors. The companies plan to combine technology, solutions, and personnel to offer an elevated mystery shopping experience for their clients.
“Grace Hill is committed to providing our customers with the insights they need to improve team performance and the rental experience,” said Grace Hill CEO Kendall Pretzer. “I’m thrilled to bring The Shadow Agency in-house, as mystery shopping has been an outstanding solution to help provide the insights and benchmarks for savvy operators. Grace Hill will continue to push the next-generation mystery shopping experience, serving as an extension of property owners and operators.”
The Shadow Agency, established in 1994, touts a first-rate customer experience with over a 95% completion rate. It pioneered the video mystery shopping industry and expanded to offer a diverse mix of mystery shops, including in-person, phone, virtual, and the internet. The Shadow Agency employees will join the Grace Hill brand.
“The decision to join the Grace Hill family was an easy one,” added CEO Russell Wood. “Grace Hill and The Shadow Agency both understand the immense value of tangible feedback in multifamily and commercial real estate, as well as building strong relationships with customers. We have come to know and trust the company and its leadership team. This partnership will enable us to build upon the goal of improving operations while delivering critical insights for owners and operators.”
According to Grace Hill, multifamily owners and operators find several benefits from utilizing mystery shoppers, including:
- Mystery shoppers can evaluate digital platforms, such as websites, email response, and chatbots, and provide feedback into the user experience
- Digital mystery shopping can be a form of quality control, allowing property managers to monitor the consistency and compliance of their online presence across platforms;
- Mystery shoppers can help property managers discover features or technologies that can be incorporated into their platforms; and
- Mystery shopper feedback can reveal selling points that property managers can utilize to differentiate their communities from the competition.
With the acquisition, Grace Hill has created a mystery shopping department that will be headed by Jennifer Blankenship, the company’s vice president of support services. In addition to this acquisition, Grace Hill, a subsidiary of Aurora Capital Partners, acquired mystery shopping provider Ellis in 2022. The company currently serves 1,120 multifamily mystery shopping customers.
