This is a guest post written by KSSJudith, a member of MysteryShopForum.com. Thank you Judith!
-Make sure that the information in your profile on the site is complete and has proper spelling and capitalization. Many clients require that we read those, and I can’t tell you how many different ways I have seen “detail oriented” spelled in shopper profiles. Also, if you were a scheduler and you had three people who have no shop history to chose from, which of these three would you choose?
1. Easter Bunny
2. EASTER BUNNY
3. easter bunny
4. easter b
Since all other things are equal, shopper 1 appears to be the most detail oriented of the three. I’m not going to assign a shop to a person who won’t give their last name, ever. Give yourself every edge possible!
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– If there are questions on a shop application, be sure that you answer them. Leaving them blank will automatically put you dead last in the running. Here’s an example. Say I am scheduling a project for Easter Bunny Bank. The person that does the shop must have a savings account at the bank. I also am required to assign the shopper to one specific day for the visit.
My application question might say, “1. Please confirm that you have an account with Easter Bunny Bank. 2. What day can you conduct this shop?”
Here are my applicants:
1. I have a savings account with Easter Bunny Bank, and I can shop on 4/15.
2. -blank_
3. yes
Now, if everything else is equal, guess who gets the shop? I have had shoppers answer questions with things that have nothing to do with the question at all. I remember one time I asked, “What day can you do the shop” and the shopper wrote in, “Dodge Durango.” I have asked, “What year is your vehicle” and gotten, “1/31” as an answer. The questions are important, and have a function.
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Make your communications with your scheduler thorough. Shoppers have to reschedule shops. It’s just part of the business. But which email below do you think leaves me with the feeling that I just dealt with a professional?
Email 1: Judith, I just opened the guidelines for my shop that you assigned last week and found that there is a telephone call due the day before the visit. Since the shop is due today, I can’t do that. What do I do?
Email 2: Reschedule
Email 3: Why would you assign a shop to me that is due in only 5 days? That’s a lot to ask of someone and the location is 30 miles away and my kids are in school so it is really inconvenient. (why did you apply?)
Email 4: Judith, something unavoidable has come up and I have to ask for an extension. I can do the shop first thing tomorrow and submit the report before 5 pm. Would that be ok? (I don’t recommend this on the due date of a project- but things do come up).
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Anyway, schedulers are people too, and most of us were just shoppers who turned into schedulers. We’re nice people, promise! I hope these examples have given you a smile and a peek into what our lives are like every day and how you can set yourself apart as a super shopper.
Thank you, for the great tips!
Heidi Morin
I did like reading these tips. I always answer the question in complete sentences, when asked if I can do the job and on what date. I did not know that it made that much of a difference, though.
I am very,very new at mystery shopper and I would like as many tips
that I can get. If it will help me get an assignment please send me as
many tip as you can.
Thank you for helping new shoppers with this information. I
am forward to reading more tips.
Hi Jacob. I did a resturant shop for Mystery MG Guests. I ate at the resturant on the shop date and answered the online questionair immediatly after the shop as per assigned. My question is this “I have not heard any response or email from them so do I try to contact them or do they just not have any other shops, or how am I suppose to know if they did not like my response to thier questioaire?” Thank You Elaine
I would like to hear the reply to Elaine’s question. What should she do if she hasn’t heard from a company that she shopped for???
Remember different companies have VERY different pay timeframes. Check your Ind. Contract agreement with the company and simply send follow up email, if you’re certain they have not paid you via PayPal or whatever timeframe they stated. Also, I utilize Yahoo’s calendar to schedule myself of the various projects I accept because it will email reminders to you.
If you’re shopping for multiple agencies/companies, another suggestion is to make yourself a checklist. IF you have Spreadsheet software on your PC, create yourself a sheet something like the following headings:
Company Name, Assgined date, Shop Due (deadline), Job#, How paid, When due?, Retailer (Customer), Street/Town, Amount spent, Amount reimburseable?, Date received, Amount Received, Reported (date/Time), Confirmation # Phone#, Fax#, My shopper#, Their webURL, Contact’s name/email
I just found a “77 company registration website” for only $7.77, don’t YET know the 77 companies but it was definitely worth the $8 for my time to expand my opportunities. You might want a separate email strictly for this many companies. shepear@sbcglobal.net
In response to Shelia, and other shoppers,
Do not pay for any website selling this info. Jacob Jans gave us this exact 77 companies list just the other day — for FREE. You do not have to pay to mystery shop, or get names of companies to sign up for, unless you just want to – like on shadowshopper.com or something, but the info is out there for free, you just need to know where to look for it.
I suggest to subscribe to Jacob Jans site here, so you can stay updated on the latest Mystery Shopping News, Reviews, etc. Other great places to look are the official Mystery Shopping web site http://www.mysteryshop.org, http://www.volition.com and http://www.jobslinger.com.
Good luck & happy shopping!
I must say, as a lot as I enjoyed reading what you had to say, I couldnt help but lose interest after a while. Its as if you had a wonderful grasp on the subject matter, but you forgot to include your readers. Perhaps you should think about this from far more than one angle. Or maybe you shouldnt generalise so considerably. Its better if you think about what others may have to say instead of just going for a gut reaction to the subject. Think about adjusting your own believed process and giving others who may read this the benefit of the doubt.