I cut my teeth on what I would call the regular mystery shops. I went into a lot of businesses, evaluated their products, services, employees anonymously and then went home to fill out a report online. It wasn’t until I was a little more secure in my secret shopper saddle that I dove into the world of reveal shops. And of course, to be clear, I’m only speaking about shops where you are supposed to reveal that you are mystery shopping. You’re not very mysterious after a reveal.

The first thing I didn’t even consider was the fact that I would have to be home or have a representative around to accept the envelope full of goodies when they arrived. It took a little planning as well as some creative thinking, but I managed to get over that hurdle three times. And of course, there was always the monstrous demonstration of self-control in not opening a package ahead of schedule.

So yes, I have completed three reveal shops. It wasn’t quite as liberating as I expected it to be and I had mixed results. For one project I visited two separate locations and followed the prescribed routine. I unfortunately had to reveal to both managers that I was the mystery shopper, that they had missed whatever mark it was that was being measured and that I was sending the envelope back to the corporate office unopened. As I recall one manager was disappointed and the other was flat out mad at me, complete with screaming and yelling. I did what I had to do and left as soon as possible.

However, the third one was indeed the charm. I was allowed to bring a guest on my third revealed shop and the whole thing based on an employee asking me one question. I was nervous going into the situation and part of me was hoping this would not be another screaming match. I was rooting for the employee in my head the day before I even went on the assignment.

My guest and I went on the shop, the big question was near the very beginning of our interaction and when the employee hit the mark I remember how hard it was to just go on as if nothing spectacular had just happened. But I did. We continued acting in the manner of regular patrons and only revealed ourselves per the instructions.

Having to reveal when an employee hits all their marks is really a lot of fun. It is like winning the lottery even though you don’t get a prize. I remember asking for the manager, stating who I was and why I was ultimately at their place of business. The manager was allowed to open the envelope and there were goodies in there not only for the manager but the employee that was following the workplace guidelines. I really enjoyed being able to be there on the spot and in a way say, “Yes, you did it! You did what they’ve trained you to do and here’s your pat on the back! Hooray for you!”

So, to this day, I’ve only completed three. I’m still a little divided on whether to reveal or not reveal. I didn’t like being the bearer of bad news, but then again that quick feedback has to be invaluable to make improvements and adjustments. I of course liked being the happy messenger, as I imagine most people would, but it easily could have gone the other way. I’d be curious to know how other shoppers feel about revealed shops. Do you like them, fear them, love them?

How many shops should you schedule for yourself?  The answer will depend on your time management skills, your travel time, and of course, your availability.  One thing that many shoppers forget about when scheduling shops is the reporting.  When they get home from performing four shops at the mall – isn’t it GREAT when you can find four shops all in the same mall – they realize that they also need to write four reports by the following day.  Oops.

Shoppers need to remember to allow themselves enough time not only to perform the shop but also to write the reports.  When I say allowing enough time, I mean enough time to write a quality report.  Not just spitting it out to get it done.  Some reports only take a few minutes.  Some can take a half an hour or more depending on the narrative required.  It’s a good idea to allot for more time than you actually need so you don’t wind up in a hectic rush to get the report in on time.

Speaking of timing, don’t you hate it when Sassie times out on you when you are in the middle of the report?  An easy way to avoid the time out race is to write your report in a Word document, or the like.  That way, you can take as much time as you need to write the essay portions of your report.  You can read and re-read  to make sure that all of the information is there.  You can also easily run a spell check using Word too.

So, when you are choosing which shops to accept each month, make sure you not only allow for travel time and your general availability.  Make sure you allow yourself enough time to submit each report by the due date and time so you are not frantically throwing together nuggets of information at 9:59 am when your report is due by 10:00 am.  Doing so will make things easier on you and make your Mystery Shopping experience more enjoyable.

Earlier this year we talked about Sassie’s new app for shoppers who are signed up with MSP’s who use Sassie. Shop Notifier was released in an attempt to make applying for mystery shops easier and more streamlined, allowing you to be notified of shopping opportunities, even while you’re on the go.

Are you currently using this app? If so, has it replaced your need for email notifications from MSP’s using Sassie? What do you love (or hate) about it?

We’d love to know how many shoppers are currently using it, and get some feedback. Please feel free to share your thoughts below!

This happened to me recently, and it made me giggle. There is a store I visit all too frequently, simply because it’s close to my home and it’s an easy in and out type of store. I’ve been shopping there for years without incident, until a few weeks ago.

All of a sudden, every employee and their mother was greeting me as I walked past, offering help in the aisles, and being overly friendly to a point of induced paranoia. When I went to make a purchase, the cashier enthusiastically described their loyalty card, suggested a sale item near the register, and was over the top friendly in her parting statement.

I felt like I entered another universe, until it hit me that they probably just stated a mystery shopping program and were on their toes.

On subsequent visits, even to different locations nearby, I had the same experience. It actually creeped me out a bit, because it was something I was not used to in this retailer.

It died down after a couple of weeks, so I’m thinking they’ve calmed down a bit and it’s business as usual.

Have you ever had this experience? From our perspective, it can be humorous to see this behavior change in employees, and we know that it is likely that they started a mystery shopping program recently.

At any rate, it’s good to see that our industry does make a difference in customer service levels!

Shoppers often ask us why, when they answer “no” to questions on a mystery shopping report, they are required to offer additional comments. This especially holds true when they are considered to be questions that need no further explanation, such as “Was the employee wearing a visible name tag?” Or “Did the employee attempt to upsell or cross sell?”

It may seem redundant, but the additional comments are useful for a couple of reasons:

1. Your comments may shed additional light into the experience. In the case of the visible name tag, you may have answered this with a “no” response, but in fact, the employee was wearing a name tag, though it was hidden by a jacket, long hair, or even worn somewhere that was not clearly visible to the typical customer. That information is helpful to the client, and without the additional comments, we would have no way to know this.

2. It serves as a quality control measure. Sometimes the reports are long or sensitive to clicking. It can be easy to click on the “yes” box, then inadvertently click again near the “no” box without realizing it before moving on to the next question. When this happens, and there are no supporting comments for the erroneous “no” response, the report will throw an error message, requiring you to go back to find out what is wrong. At that point you will see that the answer was not what you intended.

On a similar note, requiring the additional comments will ensure that you are answering all questions accurately. Even if you go back and check your work before submitting, errors can be made. Requiring additional comments for “no” responses is one way to assist with quality control, which helps everyone.

While some things seem unnecessary or redundant, there is always a method behind the madness.

1. You’ve received what appears to be a job posting on an email account you do not use for mystery shopping: many mystery shoppers have dedicated email accounts for work. If you get what appears to be a job posting on another email address, you may want to think twice, especially if it’s from a company you’ve never heard of before.

2. You must pay to shop: be careful with this one. The old adage used to be “never pay to shop” but that comes with disclaimers. When this advice is given, it refers more to claims of “pay us and you will be sure to get more work than you know what to do with!”  There are sites, like ShadowShopper, that you can pay to get help with finding shops in your area. Some shoppers prefer this site as a good starting point, as it can take a lot of up front legwork to get going, and having a service that brings shops to you can be a great help.

3. They contact you because of an online resume you posted: if you’ve seeking a traditional, full time position and have posted your resume online, you may receive mystery shopping offers referencing your resume. Beware of these emails – they are most likely a scam.

4. The promise of making big money: if you’re assured to make hundreds of dollars on a shop, or over $100,00 a year, steer clear! The per shop payment is not in the hundreds by any means, and most shops pay between $5 and $25 per shop. There is no “easy money” in mystery shopping. Any promises of such should make you run in the other direction!

5. The promise of steady work: if a notification assures you that you “will definitely get work”  or you’ll have “more work than you know what to do with”  it’s likely a scam. Mystery shopping jobs are never guaranteed – only you (and your performance) can dictate what volume of work you do. It also depends on where you live and how far you’re willing to travel – the more populated areas you live in, and the wider your travel range is, the more work you can potentially get. You won’t get every assignment you’re interested in, and you won’t be interested in every available assignment. Your work performance also dictates future job assignments – do a great job, and you’ll be offered more work. There are no promises in the industry!

6. You’ll be handling a lot of cash: this is probably the most notable scam circulating at the moment. It’s known as the Western Union scam that asks “shoppers” to deposit a check into their bank account, wire a portion to a designated (out of the country) location, and keep the rest (often times a large sum) as “payment.” Just run away from this. Quickly. Your checking account will thank you.

If none of these apply and you’re just not sure, check out the company that is offering the work. NEVER click on the links in the email posting. Instead, Google the name of the company in a separate browser window. See if there is feedback in the search results, good or bad, as a guide. Check with the MSPA to see if the company is a part of this association, and look at forums related to mystery shopping to see if you can learn more about a company.

Hopefully these tips will help guide you in determining what’s real and what to steer clear of. Shoppers, do you have any other tips to share with the community?

Over time, I have seen some bad advice given to shoppers; it worries me that new shoppers will take some of this advice to heart, and it will only hurt them in the long run. Some examples include:

1. Accept now, worry about doing it later: one tip I saw a while back was about how to get the most shops to make a strong workload. The advice to accept any shop you could find and then, once you were assigned a bunch of shops, then read through everything and “cancel what you don’t want after all.”  I know shop postings move quickly, and applying and being assigned can happen at a rapid pace, but it’s important to review all of the information before applying, and more importantly, being assigned a shop. Don’t apply for shops you may not be able to complete successfully or just plain aren’t interested in. Canceling a bunch of shops, time and time again, will give you a poor reputation in the industry.

2. Fake it til you make it: if you forgot to check a restroom during a shop, or cannot remember the name of the employee you interacted with, just pretend like you did and it’ll be okay – they’ll never know. Please never, never do this! False reporting of details is the quickest way to shut down a mystery shopping program. We’re all human; there are times you will completely miss a part of a shop, or forget a name, or forget to ask about a specific detail. The best advice is to be honest and email your scheduler or editor right away. In some cases, you won’t be able to redo the shop and you cannot be paid, but at least you’ve been honest and saved your reputation.

3. Always ask for more: once I heard a shopper tell a group of shoppers to ALWAYS ask for more money when apply for shops. Doesn’t matter if it’s the beginning of the month, end of the month, or an already well paying shop. Always ask for more. In a traditional job if you were told you would be paid $15/hr for your shift, would you come to work and say, “How about you pay me $20/hr?”  You wouldn’t have a job very long if you did this! Shop fees are what they are – there are times, especially at the end of the month, where bonuses may be possible, or mileage can be offered for traveling distances to help out. In these cases, it is spelled out in the shop posting. The benefit of being an Independent Contractor is that you can pick and choose the work you do. If you don’t like a payment, don’ t take the shop. But please do not play “Let’s Make a Deal” for routine shops…you wouldn’t do it at any other job, right?

4. Cut out the middleman: I’ve heard shoppers talk about shops that they weren’t paid for in cases where the company refused to accept the shop. Typically this happens when the shop was not conducted correctly, or the shopper was identified by the client somehow. Trust me, we hate excluding shops! If this is done, it is with good reason. Do not take the bad advice of calling the client to complain about the mystery shopping company! Please! It breaks the ICA you signed with companies, and the client is likely going to have no clue what you’re talking about. If a shop is excluded, the client never sees it, so they won’t have any knowledge of this situation. Plus, if the client contacts the company asking if they know Mr. XYZ, the company will not be using your services going forward.

Have you heard or gotten bad advice during your time as a shopper? If so, feel free to share your story with us!

The written word is interesting – changing one word in a sentence can sometimes significantly impact the meaning of the sentence, or the tone of the thought. That’s in part why email communication can be difficult sometimes. People often send an email thinking it sounds one way, only to have the recipient take it in another manner.

The same is true when writing mystery shopping reports. It’s a good rule of thumb to remember to be objective and take the emotion out of the experience. After all, that’s what we’re trained to do. It also gives more credence to your report, especially if you experienced a less than stellar experience during a shop.

Consider the following two statements:

1. After waiting in line for over five minutes, which was a ridiculously long time, I approached the counter. The employee had the nerve to not greet me, and never once did she smile or make eye contact.

2. After waiting in line for five minutes and 35 seconds, I approached the counter. the employee did not greet me, nor did she make eye contact during our interaction.

The same experience said two different ways.  If a client were to read each of the statements, however, they may walk away with very different perspectives. In the first example, there is a very negative and angry tone. The client knows this is not how they expect employees to interact with customers; they realize the wait time was significant and no greeting or eye contact is problematic. However, the tone of what you’re saying leads the client to wonder if the ratings for your shop are overly harsh because you started the interaction on the wrong foot, and this may have skewed your perception during the rest of the shop. They then wonder how bad it really was, or if it wasn’t that bad and there are some exaggerated details. From there, they may question the validity of your report. And so begins a downward spiral of events….

I know you’re probably thinking that this isn’t right, and the client shouldn’t make assumptions like this. You’re right, but we’re all human and sometimes perception is everything.

In the second example, the exact same details were communicated, minus the negative tone. This creates a perception of objectivity, and the thoughts about the validity of the report don’t bubble to the surface.

This is one reason editors around the world focus on writing objectively and using words that convey ideas without emotion or subjectivity. It’s difficult at times to do this successfully; we’ve all been on shops where we’re so irate or shocked at what happened, that we want to be sure the client knows just how bad it is. Remaining objective and only reporting the facts will send the same message in a professional manner.

Next time you have a negative experience on a shop (and I hope that’s not too often!), take some time to consider the narrative detail. Write it up, put it away for a while, and then come back and read it through a client’s eyes. Objective writing takes time to learn, but it will make you a stronger shopper in the end.

You can watch this brief video that explains the new membership, as well as offers the link to receive your free membership if you are Silver or Gold Certified:

Not certified? If you’re new to the industry, or have been shopping for some time and want to expand your possibilities, you may want to consider certification through the MSPA. This association has provided their certification program for several years. It involves continued education in the industry, as well as information on how to be a strong mystery shopper. For more information on certification, please visit the MSPA’s website.

Written by: Kristin Garvey, Independent Account Manager at Ann Michaels & Associates

Shoppers are often asked to provide specific details regarding their visits; however, they are not allowed to take notes during the shop.  It can be difficult to remember all aspects of your visit, so how do you record the information without being flagged as a shopper?

Timing is everything

You should write down the aspects of your visit as soon as you can after you exit a restaurant or store.  If you wait until you get home or the next day, more than likely, you will forget key details of the visit.  Make sure that you either go to a different area of the mall, if applicable, or drive a short distance away from the store or restaurant and write down your observations.  Never sit in front of the store either at the mall or in your car, as this could flag you as a shopper.  Normal shoppers do not sit down moments after making a purchase to write notes.  I used to bring Post It notes with me and hide them in my purse.  After a visit, I would go to the other side of the mall, take out the Post Its and write down my observations.   You can also print out a copy of your shop report before you leave for your visit and fill out the questions as soon as you are away from the store or restaurant.  You should never take the report into the store with you, and you should never leave the report sitting in the front seat of your car.  All it would take is an employee who is on break to walk past your car and see the report for you to be flagged as a shopper.

To text or not to text

It seems that everyone has their face in their phone these days either texting or emailing.  While you may think that it would be okay to text your observations inside the restaurant or while you browse a store, you’re wrong.  Yes, using your phone is very common; however, it’s also a way for employees to flag you as a shopper.  Say a Server comes to check on you during a restaurant shop.  As soon as he/she leaves your table, you take out your phone and make note of the time and what was said.  You may think that you just look like  you are texting, but due to the timing, a Server would more than likely assume that you are taking notes about him or her.  If you can be discreet and not overuse texting, or avoid using it just after key observations are made, this can be a useful tool to help keep the details in order.

What to do if you forget

We’ve all been there.  You leave the store, recounting your visit, and you think to yourself, was the employee a brunette or a redhead?  If you are in a mall and can casually walk past the store again without going in to refresh your memory, that’s fine; however, you should not re-enter the store again just to check to make sure your observations are correct.  The employees may wonder why you are back, which will make you memorable.  You don’t want to be memorable.

What do you do if you just cannot remember everything

There are shops out there that require a lot of detail regarding very specific items in the store.  If you are unable to remember specific details well, you should make sure that you are right for the assignment.  There’s nothing wrong with declining a visit because you do not feel that you can perform it well.  However, you need to make sure that you review the shop materials before the shop, and if you decide that you are not the best person for the job, you need to let your Account Manager know BEFORE the assignment.  Do not perform the assignment and then tell the Account Manager that you won’t be submitting the report.  This is an even bigger issue if there was a scenario involved, because the employees have now heard the scenario.  If another shopper is scheduled later in the month, and they need to perform the same scenario, it could flag them as a shopper.  Cancel before the shop, not after.

Record it then report it

I have shoppers who carry recording devices in their pocket or purses when they perform a shop.  They record audio for the entire visit and refer to it when they get home.  Recording your visit can certainly help you with the details regarding what was said along with timings; however, you will still need to recall employee descriptions, cleanliness issues, etc. on your own, as you should not talk into your recording device during a shop.  Please be assured that unless the shop specifically asks for audio or video, we do not expect shoppers to record the shops.  However, we do expect shoppers to remember specific details.

When it comes to the details, do what’s best for you that will NOT get you flagged as a shopper.  Remember, it is best to write your reports ASAP when you return from a shop so all of the details are fresh in your mind.  Plus, your Account Manager will appreciate that you submitted your report early.