shopperpro

Okay so I just had to share this little tidbit - there I was on a shop where I had to go into a warehouse type place and observe the folks demonstrating inside - you know the ones with their little food samples. I walked back out to my car and since I was parked in the back of the lot took a moment to jot down some notes on my ever present clipboard. I was taking a short pause formulating my thoughts when I noted three women approaching with a shopping cart. They proceeded to load up all of the goodies they had purchased into their SUV that was parked nearby. All well and good, but when they were done unloading their purchases they then started to fill the shopping cart back up - with trash from their car! I just couldn’t believe my eyes that people could be so tacky as to treat a shopping cart as some kind of roving trash can. Needless to say it didn’t surprise me one bit when they just left said cart in the middle of the parking lot and didn’t even bother to push it the five feet into the cart return.

I don’t know why I keep being surprised by the new lows we seem to be hitting as a society, but it hits me anew at times like these.

Some announced audits may be as simple as answering/observing several areas in the store, but may involve comparing merchandise on display to a planogram. Wikipedia defines a planogram like this:

A planogram is a diagram of fixtures and products that illustrates how and where retail products should be displayed, usually on a store shelf in order to increase customer purchases.

If your audit involves a planogram there will either be one provided with your instructions or you will have to ask the store manager/associate to print one out for you. There should be detailed instructions in how to read the planogram provided in your audit guidelines. Trust me - your first one will be a bit daunting unless you have previous experience with them, but after a few they aren’t so scary.

Make extra sure you take pictures to document your findings. If you say the merchandise in XX area was dusty take a picture to back it up. Be careful – photographing dust can be tricky. The easiest way to show this is to make a ‘clean’ spot with your finger, and then take the picture. If your guidelines for the audit specify that you need to show XX from top to bottom make sure that you don’t cut part of it off when taking the picture.

Like any other aspect of mystery shopping, at first glance the ‘required reading’ can be a bit daunting. Just with anything else take your time, and make sure you understand the instructions and you will do fine.

The mystery shopper loves your questions and comments and theoretically will be answering them every Wednesday. This week’s questions comes from G.D. in Texas.

Q. What do you tell your friends/family/people when they ask what you do?

A. Generally, I do try to avoid mentioning that I am a mystery shopper. Frankly once you do tell people that you mystery shop you get the same thousand questions before they segue into asking how they get your job. It doesn’t worry me creating new mystery shoppers in my area because I can’t do all the jobs and there might be some I’m not interested in, but it does tend to get a bit repetitive. Let’s be real - we know most people have heard of mystery shopping through a scam-type ad and are under the impression that this is just fun and games. We know that this is a fun job, but it is a job with actual work involved and most people just get dazzled by the free stuff they might be getting. Once they find out it’s real work they usually don’t mystery shop for long.

Plus, and not to sound paranoid or anything, you never know who’s listening, or who they are going to tell. Someone who has overheard you state that you are a mystery shopper might be the clerk in the store you have to mystery shop tomorrow which will out you and disqualify the assignment. Honestly, if I’ve bothered to read all of the guidelines, plan the shop, and drive to the location, I don’t wany anything to screw up my paycheck and waste my time. You might also be inadvertently ‘outed’ running into a friend or neighbor. Say you are in a store on a shop and your friend catches up with you. She asks something like, “So how’s the mystery shopping going?”, or figures out that your on assignment at the moment and blurts out, “Sorry you must be on a shop, I’ll call you later.” If any store employee is nearby you are finished.

So what do I tell people? I tell them that I do market research. The word research conjures up images of boring charts and graphs and usually convinces my listener that they need to ask me something else. ‘)

Some things to definitely avoid when performing an announced audit:

* Customers ALWAYS have the right of way. Make sure that you are not impeding business at the location. If any of them happen to ask you what you are doing, and some do, simply say that you are auditing the location. DO NOT use the term mystery shopping or the inevitable deluge of questions will distract you.

* Always act like the professional you are and this includes dressing the part. Do not show up in your favorite sweats - the dress code for audits is more business casual, but don’t forget comfortable shoes as you may be standing for long periods of time. For the most part these announced audits are part of an ongoing program and are performed monthly, semi-monthly, or quarterly. I have heard more horror stories from store management on previous mystery shoppers. One store that I recently visited confided in me that they almost had to call the police to eject a previous mystery shopper because the mystery shopper was being so obnoxious and rude to customers.

* Announced audits are generally detail oriented so don’t allow yourself to be distracted. Do not bring children, spouses, or pets even if you leave them in the car. Most of the time the instructions for announced audits specifically prohibit this anyway. At one of my recent audits the store manager confided that the last shopper had brought her child and left him in the car while she was performing the audit. He stated that she was so distracted checking on the child that she marked the store off incorrectly in several areas. Also make sure you are polite to the store staff, but don’t get distracted in conversation with them. You are there to do a job - not to make new friends.

* I shouldn’t even have to mention this one, but here goes. Prepare your equipment and check it before leaving for the audit. Make sure that you have a new/charged battery in your digital camera AND enough space on your memory card to take multiple shots of all of the required pictures. Make sure you have a backup pen and all of the paperwork you need organized and ready to go on your chosen clipboard. Make extra sure that you have read and understand all of the instructions for the shop. Some of the audit paperwork can be daunting in it’s length, but forge onward.

When you are at the location performing your audit take your time. It might be something as simple as counting the seats in a movie theater, but you want to do a good job and get more work from this mystery shopping company, right? Before leaving the location double check and make sure that you have answered all of the questions that you needed to as well as taken ALL of your required pictures. If you have room on your memory card take multiple shots of each required picture to up your chances of having a useable one. Check, check, and check again because usually once you leave the assignment there is no going back.

Sadly, I do speak from experience here. I recently completed an announced audit type of shop where I was required to take pictures of several items in the store. Despite the fact that I took over 100 pictures at the location I somehow missed one. There was no going back to the store as it was completely reset the next day and the picture would not have been right. Yes, I took my own advice and immediately emailed the scheduler to confess my mistake. I am now waiting to hear if they are going to disallow the shop - meaning I won’t get paid. Which will suck, but I only have myself to blame. Since we are all human and mistakes do happen take the time and make sure that this isn’t your mistake.

To be continued…

Wow - I didn’t realize until I started typing this out that I’ve actually been doing the shop log for 10 weeks now. That’s a bit of an accomplishment for me and am going to take a moment to take pride in it.

Okay I’m done - so where was the mystery shopper this week? Mostly trying to get the computer unfritzed. I’m not much of a mystery shopper if I can’t do the reports! Somehow it got infected with some unmentionables and I had to have it taken to someone who knows more than I to have it fixed. Luckily my computer guru works for beer so it wasn’t too grossly expensive a repair. As mentioned previously I’ve decided on a bit of a slow month due to increased hours at the day job and a the glut of shops that I did last month.

I did manage to sneak in a few though - I did an office supply store as well as two shoe stores this week. The shoe stores were interesting - one was observation only, no purchase, and the other was reimbursement only. Hmm….one $25 pair of shoes in exchange for a report that’s not too involved. I decided I’d rather have the cash and double checked the assignment instructions - I don’t have to keep the shoes. I just need to wait until my report is accepted and then return them. Since it’s a location that’s fairly close to home guess what I’m gonna do? Yup - bye bye shoes. I also did a few phone assignments for kicks.

I’m looking forward to the week ahead as this week is food week. Sub shops are back and a sit-down lunch with a friend. That’s about all that I have scheduled so far as I still don’t have a computer and am quite leary about trying to do reports without a home PC.

Coming up in the next week I have four fast food type shops scheduled as well as a reimbursement only luncheon. This is actually where mystery shopping comes in handy. I have a friend that I owe a lunch to so I took a lunch assignment and since my instructions state that I just have to bring a guest I’m taking my friend with me. Is it a bit tacky to invite them to a lunch that I’m going to be reimbursed for? Not in my head - I’m still paying for that lunch with my time instead of cash. Does my friend know it’s going to be a mystery shop? Honestly, I haven’t decided yet. Sometimes when I do my dining shops I bring someone who doesn’t know that I’m a mystery shopper. I don’t have to worry about them outing me then. Of course it is a bit easier, if more stressful, if the guest knows that it’s an assignment with ordering guidelines.

I might just have to flip a coin on this one……..Until next week….

Generally you will need a good digital camera to perform an announced audit. You will need to know in advance how to transfer your pictures from your camera to your computer, how to resize your pictures, and how to upload them successfully to your mystery-shopping site. Most mystery shopping companies will have detailed instructions on how to resize and upload for each assignment that requires pictures. I don’t have any fancy software for picture resizing - I just use Microsoft paint. Now is also the time to invest in a good clipboard if you don’t already have one. You will need something to write on and keep your paperwork organized while you are performing the audit.

When you arrive at the location your first move should be to introduce yourself to the store manager and present him/her with your letter of introduction that is included with your assignment paperwork. You’ve already read over all of the instructions and guidelines so you should have a good idea of where to start with your observations. If the manager’s input is needed ask if they have the time available - if they don’t be prepared to wait. Most of the audit guidelines will have instructions on how long to wait and if an associate can answer the specified questions if the manager is busy.

To be continued…

Happy Valentine’s Day! I swear I meant to cover restaurant mystery shopping in time for the holiday, but I’ll get to that in the next few weeks or so.

These are straightforward mystery shops where the store knows that a mystery shopper, or independent contractor, is due. You may or may not have to call the store manager in advance of your visit. Once you arrive at the store you will check for specified things, and may or may not be required to take photographs of any ‘no’ answers or a few pictures in general.

I like audits although if a mystery shopping company conducts both announced audits and mystery shops for the same location you will be barred from completing mystery shops at that location for a specified period - usually six months - after doing an audit there. In general audits pay more than mystery shopping, and can range from the simple to the complex. To give you an idea of the fees I’ve received $8-$29 for audits to date and have ranged from counting the seats in a movie theater - not kidding - to checking the layout of the entire store versus a planogram. See Pt. 5 for more information on the planograms. I enjoy being able to openly tote my clipboard and writing things down as they occur and not relying on my memory. This generally relieves some of the ‘mystery shopping pressure’.

To be continued…

I should probably file this one under the mailbag, but just couldn’t resist answering it right away.

Yes, even if you can’t lie you can still mystery shop. You will just need to be extra picky about the assignments you choose. More than likely any type of assignment that requires you to role play or act out a specific scenario will be out of the question if you can’t lie or can’t lie well. From my recent assignments this would rule out the baby store where I asked for a shower gift, the shoe store where I needed new shoes, and the storage facility where I stated that I was about to move, but would include the oil change, the local attraction, and the gas stations. It might help if you don’t think of it so much as lying as you do role-playing or acting. However, if it’s not right for you then it’s not right and I would not advise you to do anything that you are uncomfortable with.

You also might want to look into assignments that are announced. This is where the store in question knows that a mystery shopper or independent contractor is coming. I enjoy announced audits as I can openly tote my clipboard and relevant documents into the location not to mention I don’t have to depend on my memory and can write things down as I see them. These are generally straightforward assignments and depending on their complexity can actually pay better than actual mystery shops.

Just for you D. C. I will cover this type of shop in detail tomorrow.

This week’s question comes from D. C. in sunny Florida and they ask:

Q. I keep requesting assignments, but don’t get many. Is there something wrong with me?

A. First off you don’t mention if you are a new mystery shopper. If you are, and even if you aren’t, there is probably nothing wrong with you. This is not a personal rejection even though it can feel like one. If your shopper rating is excellent, good, or neutral as a new shopper it can be as simple as a different mystery shopper asked first. Without knowing the companies involved it’s difficult for me to say for sure, but generally when there are multiple applicants for an assignment the mystery shopping company will choose the highest rated shopper and if several have requested the same assignment it is given to the one who asked first. This is why you should check your email several times a day.

If you want to get more assignments make sure that you get a good rating for every assignment that you do complete barring the natural emergencies that do crop up for everyone from time to time. If you find yourself with nothing to do but wish for assignments consider applying with more mystery shopping companies. There are a few hundred in the United States alone and I generally get all the work that I can handle part-time by being listed with two dozen or so. You might also want to sign up with a scheduling service. Reputable scheduling services do not charge and schedule assignments for many diffreent mystery shopping companies. Two of my favorites are Kern, and Palm.

Good luck! Sometimes it just takes awhile to get started especially if you are brand new to mystery shopping.