shopperpro

I am not kidding when I say that this job is 20% observation, 10% writing, and 70% reading comprehension. Readers of this blog may just notice that this is something I, myself, have struggled with on occasion.

I cannot stress how important it is to actually read everything that is provided for you. Before you take an assignment read all of the fine print so that you will know everything that is expected of you, and to make sure that you fit the criteria for the assignment such as age range or gender. Yes, there are some gender specific shops although the majority can be done by either gender. After you get the assignment read all of the guidelines AND the shop form. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the guidelines cover everything you need to know. More often than not, they don’t and you’ll be blindsided when you find that little question when you are filling out your shop report that you don’t know the answer to.

Don’t believe me? A few weeks ago I did a shop. I had read all of my guidelines and instructions thoroughly, or so I thought, and did the shop. I came home; started filling out the report and the very first question threw me. What stores were to the left and right of the store that I had shopped? Huh? There was NO mention of this in any of the preparatory material. I told the truth and stated that I had not noted the shops on either side. After I finished filling out the report I sent an email to my scheduler contact and apologized. I mentioned that I would be back in the area conducting another shop in a few days and would gather that information then if that was acceptable. If I had read the shop form I would have seen this one coming and been prepared.

There is of course another reason. There is an assignment that is rather infamous in mystery shopping circles. It was a very involved assignment that no experienced shopper would touch. It involved going to a store, walking around until you were assisted no less than three times, and also included a purchase and return of a large, unwieldy, bulky object. The pay for this assignment was very low. How low? Say with all of your objectives in the store it would take you about an hour and a half including the return. For the fee that was offered you would have made less than minimum wage and that doesn’t include your travel time. New shoppers didn’t know any better and would take the assignment without noting exactly how much work was involved.

I was actually giving a lecture on mystery shopping recently and while I was explaining this point using this particular assignment as an example one of the listeners got the giggles. On break she confessed to me that she had actually taken this shop without reading through everything and had regretted it.

Read, read, and read those instructions again please! Look before you leap.