Can you rise above the crowd and standout as a mystery shopper superstar? Can you be a great mystery shopper? We’ll explain some of the factors involved in this mystery shopper 101.
Most mystery shoppers compete against each other for the most desirable and lucrative shopping missions. What determines whether you get the shop you wanted versus some other shopper?
Companies need mystery shopping to provide valuable insights about their products and services. Those companies hire service providers or agencies to collect the data they need. In turn, the service providers organise and schedule the mystery shoppers.
Your potential to earn income as a mystery shopper is directly linked to the rating you earn with the various service providers. When you have a solid rating, then you will be offered more and better quality missions.
Each service provider has its own guidelines that outline how they want you to perform the shops. In addition, the clients also set their own unique instructions for each shopping mission.
So what exactly will make you a great mystery shopper so that you are offered the more interesting and higher-paying shopping missions? Mystery shopper 101 advises you to focus on the following areas:
- Reliability and a strong work ethic
- Ability to follow detailed instructions
- Attention to detail / astute observation skills
- Honesty and integrity
- Decent writing skills
Reliability and work ethic
The service providers juggle a lot of shopping missions and rely on you to complete the task you requested. Of course, that means both your shopping mission and the follow-up report need to be done on time.
You reinforce your positive reputation when you complete your task accurately and on schedule.
On the other hand, if you ask to re-schedule task dates or send your reports late, then you will damage your reputation very quickly.
Follow instructions
Each shopping mission includes a series of instructions that tell you how the mission should be done. You must follow these instructions, they are “carved in stone” so to speak.
The clients are paying for you to perform these tasks exactly the way they outlined. Furthermore, the service providers review your reports to confirm you followed their instructions.
If you do not follow the instructions then the service providers must re-schedule that shopping mission with a different shopper to satisfy the client. That costs the schedulers both time and money and is not very good for your reputation. Not to mention, that also means you won’t get paid for that shop.
Attention to detail
You need to perform the mission exactly the way the client outlined. This is a critical component of mystery shopper 101!
You will need to be very observant during your tasks: noting names of staff, remembering details of conversations, taking photos, following the precise scenario you’ve been assigned, potentially making purchases, etc.
In most cases, you need to do all of these activities secretly without revealing your mystery shopper identity.
Honesty and integrity
The whole point of mystery shopping is to get feedback from a typical shopping experience. You need to report your mission truthfully, without exaggeration, so that the information has value for the client. In addition, the clients pay the service providers and the service providers pay you.
Your shopping missions are legal contracts to perform the tasks as outlined by the client. In other words, if you misrepresent that work, that is an act of fraud.
Report submissions
Every shopping mission requires a mission report or survey. Sometimes these reports are just straight forward multiple-choice questions. However, it’s more likely you will need to review what happened during your shop.
You’ll need to describe, in detail: all the different interactions you had, provide your objective observations, upload photos and receipts, describe your conversations, etc. And all of this must be done according to that particular service provider’s guidelines.
For example, you might need to write in the past tense and refer to shop staff as customer representatives. You’ll probably need to avoid using gender references so instead of writing he or she, you might write sales associate.
Generally speaking, you should always include as much detail as possible and be clear and concise.
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Conclusion
Above all, you build your reputation with the service providers by doing the job well. You prove you are reliable by completing your tasks according to the instructions and on time. Finally, you return well-written, detailed reports, that are factual and observant.
If you are diligent with your tasks in the same way you would be with any other job, your reputation will grow with the service providers and you’ll be well on your way to establishing yourself to earn some extra income.
For more information about mystery shopping, read about the MSPA. This is the Mystery Shopping Professional Association.
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