The Mystery Shopper’s Manual

Secret shop reports use a lot of numbers. When you need to put a number into a sentence should you use the numerals, or spell it out?

There is no clear-cut answer to this one. It is largely a matter of style. If the mystery shopping company has a style guide they ask shoppers to use when writing reports, that will determine how you use numbers. However, in the absence of specific style guidelines, here are some suggestions for when to use the numerals and when to spell out numbers. …continue reading Writing Numbers in Mystery Shopper Reports

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Kathy Doering, of Ann Michaels & Associates Mystery Shopping, answered some questions for us about mystery shopping for them. Ann Michaels & Associates provides mystery shopping and market research services to a wide range of industries. The company is a member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, and Kathy and others from Ann Michaels have attended the MSPA’s Shopper Educational Conferences and several Gold Workshops.

Here is what Kathy had to say about mystery shopping for Ann Michaels & Associates. …continue reading Ann Michaels and Associates Mystery Shopping Company

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Question from a mystery shopper:

I want to be a mystery shopper, but I am concerned because I hear about a lot of scams associated with secret shopping. How do I find legitimate companies, and how can I tell if a company is legitimate or not? …continue reading How Do I Know if a Mystery Shopping Company is Legitimate?

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Dennis Richard of Ritter Associates Mystery Shopping, answered some questions for us about mystery shopping for Ritter Associates. Ritter Associates is a member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, and Dennis and others from Ritter have attended the MSPA’s Shopper Educational Conferences and many Gold Workshops.

Ritter has been in business since 1974.

Here is what Dennis had to say about mystery shopping for Ritter Associates. …continue reading Ritter Associates Mystery Shopping Company

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In an earlier post, I showed you how to identify and correct sentence fragments. Run-on sentences are the flip side of fragments. Where a fragment is not a complete sentence, a run-on sentence is two or more complete thoughts that are run together without punctuation. For example, this is a run-on sentence:

Ken asked if I wanted to schedule delivery of the desk he said delivery could be on Tuesday or Thursday.

There are two complete thoughts there. To eliminate the run-on sentence, you could write: …continue reading Run-on Sentences

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In an earlier post, I wrote about mystery shopping and being green. Here, Heather Johnson of OrganicCoupons.org shares additional tips about keeping your mystery shopping business green.

Consumerism is a part of daily life in our society, and as a mystery shopper you are paid be a consumer. This does not mean, however, that you have to be wasteful. There are many different ways you can do your part each day to be a green mystery shopper, which will help curb the impact you make on the environment, as well as your wallet—while still helping you to earn money shopping. …continue reading A Green Shopping List: 5 Ways You Can Be a Greener Mystery Shopper

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Never put your name in the shop comments. It is likely the editor would remove your name, but if it somehow made it back to the client you would probably not be able to shop that client again.

Quoting the exact words used by an employee is a good way to make your reports more valuable to the client; however, do not include your name in those quotations. For example, if the employee said, “Thank you for shopping with us today, Mrs. Johnson,” you might write:

Sophia said, “Thank you for shopping with us today,” and called me by name.

Or just enter something like <my name> in place of your name, such as:

Sophia said, “Thank you for shopping with us today, <my name>.”

Or if you prefer not to use an exact quote you can simply comment:

Sophia thanked me and called me by name.

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Whenever you submit a mystery shop report it is reviewed by an editor. The editor’s job is to make sure the report is perfect before it is forwarded to the client.

The editor must examine the entire report to make sure it satisfies all of the criteria established by the mystery shopping company and the client. In many cases, the editor will assign a grade or quality score to your report, based on how well you met the shop requirements.

Your shop grade can influence which assignments you get in the future, so making sure your report is the best it can be not only makes the editor’s job easier, it can help you qualify for more and better mystery shop assignments.

Here is what editors look for and how you can get a great score on your next report. …continue reading What Editors Look for in Mystery Shopper Reports

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Question from a mystery shopper:

Is it possible to make $300-$400 a week as a full-time mystery shopper? My husband wants me to get a job, but I would rather be a full time mystery shopper. Can you help me convince my husband this can work? …continue reading Can I Mystery Shop Full Time?

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