The Mystery Shopper’s Manual

Mystery shoppers spend a lot of time on the computer. When it is cluttered and disorganized, every task can take longer than it should. In this guest post, time management expert Karen Leland offers tips on getting your computer in order.

Has your computer become the junk drawer of your electronic life? Do you have files stacked ten to a one-room apartment, e-mails were gathering mold in dark corners and bookmarks living in chaotic squalor? So much so that finding things on your desktop and hard drive had begun taking significant amounts of time?

If so, follow this simple three-step process to do a basic declutter of your computer and begin the process of simplifying your electronic life. …continue reading Three Steps to Declutter Your Computer

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School is out for the summer, and you may be planning to take your children with you when you do your mystery shopper jobs. Stop for a moment before you do so, and make sure you are not making a mistake.

Although you may take your children with you while doing some secret shopping, you should not assume that it is always a good idea.

Do not take it personally if the guidelines say that no children are allowed. The fact is that children can be a distraction and create disruptions. Your children may be the best-behaved in the world, but other people’s children are not. Rather than saying that you may bring your children if they are well-behaved, the client chooses to say you may not bring your children.

However, even well-behaved children can be a distraction. If you have to keep one eye on them, or your toddler starts asking for food, or needs to use the rest room in the middle of the sales person’s presentation, you will be distracted. The employee may also be distracted by your children, affecting his performance on the mystery shop, and timings and other measures may be thrown off. …continue reading Secret Shopping and Kids

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Fine dining restaurants typically have high standards for service. If you have ever done a fine dining restaurant mystery shop, you know how detailed the questions can be.

The four-star Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City has exacting standards for service. In fact, they have a list of 129 “sins” that staff are to avoid when serving customers.

Many of the these will be familiar to mystery shoppers, as they are the kinds of things we are asked to evaluate in our reports:

• Not acknowledging guests with eye contact and a smile within 30 seconds. First impressions count!
• Not thanking the guests as they leave. Last impression!
• Forks with bent tines.
• Chipped glassware.
• Burned-out lightbulbs.
• Lack of eye contact.
• Not refilling water or coffee.
• Soiled or ill-fitting uniforms. …continue reading Fine Dining Restaurant Service Standards

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Mystery shoppers may be compensated for completing shops with the payment of a fee, reimbursement of a required purchase, or both a fee and reimbursement. Typically, the shopper pays for any required purchase out-of-pocket, and receives payment from the mystery shopping company a few weeks later.

Each company has their own methods they use to pay secret shoppers. Some offer options, so shoppers can choose, perhaps between direct deposit and a mailed check, while others have a “one size fits all” approach.

The mystery shopping company will tell you at the time you apply how they issue payments. Here are the most common choices: …continue reading How Mystery Shoppers Get Paid

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Although most of the questions on secret shopping reports are objective, yes-or-no style questions, many reports include one or more questions that ask for your opinion. Examples include questions such as:

• Based on the service you received today, would you have opened an account at this bank?
• Based on the rental agent’s presentation, would you have rented an apartment here?
• Would you return to this store/restaurant and spend your own money?

These questions call for your opinion, but a good answer requires that you back up your opinion with reasons and facts. Here are some examples of how to handle these types of questions.

…continue reading Mystery Shopper Reports and Opinion Questions

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