Amy Melanson, Client Services Manager at Goodwin & Associates, along with the schedulers and editors at Goodwin, recently answered some questions about mystery shopping for them. Goodwin & Associates specializes in providing mystery shopping services to the hospitality industry, although they serve a variety of industries. The company is a member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association.What Do Secret Shopping Editors Do?
When you submit a mystery shopper report, it will be reviewed by an editor. The editor will review the report for proper spelling, grammar and punctuation, but there is much more to an editor’s job than proofreading reports.
Here are some of the issues an editor has to consider when examining a secret shopping report.
Did the secret shopper complete the shop during the required time frame? Mystery shopper jobs may have to be completed on a specific day, or during a range of dates. For example, the shop guidelines may say that the shop is to be completed between the 1st and the 8th, and it must not be done on a Saturday. There may be a time of day specified (e.g., before 4:00 p.m.) or the guidelines may say that the shop may be done any time the business is open, except the 30 minutes after they open and one hour prior to closing time.
…continue reading What Do Secret Shopping Editors Do?
The best advice I can give secret shoppers about making their reports better is contained in just four words: Describe behavior, not feelings. This is a reminder to keep reports objective and stick to the facts.
Most mystery shopper assignments require that you submit a receipt in order to be paid. Most often you are instructed to upload a scanned image or digital photo of the receipt. You may be allowed to fax or mail the receipt instead. In some cases, you may be asked to mail the original receipt, and in others you may only have to enter information from the receipt when you submit the report from your secret shop.