The Mystery Shopper’s Manual

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Mystery shopping companies require sophisticated scheduling and reporting systems in order to satisfy client expectations and manage their businesses effectively. Although a few companies build their own proprietary systems, most use one of the online systems developed especially for mystery shopping. As secret shoppers, we encounter these systems as we work with various mystery shopping companies.

One popular mystery shopping system is ClientSmart. Kimberly Peterson of ClientSmart took the time to answer some questions about their system and what secret shoppers should know about working with the ClientSmart system.

What is the name of your mystery shopping system?
ClientSmart

How are mystery shop assignments made through your system (e.g., direct scheduling by schedulers, job board, self-assign, other)?
Shop assignments are done all ways possible with the majority of our clients using their job board.

Can shoppers search job postings from most or all of your client companies in one place, instead of logging in to each system individually?
Many of our clients utilize job posting sites and therefore you would see many of our clients in one area. We do not have one site where all listings are posted.

How does your system determine which available shops are emailed to each shopper?
Emails are based on how a shopper answers demographic questions during the registration process. If a shopper qualifies for a shop based on the demographics and area they are willing to shop, they’ll receive an email.

Is there a way to get fewer (or more targeted) emails?
The larger your area is that you’re willing to shop the more emails you’ll likely receive.

What shopper information can schedulers see when they are assigning shops (e.g., history, MSPA certification status, shop grades, notes, other)?
Schedulers are provided a lot of information in ClientSmart to make an educated decision on shopper selection. A scheduler can easily see the shopper’s history, ratings, notes, certifications and if the shopper is considered “preferred” with that company.

What features make your system especially shopper-friendly and easy to use?
ClientSmart was built with shoppers in mind. We have a very user-friendly interface that works equally well on PC and Mac. Our application allows shoppers to easily request and self-assign shops including a unique calendar feature so the shopper can check they’re schedule before applying. When a shop is being completed, the shop data automatically saves so the shopper has no worries about losing valuable data.

What features will we see in your system in the near future?
ClientSmart is developing new features on a daily basis and we plan to unveil some exciting ones this year. We always discuss features once they’ve been developed and are live on the application.

What do you see as the future direction of mystery shopping technology?
ClientSmart plans to continue to provide the most current in technology for its system. We predict the applications will continue to grow and provide even greater features for shoppers that are easy to use. With the SmartPhone technologies, mystery shopping will become more mobile and in years to come we predict most shoppers will complete surveys on the go and almost real time.

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Although ClientSmart is not a mystery shopping company, they do provide a mystery shopper registration page on their site.

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Thanks, Kimberly, for providing information about ClientSmart to us.