Customer Impact Mystery Shopping Company
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Mystery shopping industry veterans Scott Hiller, Mike Green and Clay Tarro, formerly of Speedmark/Market Force Information, have formed a new secret shopping company called Customer Impact.
You may recall that Market Force Information purchased Speedmark in 2007. The new company spins off some of the former Speedmark clients and employees to form Customer Impact, so you will see several familiar names associated with CI.
You may have met Mike Green at a Gold Certification Workshop (especially when he was president of MSPA). Mike took some time from his duties establishing the new company to answer some questions about mystery shopping for Customer Impact.
Describe the ideal shopper.
Shoppers are our lifeblood. A perfect shopper for Customer Impact is one who follows shopper guidelines, writes well, does work on time, is easy to contact if needed, is flexible and has a true passion for service.
What do you see as the future direction of mystery shopping?
Having been in the business 15 years, I see it getting easier for shoppers in some ways and harder in others. The expansion of the internet to Internet cafes, affordable wireless cards, wide use of cell phones, the ability to record notes on PDA’s, inexpensive fax machine and scanners and other technologies have made it easier on shoppers. I think there are more shoppers than ever before which is always going to mean lower shop fees unfortunately. Gas prices are killing shoppers as we are well aware. Gas prices are also killing our customers as well so increasing fees to the client is not an option. We are charging fees almost half what they were even 6-7 years ago just to keep some accounts from going to low balling competitors.
Does your company recognize MSPA certification? What advantage does a Silver shopper have over non-certified? Gold over Silver?
Yes - we love MSPA certification. On some high end shops we offer them to GOLD shoppers first and then we open them up to SILVER shoppers and then others. If two shoppers have the same experience and one is certified and the other is not, certification is always the tie breaker.
What is the best way for a new shopper to get in the door and get a first assignment?
Since we have many fine dining and retail clients, shoppers often contact us about working on those accounts. Unfortunately, everyone starts with simple shops and has to earn their way up the ladder by providing quality, timely work. That way we know they are serious about the business.
What is your biggest problem/pet peeve with shoppers?
Our biggest problem with shoppers is that many simply do not follow directions. On all of our forms and guides, we state over a dozen times that you must comment on all NO answers. Before they submit the report they must also check a box confirming that they in fact commented on all NO answers. When we open the reports, 25% of shoppers have not commented on the NO’s.
What are the biggest challenges facing mystery shopping companies today?
Low shopper fees and high gas prices are definitely a threat to our industry. Scams also continue to give us a black eye.
What types of shops does your company do?
Most of our clients are restaurants and include many fine dining concepts. We also do retail, some banking, grocery and convenience stores.
Do you see the technology requirements changing? (e.g., wireless Internet)
The more technology a shopper has, the easier their job will be and the more successful they will be.
How long after a shop are your shoppers typically paid? Do you use/require PayPal?
Customer Impact pays by Pay Pal between the 10th and the 14th the month after the shop is completed. We do not mail checks or offer direct deposit.
What do you want shoppers to know–what will make them more valuable to your company?
Be as flexible as possible. We remember the people that help us out in jams. We know you all want fine dining shops, but remember, they are a very small percentage of the shops available in the market.
Attend the shopper conferences if at all possible. MSPA has spent a lot of money offering these conferences and if shoppers do not support them, they will go away and nobody can blame MSPA for not trying. The average attendance is 200-300 shoppers but there should be 500-600 shoppers in attendance. You are missing a fun and educational event.
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