The Mystery Shopper’s Manual

Question from a mystery shopper:

I just completed a secret shop, but I have forgotten the name of the employee who assisted me. The report requires the name. What can I do?

Whenever there is a problem in completing a report, one option is to contact your scheduler and ask what you should do. For example, they may be able to accept a description of the employee instead of the name.

You may be able to salvage this situation on your own, though. If you did get the name, but just can not remember it, make an attempt to recall how you got the name. Was the employee wearing a name tag? Did she introduce herself? Did you overhear another employee call her by name? The more you can recall about how you got the name, the more likely you are to remember the name.

Still don’t have it?

It may be possible to call the location and get the name. This requires some finesse. Do not call and say, “I was in earlier today to mystery shop you and I can’t remember the name of the person who helped me. Who is the blonde woman who was working in the shoe department at 2 o’clock?”

First of all, you should never identify yourself as the mystery shopper, even over the telephone. Secondly, they may lie and give you the wrong name, just to mess with the mystery shopper.

One solution might be to call back with an additional question about your transaction or about the products you were shown. Even though you have completed the shop, do not come up with an outrageous story that will make you memorable or cause them to identify you as the mystery shopper. You might want to shop there again some time.

You might say something such as, “The sales person I talked to was telling me you may have some new styles in next week, and I wanted to ask a couple of other questions. Is she there now?” Or you could ask about something you think you may have left behind (which of course you did not). Giving them a brief description of the sales person might cause them to say, “Oh, that was Laura. She is on break now. Would you like her to call you back?” and you have the name you need.

You could even get lucky. If you call back shortly after the shop, the person who helped you may answer the phone and give her name. In that case, you do not even have to mention that you were in earlier because you already have your answer. You can ask a question about their hours, or just say you have the wrong number.

When in doubt, though, ask your scheduler how the situation should be handled. They have heard this question before, and they can tell you what they and the client want you to do.