Having great relationships with schedulers means you will be on their minds when they have jobs to fill. Here are some ways to be one of their favorite mystery shoppers:
Make your application complete. Answer every question. Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation on your application. If you haven’t worked with them before, all they know about you is what they see on the application.
Be dependable. If you accept an assignment, do it. About 25% of the time, secret shoppers who accept jobs don’t complete them. Imagine having to do your job twice 25% of the time. You wouldn’t like it, and schedulers don’t appreciate it either.
If an emergency comes up and you have to cancel,
do it right away. You should never cancel an assignment lightly, but anyone can have life happen. Don’t wait until the day the assignment is due (or worse yet, the day after) and then cancel. Give the scheduler time to find someone to replace you.
When you have an emergency, suggest someone else to do the shop, if you can. Do you have a friend who could do the shop for you? Don’t have them do the shop without talking to the scheduler first, but suggesting someone may make it easier for the scheduler to reassign the shop.
Pick up hard-to-schedule shops. Do you notice that certain shops seem to be posted again and again? Chances are, those jobs are hard to schedule every month. Even if it is a little out of your way (that doesn’t mean driving an hour each way just to do the shop), picking up a job like that will be a big help to the scheduler, and they remember those who make their jobs easier. (Yes, you may ask for a bonus.)
Recommend other shoppers. Can you suggest others who can help with those hard-to-fill jobs? Schedulers will appreciate the referral. Of course, you should only suggest shoppers who are reliable and will do a great job. You may not want to suggest people in your immediate area, but if you have a friend or relative in an area where you see shops going unfilled, why not suggest them?
Email when you have questions. Most schedulers prefer email to phone calls, so email with questions about the shop or other issues. Don’t wait until the last minute to contact them with questions. Make sure the scheduler will have time to get back to you.
Communicate with the schedulers you work with and let them know about anything that will affect getting your reports done on time. They want and need to know about things that affect their ability to get the job done. If you have an issue (e.g., weather, illness, car trouble) let them know ASAP so they can work with you to meet the client requirements.
Keep your emails professional. Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation. Make both the tone and content professional. Fully identify yourself: name, address, phone number(s), email address, and where you shop. Many shoppers use a signature file with all of that information, as well as any certifications they hold. If you are writing about a specific assignment, include details about the mystery shopper job such as job number, location, due date, etc.
Schedulers remember the shoppers who are a joy to work with, and they will want to work with you often. Be the shopper they love, and you will get all the work you can handle!