Mystery Shopper's Manual

When Customer Service Attacks

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customer service attacksThis is a humorous work of fiction that was inspired by an actual experience of overly-attentive staff. I am sharing it here with the writer’s permission. No mystery shoppers were harmed in the making of this story.

Everything was normal at Zmart until someone heard a rumor that the corporate office was going to check in on them soon and that a mystery shopper was coming any day.  Of course the point of mystery shoppers is that they are supposed to be anonymous and thus treated like a normal customer, but rumors had a way of spreading.  And it didn’t matter if those rumors turned out to be false, if they happened to be true, the store needed to be ready.

Greg knew nothing of the secret shopper rumors when he walked into Zmart.  It wasn’t like the store could unfurl a banner that said “Welcome Secret Shoppers!”  There wasn’t anything else about the appearance of the store that gave him any indication that something was going on.  But it didn’t take him long to realize that something was definitely different from his usual trips to Zmart.Continue Reading

Bad Mystery Shopper Reports – What Is an Employer to Do?

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There are appropriate and inappropriate ways to handle a poor rating on a mystery shop report. Unfortunately, the manager of a Cape Coral, Florida post office chose an inappropriate way.

Mystery shop reports are supposed to give companies information they can use to identify where they are performing well, and where problems exist. Appropriate ways of responding to the problems identified in a mystery shop might include providing additional training to employees or changing staffing levels to avoid under- or overstaffing.

An inappropriate reaction? Presenting employees with a cake that looks like a pile of poop, in “honor” of their poopy report.
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Venti Rage

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As mystery shoppers, we know that employees are expected to say certain things and ask certain questions when they interact with customers. For example, they may ask questions to lead to suggestive selling, such as, “Would you like to make that a combo?” or questions about preferences, such as the kind of bread you want in your sandwich.

One New York professor decided that a Starbucks employee asking if she wanted butter or cream cheese on her bagel was an outrage. According to a report in the New York Post,  Lynne Rosenthal ordered a toasted multigrain bagel — and became enraged when the barista followed up by asking, “Do you want butter or cheese?”Continue Reading

Mystery Shopper Reports Paint Pictures with Words

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painter.jpgWhen you write a mystery shop report, you are giving the client a snapshot of what happened during your visit. Although some mystery shopper jobs include taking digital photos, most of the time we make the picture of our experience appear through our words.

You paint the picture through your choice of answers to the yes or no questions, and with your comments and narratives. The facts and details you include, as well as your choice of words, tell the story of your customer experience.

Mystery shopper reports are objective, so it is important not to shade or color your answers. Simply present the facts in a straightforward way.

Give details. The more you can tell the client about your visit, the more useful your report is to them.
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Will Mystery Shopping Become Obsolete?

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ivr.jpgHave you ever gotten one of those notices on your receipt to call a toll-free number and answer a few questions about your experience at a store or restaurant? Often the business “bribes” customers to participate by providing a coupon good for a discount on their next visit, or by entering them in a drawing for cash and other prizes.

Integrated Voice Response (IVR) is used by a lot of businesses, often as an add-on to their mystery shopping and other market research programs. Mystery shoppers have often wondered if IVR will put us out of business, but I do not believe it will. There is, however, something else on the horizon that causes me more concern.Continue Reading

What Kinds of Businesses Use Mystery Shoppers?

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shopper_with_bags.jpgMost people think of stores and restaurants when they think of mystery shopping clients. You know, “get paid to shop and eat.” There are many retail and restaurant chains that use mystery shopping, but it certainly does not stop there.

Just about any organization that has contact with the public may use secret shoppers. That means not only for-profit businesses, but non-profit organizations and government agencies, too. People can check out utilitysavingexpert.com, if they need the best insurance services.

Secret shoppers may not disclose specific clients for whom they have shopped due to the confidentiality agreements we sign. However, it is acceptable to discuss the types of businesses that get mystery shopped. Here are some of the ones I have heard of. Although this list is far from complete, it will give you an idea of the many industries that rely on mystery shoppers to give them information about their businesses (including some kind of odd ones).Continue Reading

Confero Mystery Shopping Company

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confero.jpgElaine Buxton, President of Confero answered some questions for us about mystery shopping for them. Confero provides mystery shopping services to a wide range of industries, including retail, banking, automotive and food and beverage. Confero is a member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA). Elaine was involved in the formation of MSPA and has served on the Board of Directors.

Here is what Elaine had to say about mystery shopping for Confero.Continue Reading

Mystery Shopping on the Telephone

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telephone.jpgTelephone mystery shops involve calling a client location and interacting with one or more employees over the telephone. Sometimes the entire shop is conducted over the telephone, and in other cases the mystery shop includes both the call and an in-person visit.

The information that the client wants from a telephone shop relates to the same issues as in-person shops: Were employees courteous? Were they able to provide accurate information to the customer? Did they follow proper sales procedures?

When doing a telephone mystery shop, you may complete a written report or the mystery shopping company may have you record the call and submit the recording as your report.

Here is what you can expect when completing a mystery shopper job involving a telephone shop.Continue Reading

Secret Shopper Confidentiality and Ethics

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ethics.jpgEven if you are an excellent mystery shopper and make yourself available 24 hours a day, you won’t necessarily get as many assignments as you would like from any one company. To maximize your opportunities, you should apply to as many companies as you can. Mystery shopping companies understand that, as independent contractors, secret shoppers will market their services to many different companies.

That brings us to the ethics of working for more than one company. While there is nothing wrong with accepting assignments from several companies, you must respect the confidentiality of the information you receive from each company.

As part of the application process, you will complete an Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA) that describes the relationship between you and the secret shopping company. ICAs typically include a clause specifying that you will keep any information you obtain about the company and its clients confidential, and will not share it with anyone else.

This means that you should not share information about which businesses get mystery shopped, who shops which businesses, fees, guidelines, report forms, results of mystery shops and other proprietary data. Mystery shopping companies and their clients take confidentiality very seriously, and violating the confidentiality agreement could result in being removed from the shopper data base.

That does not mean that you can not share any information about mystery shopping. For example, when an application asks for what other mystery shopping companies you have worked, it does not violate your independent contractor agreements to list the names of mystery shopping companies. You should not name specific clients you’ve shopped, but it is fine to name the mystery shopping companies. You may also share information that is generally available to the public. For example, many mystery shopping companies say on their home page or other public area of their web sites the types of businesses they shop. Sharing that information (“Mystery Shoppers R Us specializes in shopping restaurants and hotels.”) without naming specific clients or giving out confidential data is fine.

Pay attention to the terms of the confidentiality agreements, or confidentiality clauses of independent contractor agreements, you signed when you applied. At a minimum, follow these guidelines:

  • Don’t share information with anyone about a mystery shopping company’s clients, or shops you have done for any mystery shopping company.
  • Don’t disclose the names of companies that have mystery shopping programs. Many shoppers believe that it is acceptable to post comments or questions about clients or shops to public forums, as long as they don’t disclose which mystery shopping company has that client. It is not.
  • Don’t send copies of blank report forms, sample reports, or completed reports from one company to another.
  • Don’t share information about compensation with other mystery shopping companies, clients or other shoppers.
  • If a friend asks for advice about becoming a mystery shopper, you may refer them to mystery shopping companies you recommend, but don’t disclose information about the clients they shop, fees and reimbursements, etc.
  • Don’t give educational materials or other documents you received from one company to another.
  • Don’t gossip about the people or clients of any of the companies you work with.
  • Don’t discuss the results of mystery shops directly with the client, unless you have been asked to do so by the mystery shopping company.
  • Don’t post proprietary information about a mystery shopping company or client to an Internet message board, chat or forum.

If you are not sure whether it is ethical to divulge something you know, DON’T DO IT! It is always better to be safe than sorry.

Remember that this is a business and you are a professional. Take your responsibilities seriously.

“Self-Assign” Mystery Shopper Scheduling

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Although many of the secret shop assignments you receive will come through a scheduler, some companies allow you to directlyclaim the shops you want without going through a scheduler. This is known as “self-assigning” or “self-scheduling.”

When you register with a mystery shopping company, they will explain how mystery shops are awarded. Companies that use self-assigning may offer only some of their shops this way, or may use self-assigning for almost all of their assignments.

Here is how self-assigning works, and what you need to know about getting assignments this way.

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