Mystery Shopper's Manual

Mystery Shopper Reports and the Perfect 10

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When mystery shoppers submit reports to mystery shopping companies, they are reviewed by editors. The editors not only make sure the reports are perfect before releasing them to the clients, they may also score the mystery shopper.

Most companies that rate or grade secret shoppers use a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is outstanding and 1 is for shoppers who ought to start thinking about a new profession. Don’t stress over always getting 10s on your reports. Some companies never give 10s, others give them only for The. Best. Report. Ever. If you consistently get scores of 8, 9 or 10 on your reports, you are doing great.

Even if you don’t always get a 10, there is nothing wrong with always striving for a 10. Doing your best work will help you to land more and better mystery shops. If you want to be a top-rated shopper, there are a few simple steps that can get you there. Here is how you can be a perfect 10.Continue Reading

Funny Mystery Shopper Comments

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bagged-myselfSometimes what we write doesn’t effectively communicate what we mean. Mystery shopping company Confero offers a blog post about funny comments on mystery shop reports that includes this gem: “There were no baggers helping the cashier so I bagged myself.”

Okay, we know what the shopper meant, but her words paint another picture entirely. Misspellings, misplaced modifiers and other writing errors can mean that a mystery shopper’s report does not say exactly what the shopper thinks it does, and those errors can be made by even the most experienced mystery shoppers.

It is easy to make these kinds of mistakes, even when the shopper carefully proofreads the report before submitting it. We know what we meant when we wrote it, so we tend to read what we meant rather than what it actually says.

One good way to catch errors is to read comments and narratives out loud. Sentences that made sense as you read them on the page or the screen may not sound right when you hear them spoken.

Have a good laugh reading about the mistakes made by other shoppers, then proofread your reports carefully so that you do not show up in a future blog post!

How Do Mystery Shopping Companies Determine Shopper Ratings?

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Most mystery shopping companies use a rating system to grade reports from secret shoppers, often a scale of 1 to 10. These ratings are used to identify the shoppers who produce the best work, and a low rating may keep you from getting the mystery shopper jobs you want.For example, some assignments may only be available to shoppers with an average rating of 8 or better, or shoppers with high ratings may be able to self-assign certain shops, without having to wait for a scheduler to award the shop to them.

Here is an explanation of how these ratings are typically determined, and how you can keep your ratings high.

Each company uses it own method, however, there are many similarities. If a company is using a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest score and 10 being the highest, a 10 usually means that the report was exactly right. The report was complete, it was submitted on time, the editor did not have to follow up with the shopper because of questions or issues with the report, and there were no grammatical errors that required the editor to revise the report. In short, a “perfect” report.
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Do Employees Read Mystery Shop Reports?

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Question from a mystery shopper:

Do the employees who are mystery shopped read the reports submitted by shoppers? I sometimes return to shop the same location again, and I am concerned that employees will be able to figure out that I am the secret shopper if they have read the reports I wrote about past visits.

If they do read them, why would clients allow that? Doesn’t it make mystery shopping less valuable if the employees know exactly what was reported?

Many client companies do share mystery shop reports with the staff who were shopped. There are good reasons to do so.Continue Reading

Describe Behavior, Not Feelings, in Your Mystery Shop Reports

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woman_writingThe best advice I can give secret shoppers about making their reports better is contained in just four words: Describe behavior, not feelings. This is a reminder to keep reports objective and stick to the facts.

Every mystery shopper has probably written comments such as, “Susan was polite and helpful.” The problem with that is that it says what you felt about Susan, but it doesn’t say what she did. The best mystery shop reports allow readers to experience the shop visit with you. Your answers and comments lead them through the visit, and they know exactly what happened.

Let’s look at some examples.Continue Reading

Secret Shopper Reports and Too Much Information

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tmiMystery shopping companies and clients love to see accurate, detailed reports that give them a true picture of what happened during your visit. However, there is such a thing as “too much information” in a shop report.

Each client has different needs when if comes to mystery shopping reports. Some want to know every single thing that happened, while others want more of an overview. Or perhaps they are looking for information regarding a specific aspect of the shop.

You can get an idea of how much detail a client wants, and the type of information they are looking for, by carefully reading the assignment guidelines.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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Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

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puzzled.jpgWhat is wrong with this sentence from a mystery shopper report?

The service could of been faster.

There are a couple of problems. Not only does it express an opinion rather than an objective fact, it does so badly.

There is never a case where “could of” is a grammatically correct phrase.

The same is true of would of, should of and must of. And, even worse, coulda, woulda, shoulda, and musta. Never even think about using them in your reports.

The correct phrases are could have, would have, should have and must have.

So why do so many people use “of” instead of “have”?

Probably because when people use a phrase such as “could have” in a sentence, they tend to shorten it to “could’ve.” People who are accustomed to hearing the spoken phrase hear it as “could of” and therefore write it that way.

The grammatically correct version of the above sentence would be:

The service could have been faster.

Of course, it is still opinion and thus probably does not belong in a mystery shopper report. However, there may be times when the use of “could have” is appropriate in your reports. Just make sure that when you use it, you spell it correctly.

Spelling Tips for Mystery Shoppers

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alphabet.jpgAre there words that you can never seem to remember how to spell? Most of us struggle with at least a few words. Spell check may catch them for you, but you can not always rely on spell check. Sometimes your spelling is so far off that even spell check can not figure it out.

I keep a list of the words I can never remember how to spell (such as “occurred”–is it one ‘r’ or two?) near my computer so I can refer to it when needed. I have expanded the list here to create a reference tool with some of the most commonly misspelled words.

Keeping this list near your computer, and referring to it often, will save you time and reduce your spelling errors when writing mystery shopping reports.

Get a handy printable version (PDF) of Spelling Tips for Mystery Shop Reports here.

Note that this list is based on American spelling. There may be variations in the way some of these terms are spelled in other countries.Continue Reading