Quick Mystery Shopping Tip: Phone Shops November 5, 2009
Posted by mysteryshoppinglearningcenter in Uncategorized.Tags: how to find mystery shops, legitimate mystery shopping, Mystery Shopping Jobs, mystery shopping telephone, phone mystery shops, phone shops, Sassie and mystery shopping
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Telephone shops seem to be on the rise this year. The beauty in a phone shop is that usually you can live anywhere in the state, or even the country, to complete these.
Because shops are scheduled based on area code or zip code, you may want to update your profiles with the mystery shopping companies you are registered with to increase your chances of learning about phone shops. This will also lessen the need for you to check job boards on a regular basis.
Since Ann Michaels & Associates uses Sassie, I can only speak for this system. When completing a profile in Sassie, it will ask which area codes you are able to shop. Other systems may ask for this information as well. To be sure you are notified for nationwide calls, be sure to include the area codes 800 and 866 – both toll free area codes.
I hope this helps you find new phone shops!
Until next time…..happy shopping!
Mystery Shopping Case Study: The Downtown Naperville Experience November 4, 2009
Posted by mysteryshoppinglearningcenter in Uncategorized.Tags: how do companies use mystery shopping, mystery shopper, mystery shopping
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Have you ever wondered what happens to the mystery shopping reports you complete? Do companies value the information? How do they use it?
In a past post we reviewed some ways in which companies use the information they receive from mystery shops. Independent studies are also conducted from time to time by mystery shopping providers to look at various customer service issues.
To illustrate this use for mystery shopping, I wanted to share a recent study conducted by Ann Michaels & Associates. This study took a look at a sampling of retail merchants within Downtown Naperville, Illinois. If you’re not familiar with the area, Naperville has a wonderful downtown area, complete with shopping, restaurants, a riverwalk, and much more. People flock to the area on a regular basis to enjoy the downtown area. You can learn more about Naperville here.
Ann Michaels & Associates was curious to learn more about the service provided in the area. A sample of retail merchants were selected, ranging from large corporate stores to mom and pop retailers. Three shoppers visited each of the stores within the study over a period of time, varying days and times to get an overall snapshot of the service levels.
The results were quite positive – the retailers excelled at greeting customers within one minute of entering (71% of the time across all shops), and overall service levels fell into the 80% range. There were many individual retailers who scored well above the average. To read the entire summary of this study, please visit this link.
I hope you enjoy learning more about how the work you do is used by various companies. It’s an important job, and one that is taken to heart by our clients.
Until next time…happy shopping!
Mystery Shopping and Five Guys Burgers: A Winning Combination October 29, 2009
Posted by mysteryshoppinglearningcenter in Uncategorized.Tags: Five Guys Burgers, Five Guys Burgers and Mystery Shopping, how do companies use mystery shopping, mystery shopping
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It’s no secret that Five Guys Burgers uses mystery shopping – if you’re expecting to learn which company shops them though, you’re out of luck.
An article was published last July that highlights reasons why Five Guys Burgers is so successful; one component is mystery shopping. You can read the article here.
What I like most about their concept is that they are using mystery shopping to catch the good, not the bad. That is the key to a successful program. If companies are using it for a “Big Brother” approach, it is doomed to fail. We always guide our clients to use it as a positive tool, and most (if not all) include an incentive or bonus program for high performance.
What is the takeaway for a mystery shopper? Quite simple: remember that your goal during a shop is not to find people doing things wrong, or providing bad service. You serve as an objective, third party source of information. Your job is to simply look at the business based on the company’s standards and culture and report what you find and experience. It’s that simple.
The article highlights the importance of mystery shoppers to be their “eyes and ears in the field.” It’s nice to see how different companies use mystery shopping, and drives home the point that mystery shoppers play an important role in a company’s success.
Until next time…happy shopping!
Cashier’s Check Scam – FTC Fines MoneyGram October 28, 2009
Posted by mysteryshoppinglearningcenter in Uncategorized.Tags: Find mystery shopping jobs, mystery shopping, Mystery Shopping Jobs, mystery shopping scams
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Good news for the mystery shopping industry! On October 20th, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined MoneyGram $18 million and have been ordered to launch an anti-fraud program. This is related to the cashier’s check scams that we posted about late last year.
The FTC stated that “that the company allowed its money transfer system to be used by fraudulent telemarketers to bilk U.S. consumers out of tens of millions of dollars.” Between 2004 and 2008, approximately $84 million was wired through the use of fradulent telemarketers and other con artists.
While this is not solely focused on mystery shopping, it has been a huge problem across the board. This is great news, and hopefully the first step in solving this issue.
You can read the entire press release from the Federal Trade Commission.
Until next time…happy shopping!
Mystery Shopping Site to Avoid: Shopper Select October 13, 2009
Posted by mysteryshoppinglearningcenter in Uncategorized.Tags: Find mystery shopping jobs, how to find mystery shops, mystery shopper, Mystery Shopping Jobs, secret shopper reports
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Another day, another pay to mystery shop site…..
I’ve recently learned of Shopper Select, a website that charges people to find mystery shops. I came across this after someone replied to a shop offer from our company. I was surprised because I have a list of sites our staff use to post shops, and this was not one of them.
After perusing the site, I learned that shoppers have to pay to join. They are provided with training and job opportunities. However, these shopping posts are ones that anyone can find for free. A past post lists some great sites to find available shops for no cost.
In a busy world, I know that there are some shoppers that prefer to pay to find a comprehensive listing of available shops. However, we would rather support these kinds of sites where we are actually posting active shops and are seeking people to complete them. One such site is ShadowShopper – it has been around for years, and it is a site us and many other companies use to find shoppers and post jobs. In the case of Shopper Select, many of the posts people were replying to were outdated and those shops were no longer available.
It’s a crazy world, especially in the mystery shopping industry, and our goal is to educate and help those who are interested in becoming mystery shoppers. If there is a site you have a question about, or if you woudl like to share sites that may not be suitable for mystery shoppers, please feel free to share with the community!
Until next time…happy shopping!
