Hi fellow Shoppers,

I've just started doing this about 2 weeks ago. And I just wanted to introduce myself and also tell my fellow newbies (rookies) what not to do from my experiences so far.

1) Don't panic - even if you don't get everything you need the first time, try, try again. My very first Shop. A Two Part Luxury Car Shop from RSG. I had been trolling the different sites for about 6 months prior to that, but had never actually applied for any shop. I got a notice from ShadowShopper about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks ago; RSG was desperate for shoppers. I Don't know what finally prompted me to take action (probably the large shop pay out), but I applied, never thinking I'd be awarded the shop. I was! Now what? I began trying to talk myself into attempting the shop. First I was going to bow out of the yearly conference call. But somehow I found myself making the call that next Sunday afternoon. Glad I did because just hearing an actual person talk about doing these types of shops settled my nerves a lot. Thanks to Rich at RSG, I was almost convinced I could do it. Now to just talk my best male friend into going with me. At the very last minute he bowed out. I was on my own and I had only 2 days to complete the shop. I emailed my scheduler and requested a few extra days, Rich had said they were flexible as long as you let them know beforehand what was going on. He wasn't wrong. Extra time granted. Ok so now I had to attempt the shop, I had committed myself!

First visit to the dealership, I walked in and suddenly I forgot everything I had rehearsed. And what was I supposed to get while I was there? Damn if I remembered. Sure enough I walked out without 3/4 of the information I needed to complete the shop. I dashed off a frantic email to Rich. I was convinced I had blown the whole shop and I would never work for RSG ever again! To my amazement, Rich emailed me back, "Just get what you need on your second visit" I did, and yesterday my payment for that shop went into my Paypal account!

2) Don't give up on a shop. Even if you think its blown. My second set of shops, also for RSG, the DIY shops where you go to the store location, pretend to be interested in an expensive item (i.e., a refrigerator, wood flooring), interact with a floor Associate. Wait and see if they offer you A Credit Card or other finacing. Ask them a few leading questions if they don't; Pretend to be hesitate when asked if you are interested in applying, see if and how they try to overcome that resistance. Then gracefully bow out. You then repeat the whole thing with a cashier (different product). I completed three such shops, without a single snag. I thought, wow, I'm really getting good at this, even enjoying it. Then I went to complete my 4th such shop. I had called the store 2 days earlier, as I was directed too (I knew the shop was still in business and new its hours, but I did not know if they sold refrigerators at that particular location). Whomever, answered the phone, assured me they did. No such luck when I arrived on site. I inquired about this with a Floor Associate. Afterall, maybe they were just out of stock. Nope. They don't sell them at that location. But he could order me one off the website. Instead of walking out and cursing the person who answered the phone, I played along. I had no idea if it would count as a shop. But hey damned if I was going to walk away from that shop! I submitted the questionnaire for that shop and emailed my scheduler, and explained the whole story. My shop was cleared for payment. Although I haven't been paid for any of those shops yet.

3) Now what to do. Use your MSC contacts, pick their brains. Ask them for help. Let them know when there is a problem. They very well may know a simple solution. Maybe its just extra time you need, ask for it. Or maybe you need special equipment or apps to assist with your shop(s). My third set of shops. Menu Audits for ACE. I completed 2 of my 4 shops without incident. The other two tossed me out figuratively on my arse when they caught me taking photos. What did my scheduler suggest when I sent her a frantic email. Why not try an adroid app which hides that you are taking photos? I didn't know anything about those.I was practicing at a local coffee shop last night with one, nobody even suspected I was snapping picture after picture. Now I'm prepared to walk back into each of my 2 remaining shops, to shoot the menu boards right under their noses!

Thanks for reading my story. I'll try and share whenever I can as I negotiate my way through this new and exciting world of Mystery Shopping. Nobody's perfect, we are all learning. If you make a mistake, dust yourself off, learn what not to do next time and what to do and carry on. I am so glad I found this site, because I have already learned so much reading the many posts.

Lady Marius,
Canadian Mystery Shopper

Are you really a novice shopper? If so you sound like you were born to do this.

Great post! Thanks for sharing, so glad to have you on the forum.

The ability to rationally analyze your current situation and compare to your ideal situation, then make changes so you can get to your ideal is what differentiates successful people from unsuccessful people. Keep going!

Yeah I am a novice. I never, in a million years, thought I'd be good at this. Figured I'd try, fail, and move on. Glad I took the chance, glad because I am finding it to be interesting, exciting, and rewarding. (I also get paid to do it! Bonus). Thanks for the kind words folks. Will post again soon.

Lady Marius,
Canadian Mystery Shopper



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2014 09:22PM by Lady Marius.

Wow!

First, let me welcome you to the forum. It seems like you have found how useful it is in our chosen profession.

It sounds like you are moving on to the step of contributing with your experiences, despite having so few shops under your belt. That's great to see because the strength of the forum is those posts. Your ability to organize your thoughts, good writing skills and drive to succeed are apparent from your post. Those qualities will serve you well with mystery shopping.

I look forward to seeing more of your posts.

Im curious to why they would kick you out? Isnt the MSC contracted to shop those locations? Not sure why they would care if you snap pictures. Im going to do it for fun see what happens.

Ishop4you904 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Im curious to why they would kick you out? Isnt
> the MSC contracted to shop those locations? Not
> sure why they would care if you snap pictures. Im
> going to do it for fun see what happens.

This might have been a competitor shop, where Company A wanted to take a look at the menu boards of Company B, C, and D.

The instructions for the shop were too not reveal why I was snapping photos. When I told them it was for a marketing class (as my shop instructions had suggested) I was told too many people had been doing that recently......Not sure it was a competitor shop, I just know they are called Menu Audits....I thought it was the company checking prices at the different Franchises...but a competitor shop also would make sense.

Lady Marius

Definitely a competitor shop, based on the MSC you mentioned. Their job board had about 5 or 6 different competing FF/coffee shops with the same requirements.

Hi Shoppers,

I have been off making money and getting fat...lol. But thought I would drop by and post about my latest adventures in Mystery Shopping. I have been busy completing Fast Food Shops for several different MSCs and Clients. Here's what I have learned.

1) Know your equipment. My first FF shop, I couldn't get my cell phone Stop Watch Function to work. I literally had to eat my first attempt and return the next day to complete my shop for pay. I didn't think I had to practice using a Stop Watch (I'm in my 40s, I've been around a stop watch before), but its different when you are faced with a live situation, which may happen over mere seconds of elapsed time. Not to mention you have to hide what you are doing.

2) Don't expect to be perfect. We all miss things or forget to check something while on site. Don't guess but give the benefit of the doubt, if you didn't see them do it wrong,assume they did it right. And remember to check or observed next time. I panicked after I missed seeing if one cook was preparing my burger according to client standards because I was caught up dealing with a defective debit machine. I was ready to throw my whole shop out with the bath water when I noticed in the guidelines, that it said just what I said. "If you miss something, assume it was done correctly." Ever since I've applied that principle.

3)In regards to 2 above. You still should try your best not to miss things. Sometimes there are a lot of observations you need to do in a short amount of time. But these issues are important to the client. So they should be important to you. Also it gets easier to remember the more shops you do for a particular Client. This is more a note on professionalism and integrety but I did not want anyone to accuse me of suggesting I was disregarding the importance of being observant while on a shop.

Post again soon.

Lady Marius
Canadian Mystery Shopper



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2014 12:48PM by Lady Marius.

Great post. I liked the way you explained the things for a new entrant. Thanks for sharing!

Great post. You do not sound like a newbie. You have the right mentality to do well in this business.

A note on the fast food timing points.... If you find it too stressful to manage to hit/check your timing device the moment the timing point happens, you can practice doing what I do on most FF timing shops.

Begin counting to 10, in your head, the moment the timing point happens. Then check your timing device and note the time.

When you write down/enter your timing points, subtract 10 seconds from the time you noted.

For example, when I am told my total, or receive my food, those are timing points. I find it difficult to always be able to note the time right away in a manner that's not completely obvious, because I'm getting handed my food, or expected to pay, and they're staring right at me. So I begin counting in my head, while paying or receiving my food, and when I reach 10, I subtract. Sometimes 10 isn't enough depending on the situation, so I bump it to 20 or 30, whatever I need to safely not be under observation.


To do it that way, you'll actually have to practice counting in your head while having a timer running, to make sure that you get your counting pace consistently accurate. I'm Southern as hell, so even in my head I talk slow. One Mississippi, Two Mississippi didn't work for me, LOL. I use One Michigan, Two Michigan, Three Michigan...