I have my first mystery shop today and I am SOOOOOOO nervous! It's an easy one, I think. Does anyone have any tips they can give a Newbie? I have scheduled 5 other shops in the upcoming weeks, all different so any tips anyone can give would be GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks!
~M~

Read and RE-read the guidelines. If you understand exactly what you need to do, you'll be more relaxed. (You still will be nervous, I was SO nervous on my first few shops!) Try to stay calm and relaxed and don't feel self-conscious. Although you will worry about them "knowing" you are the shopper, you are just another shopper. Try to be ordinary and do nothing that makes you stand out or makes you memorable.

Keep clearly in mind what you need to walk away with in order to get paid. Receipt? Names of employees? Make it happen, even if you have to ask. If you have to ask for a name or a receipt, be casual.

Have fun - the newness will pass and soon you won't feel nervous. Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Make a little list of everything you need to get. You'll forget because of nerves. I always forget to note what time I left, if that is one of your requirements. Good luck!!!

Thank you so much for the advice! It went GREAT and the reporting was easier than I thought it would be. (and hey, FREE PIZZA!) It was a shop through Intelli-shop and i've read some good and some bad about them so im anxious to see what they say about my report. Im in a small town in Louisiana and from what i've seen on the job boards there are very few mystery shoppers around here. Lots of jobs and all the payouts seem higher than are talked about in most of the forums. I might have went a bit overboard because i've scheduled 3 theater checks (just counting fixtures) a cell phone shop, a retail audit, an apartment shop, a convenient store, a retail shoe shop, a casual dining and a jewelry store shop in the next 2 weeks!!! Any advice on any of those types of shops?

Miss Mandie,

Welcome to the forum! There is a lot of helpful information here. Some users have even condensed it into the sticky threads in the new shopper area.

You have a lot going on with all those different types of shops. My first thought is repetition. Practice makes perfect. Ideally, it would be good to do more of the same shops for the same mystery shopping companies. That way the first shop will be preparation and practice and so on. Entering the reports on the same companies websites will help you familiarize yourself with those systems. When I was starting, I tried to do multiples of the same shop in the same day to help me become an expert in those shops.

Another thought is time. Give yourself more than enough time to do and enter the shops. More time than you think you need. Unforeseen things occur that eat up your time. You might have to go back to get your receipt. You might have to figure out how to scan your receipt in .PDF format when you are used to .JPG. Hopefully you have spaced out these shops so that you have enough time to account for those unforeseen difficulties. When I started, I gave myself an entire day or evening for a new shop or one with a new MSP. As I gained experience, I learned how fast things can go.

My last thought is research. You haven't named the MSPs for your future shops or any the clients (which is a good thing not to name them together ). You can research the companies, or the type of shops, or sometimes the client to see what other shoppers have to say. There is a lot of discussion on those types of shops on the forum.

Good luck and have fun.

I just got my first mystery shop review back....IM SO EXCITED!!!!

Your evaluation of <The pizza shop in question> for ______ has been reviewed.

Shop Grade: 10

Comments: Thank you for your report. You have received a score of 10/10. Thanks
again for all your hard work!

Thanks for using ________ system!



Mod note: Welcome to the forum, MissMandie, and good for you!! However, you mentioned the MSC's name in your last post, which means that the client can't be named now. This is both to protect the ICA you have with the MSC, and to honor the forum owner's request. "Pizza shop" is good enough.

Good job!

Congratulations!

Congratulations! Sounds like you are off to a great start!!!

Congrats!! Now, you have any tips for ME?

Good work.

LOL, I don't think I'm qualified to be giving out tips yet! I think the most important thing is to keep everything organized. I have 2 special folders in my email. One for accepted shops (so they are easily found) and one where I move the accepted shops to once I have entered and submitted them. I also have a binder to keep my paperwork for my upcoming shops. It is organized by week and by day and in order of my route. I'm ADHD and OCD so things are always in perfect order before I lose them.