The requirements and survey questions on these shops are so extensive. How do you remember everything to look for?

@angie1978 wrote:

The requirements and survey questions on these shops are so extensive. How do you remember everything to look for?

Luck and doing shops over and over, also, the cell phone helps. Go to the bathroom and text yourself...it's
easier now than years ago.

Thanks! What do you do if you forget to look for something? N/A? Make it up? Lol.

@angie1978 wrote:

Thanks! What do you do if you forget to look for something? N/A? Make it up? Lol.

NO no no......drill it in your mind...

When you are just starting it seems like a whole lot. The ease or difficulty lies in how observant you are as a non-shopper. Do you normally observe name tags? What a person with whom you are interacting is wearing? Whether there are fingerprints on the glass of the front door? Are there lights on, off or burned out? Are the cases neat, clean and tidy with items priced professionally? Were you greeted pleasantly? Thanked for your patronage? Were you offered a receipt for your purchase? Was there anything dirty or looking neglected in the store? These are the service foundations of most shops and that which is unusual or specific to any given shop can generally be written on a small scrap of paper in your pocket that you can pull out and palm to look at as if you suddenly found this paper in your pocket you didn't remember what it was.

@angie1978 wrote:

Thanks! What do you do if you forget to look for something? N/A? Make it up? Lol.

When you leave the store you go to your car, check that you covered everything and make some excuse to go back in if you forgot something. You never make it up and N/A risks having a shop rejected.

Thanks!

I use my cell phone for restaurant shops and it is really helpful. I screen shot entry and exit times. I text myself important descriptions and names. I recently discovered that taking a picture of the food or beverage when it arrives is extremely helpful with timings because your phone will time stamp it. Plus, you can always go into the restroom and review the guidlines quickly if need be. Now, having a few shops under my belt, it all comes a bit more easily.

I have had to work on a lot of details, like reading name tags or remembering peoples descriptions. I practice when I am not on shops now. I also try to remember to observe everything, everywhere I go. How many people are in line around me? Do I see a manager? Is this store well stocked?

Take a recorder with you. Right after you leave, record as much as you remember.

@brothbart8 wrote:

I recently discovered that taking a picture of the food or beverage when it arrives is extremely helpful with timings because your phone will time stamp it.

Be very careful about those time stamps. Most of the ACL shops I do want minutes and seconds for deliveries and most of the time the server delivers and then stays at the table for up to a minute explaining sauces, checking that everything that was ordered is there, asking if there is anything that you need, etc. The delivery is made when the plates hit the table for timing purposes, not when the server moves on so you can take a picture. I certainly would not want a phone in hand when the server arrived at the table to instantly take a photo because that might discourage them from doing the other things they are required to do before leaving the table.

That is true! I use the shop-it app for most restaurants so I have my timings down to the second. For other shops, that ask for less exact timings I have found pictures to be helpful. I have only done one Acl shop and no specific timings were requested, which I actually found odd. They simply asked if a checkback was performed within 2 minutes, was my drink brought out within 6 minutes, etc.

Regardless, you are correct so OP please consider what Flash said before taking my advice. I am still a newbie myself!

I use an app called iFieldNotes. It lets me get down to the second information with each note I enter.

Plus I spend too much time creating note cards to keep in my purse, review before entering and then when I go to the bathroom. They are small enough that I can glance at them in my purse. I actually use the surveys as a guide, cut and paste then alter to fit my needs.

Sometimes I will send myself texts.

In this day and age being glued to your phone isn't that uncommon.

@angie1978 wrote:

Thanks! What do you do if you forget to look for something? N/A? Make it up? Lol.

I keep the instructions in the car and check to make sure things are complete before leaving the location.

While being glued to your phone may be common, common courtesy says you don't interrupt someone on the phone. This is why many MSCs tell you NOT to be on your phone in a situation where an associate is supposed to be observing the 10 foot rule. I have observed many restaurant situations where everyone at the table was engrossed in whatever their phone was doing and a server simply put the plates on the table and walked away rather than interrupting to interact further. The server was being polite but if they were supposed to be interacting with the customers, the server risked getting marked down if the diners were mystery shopping.

The very first dinner shops I did years ago I had note cards and as I am right handed, I selected the side of the booth with a wall to the right. The cards came out of my purse and slipped under my right thigh along with a short pencil. When the seater or server or runner or manager left the table I could mark down the timings unobserved as well as anything else I was not likely to remember. Writing on cards on the seat beside me was not elegant, but it worked. It also allowed me to review what I had not observed yet to remind me to get it done. I moved up to a voice recorder so I could just speak my timings and I still sit with the wall of the booth to my right so I can start and pause the recorder by my right thigh rather than recording everything for an hour (which would not be legal in my 2 party state anyway).

@johnb974 wrote:

Take a recorder with you. Right after you leave, record as much as you remember.

Fantastic idea to keep in mind everything.

In the beginning of my MS career, I would leave a bank, for instance, muttering, "Female, blond, shoulder length, glasses, white blouse, blue scarf and jacket, 5'6"-5'8". Over and over until I reached a safe place to jot it all down. And, I had the good luck to be able to walk back into the bank, if necessary, to refresh my memory or to make a missed observation. Now, I drive out of a parking garage, with no chance to return to check something out, but still muttering (a much longer list of demographics including age range, ethnicity, tats, body type, for those shops) until I can find a safe place to pull out of center city traffic to record or jot down those details. I have aged a lot in those 11 years, but my memory has actually gotten better with all of the practice. Because I am much less nervous, I can much more easily "replay" an interaction in my mind. Hours later, I can see the target and replay where the cash was placed and whether or not there was an electronic display of the price/fee. These can all be new skills you can practice.

I really think it has to do with "being in shop mode/concentrating." In "real" life, one is not always in that mode. For instance, I still go to my kitchen, then stop, and try to figure out what I came looking for!

I learned how to write with my left hand to write the timings of beverages, entrees, check backs depending on how I was seated. If I was seated at a booth but my right hand faced the outside, I can discretely write the timings with my left hand on an index card and vice versa.I fill out my index card before the visit, have a section for the hostess, server, timing of stuff ordered, when received, check backs, check presented, etc. I use a different colored ink from what I filled out beforehand so my notes don't look too jumbled. On the back of my index card, I quickly write down the hostess, server and anyone else descriptions. Or sometimes I pretend to take something out of my purse and write some notes to myself to change it up.

I feel like this will sound weird to everyone, but once I needed to remember someone's description who looked a lot like my aunt. Physical descriptions are acually pretty vague. It dawned on me that I could report a very accurate description if I mentally tagged the employee as someone I know. I will jot down just the name of the person who matches... age, hair, glasses, beard, etc. I use family, friends, celebrities. If I take a second to decide who their match is, it's easy to describe THEM without trying to remember every detail. Like, if I am helped by a tall older woman with long dark hair, I jot down "Cher." I don't have to wrack my brain wondering if she wore glasses. Cher doesn't wear glasses. And if anyone happens to see my "shopping list," it's not weird at all to have a name on it. Anyway, it works for me!

A hidden USB-sized audio recorder from Amazon helps tremendously, even with recording the time data.

I use a Samsung Galaxy S4 I used to use before I upgraded. I use it as a voice recorder and stick it in my shirt pocket. I just turn it on at the start and then off when finished. It records as an MP3 file and I just transfer it to the computer. I talk to my self with observations while there is nobody around.

That is how I started with my memory, is by repeating these things as I go out the door. It has helped tremendously and after six years I can practically recite the whole shop once I get home. I do pull over to make notes just in case I might forget something if I'm making a extra stop for some reason. But I do this even if I'm not on a shop to keep things sharp. It seems to work.

I think my memory has improved a lot from mystery shopping. I have always been detail-oriented because of my line of work but remembering names of people, all in one setting, had always been my Waterloo. I always have a small piece of paper in my pocket and a pen. In every safe opportunity, I write down a name and the colour of the hair. But one thing I was able to train myself was to close my eyes and picture the person. Did she have a nose or lip ring or glasses? I have tried it and I have really gotten the hang of it. I usually could manage to picture the person in my mind. With some exceptions... But I have the little piece of paper to fall on.

Regarding the name, I try to associate it with someone I know or have met or encountered. For instance, the person's name was Ed. Oh, my brother...Dennis, my friend's nephew. Any unfamiliar name, I note down on my little piece of paper. I never believe in any recording unless it were a video shop.

Cheat sheets have never worked for me. Washrooms and fitting rooms are a great place to note down anything I might forget.

@angie1978 wrote:

Thanks! What do you do if you forget to look for something? N/A? Make it up? Lol.

That's what reshops are for. It is a hard way to learn a lesson, but it is better than cheating the client (and yourself.) The MSC won't always allow a reshop (past the client deadline for example) but I have never had one turned down. I think over the past five years or so I have had to do three reshops. All of them have been for a dumb mistake I made (not getting the timing right for example.) Best of luck. Just think of it as good exercise for the little gray cells.

Audiootape everything. I also take a picture of the requirement and act like I am texting or reading a message or something like that

I did a bed and breakfast/inn shop not too long ago. I didn't realize that the check in desk was also the host stand for the bar and restaurant. When I checked in for the hotel, the music, chatter of guests, and clanging of the open kitchen was so noisy that my recorder did not pick up anything that the check-in associate said. I had to completely go by memory, so I am glad I started mystery shopping well before I learned about recording interactions! I was able to recall descriptions and the conversation quite easily. One great trick for remembering names: if the name is a common name, try to think of someone you know with that name and look at/picture the associate, then picture your friend/acquaintance, then the associate again, then your friend...it helps cement the name in your mind (at least it works for me).

@dkpskipper wrote:

I use a Samsung Galaxy S4 I used to use before I upgraded. I use it as a voice recorder and stick it in my shirt pocket. I just turn it on at the start and then off when finished. It records as an MP3 file and I just transfer it to the computer. I talk to my self with observations while there is nobody around.

I do this also. It allows me to get my timings down to the second and when nobody is around I make audio notes that I can go back and listen to for names, descriptions, etc.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2016 07:51PM by lowery23.