Am really curious...if you have many shops to do in one day, how do you get the reports submitted by the next day? (Usually by 10 am, at least.) I'm fairly new, am I making too much of the reports? Some reports seem to take me forever to do with all the questions asked at least 3-4 different ways.(Are you up well into the night?)

Unfortunately, you have to factor the time to do the reports into the equation of how many shops you can do in a day. I do a lot of gas station audits and I've gotten it down to a science and I could do 12-15 shops in a day. BUT when I factor in the amount to time to download the photos, label them, and then do the report, I have realized 5 a day is a more realistic figure to try in a day. No, I don't make nearly as much money in a day, but at least I get to sleep at night.

I try not to do more than is comfortable for me to get out, which is 4 a day. The day I did 5 was too much, so, I keep it to my comfort and always get them done same day. I'll do 2 jobs, go to Starbucks (or other), and get them out, then do the last 2, come home and immediately do reports.

Hello - From time to time I work really late. This happens when I have an out of town route and I'm trying to get the most possible shops done for the mileage. I'll shop all I can through the day and then stay up that night and get the reports in. The next day, I sleep in and don't work at all.

It's a fact for me that the report takes as long or longer than the shop on most jobs. When I'm taking a job new to me, I realize I don't know how long it's going to take to do the report. Nor am I sure how long it will take to do the job. Therefore, I won't take more than one "new to me" job at a time. This plans keeps report time from being the shock of the day.

I don't think you're making too much of the reports. I think you're trying to do too many shops in one day. Just realize, if you pack out the day, you're going to be up all night. If you work a schedule you can shop in four hours, you have time for reports and you can still have a life.

You don't say how long you've been shopping. I see you're new on the forum. If you haven't been shopping for a long time, be confident that you'll get faster on the shops and faster on the reports without sacrificing quality. It's important to pace yourself to take care of your health, avoid burnout, and turn in quality reports.

KD3505 - Keep track of the different due dates. Nowadays, some companies will give you 24 - 48 hrs. to complete the shop. As long as I keep good notes, I find it better to submit a good report after a good night's sleep rather than trying to submit an accurate report with one eye opened. I can't do like MDavis and stay up through the night. If you feel you need an extension and can sumbit at least the business card or receipt - they'll usually work with you.

Indeed many of us have different sleep schedules. I am a night person and not a morning person. Many of the more complicated shops I do need to be reported within 12 hours and there is no way that I will bounce out of bed at 6AM to finish a report by 8AM. So for me, midnight oil is a whole lot sweeter and I sleep better knowing I am not waking up to unfinished business.

If I am doing a heavy route of shops I am very aware of deadlines. There are some companies that the deadline to report is as short as 5-6 hours while others I work with will go 24 hours. I've worked with these companies long enough (or done a specific check) so that when I get home I first enter the shortest deadline shops and then work my way out from there. There is no point in accepting and performing a shop you cannot report on time, so your scheduling becomes critical. I have discussed with schedulers that I could do their shop but would need an extension on the report deadline to a particular time. That has always been acceptable when it was prearranged or I don't do the job. I require that they send me a confirming email with the deadline extension and bonus mentioned.

With the super short deadline shops it also may make sense to invert your route to visit those locations with short deadlines last or close to last.