Just finished my first assignment for them. Thought I had written everything possible. I tried to write my little heart out. Came back to me, for additional narrative.

For example: "How did he thank you?"

What else can you say? "He said thank you and smiled."

Okay, but then I'm asked again, "How did he thank you?' Are they always like this? Maybe just this client?

They like quotes. Did he smile and say "Thank you." Or did he smile and say "Thanks, gave a great day." Or "Thanks for allowing me to serve you today. Please come back again." I use a lot of quotes when doing the restaurant shops for them. They want to hear more than that he said thank you, they want to know how he thanked you and what he said.

Details are very important with them, across the board. ACL was great training for me when I started taking dining assignments. Even though you provided the gist, elaboration and specifics are expected. Knowing, and giving them what they expect, will result in reports being accepted. They're a good company.

There are several things that keep them very happy. Direct quotes is definitely one of those, for sure. Although it could become boring, I suppose, my standard for all work has become their basic formula: [He][She] greeted me [how] saying, "[direct quote]." The only time a question mark or exclamation mark is used is inside a direct quote. To do otherwise is not a neutral observer.

If they ask for 3-4 sentences in a narrative section, make absolutely certain you have at least 3 sentences.

Make absolutely sure you have addressed every "no" question in the narrative.

They offer a little style guide/sample. I adopted it fairly early on in my shopping and have found that whenever I do narrative, if I treat it as an ACL narrative I get good marks and very little grief. It really is worth spending a little time with, not just for ACL work but for overall shopping.

I love the company, I do as many jobs for them as rotation in my market allows with their major client here. Their editing is quick (I have gotten feedback as quickly as an hour after I submitted a job). They have a fixed lexicon of feedback phrases, so never take their feedback personally, the editor is trying to find the phrase that best fits the situation. A referral to their style guide may be for something as simple as putting the terminal punctuation inside the "" marks. Currently they seem to be training new editors, so feedback may run slower and there may be more returned shops than normal (a recent one took 2 days for feedback rather than the usual half day standard of my normal editor).

Their payments are always on time and for me usually a few pennies short of actual cost + tip because I round up a little on tip rather than leaving precisely 15%.

Agreed on the greeting. In general, when there's a narrative, I always try to capture how they said hello and goodbye and supply it as a quote.

Thanks everybody. I had to order so much food that it cost me over $21 for a $20 reimbursement, too. And yes, the feedback is very quick, within hours. I was referred to their little "tips" chart. Does anyone else find it difficult to remember who wants associates named in the narrative and who wants them to only be referred to as "the associate." I had just finished a shop that required me to tell them how the overall experience made me feel. Not ACL. They don't want any feelings, just the facts, mam'm.

Correct on the opinions. I never offer opinions on any shop unless there is a specific request for them. The ACL job I most frequently do has a "What would you do differently?" section to the evaluation. Some opinion can creep in there without a knuckle rapping. Interestingly, I find that the most challenging question on the whole report.

And generally unless the form itself says to only refer to the Associate as "the Associate", etc. I name names throughout the narrative. It is much more comfortable and natural (for me at least) that once I have a name I use it. I know that some clients turn over remarks to various locations and don't want to embarass an employee by name or gender specific pronouns, but usually that is spelled out well enough in the instructions or on the form to not fall into that trap.

ACL has different reporting requirements for different clients as well, which can be confusing.

I can think of one dining shop where associate names cannot be mentioned in the narrative, while on another it's required.

Some reimbursements are generous and others are reasonable, but often leave me picking up a little bit of the tab in order to have a good meal.

They also have restaurants that don't show up on the regular job, but require specialized 'training' to be on the email distribution list for. Those are the more preferable assignments for me.

Thanks, guys, for the input.

Carol

Carol - I know the shop you are talking about, and yes - the client is quite demanding. Although on a whole - they do want a lot of narrative and detail. Above each narrative box it should say how many sentences they want for each box. This is the minimum and if you don't hit it, they will probably return the shop for more. They actually WANT A lot more than that though.

Yes, Mickey. And it doesn't seem worth it. I mean it was a good lunch, but I paid out more than I will receive back, and detail, detail, detail. I finally started saying stuff like "so and so put the sandwich into a bag and then handed it to me." I was asked to tell them how it was packaged. "The barista asked if I would like whipped cream on my hot chocolate. I told him yes. When he handed the cup to me, he warned me that it may be hot." They loved it.

Has anyone done the casual dining chain where a gift card is sent as compensation? From what I gather, the reimbursement falls short and I am not sure you can use the gift card as payment when conducting a future shop. Any experience?

Yes, the gift cards can be used for future shops. Lunch and dinner are $30 and $40, which has been more than enough to cover requirements and tip for me. I've only done one of each as it's not a favorite place of mine.

Thanks for the input, Mert. I assume you were dining solo? I've never patronized that chain, so I've no experience with the quality of their food or service.

I agree Carol, that particular client is not worth it to me either - the food is hit or miss and it isn't that expensive in the first place. The reimbursement amount is the same for breakfast though - and the one time I did the shop - I went for breakfast. I came in well under the reimbursement limit.

I do like the steak restaurant though (way better than Ruth Chris in my opinion and actually a fairly easy report, relative) and I also like the pub restuarant - although will warn you, that client is very picky too and the report has to be very detailed.

In terms of shop difficulty - the one that Steve mentioned where you cannot use pronouns I think is the hardest to write. It drives me so nuts, I won't do that shop (they don't have a location here in Seattle anyway).

Keep in mind that it is easier for me to write an ACL narrative since I edited for them for years. I can practically write one in my sleep.

That client may not be worth it, but you can look forward to a lot of shop requirements that include verbatim reporting (in quotes, of course, lol). ACL and certain shops for Customer Service Evaluations (CSE) are excellent training for report writing.

As for the matter of using employee names, and the fine points of first or third person reporting, and whether or not you may use pronouns, those will always depend on the client's directions to the MSC. Those direction, of course, can (and will) change. The only solution is to read the specific instructions every time you do "the same shop." Lo and behold, it will turn out to be "a different" shop the very time that you skip reading the directions because you know them by heart.

walesmaven Wrote:
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The only solution is to read the
> specific instructions every time you do "the same
> shop." Lo and behold, it will turn out to be "a
> different" shop the very time that you skip
> reading the directions because you know them by
> heart.

Amen! And egg is much more attractive on a plate with toast and bacon than it is on your face :^)

lame1 Wrote:
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> Thanks for the input, Mert. I assume you were
> dining solo? I've never patronized that chain, so
> I've no experience with the quality of their food
> or service.


No, my husband went along for the fun of it. The quality of their service and food no doubt varies by location. I get irked with myself though. Each time, I told myself I wasn't going back. Then I get the gift card, and this practical side of me says 'do it', use the card to pay for another shop to get another card. . . I've had this lunch shop gift card for seven weeks. I'm trying to be strong

Mert,
Give that gift card as a holiday gift this year, lol. That's one way to break the cycle and feel good for an additional reason. HoHoHo!

Good idea, BUT. The gift card is emailed. I print it on cheap 20# paper, and my name prints on it. Maybe Santa could put it in one of my kids stockings. They're frequently broke and always hungry.