eBook Excerpt

From: Mystery Shopping Earns You Perks!.
eBook Author: Alyice Edrich

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Chapter One: Customer Service And Mystery Shopping

Have you ever experienced bad customer service? How did it make you feel?

Did you wish there was someone to speak to? Someone who would actually care about your concerns and want to make a difference in the way you were treated?

How would you like to get paid to do just that?

As a mystery shopper, you’ll get paid to do what you normally do on a daily basis:

Things like:

Eat at nice restaurants.
Get free groceries.
Test drive cars.
Maintain your vehicle: tune-ups, tire rotations, new tires, and oil changes.
Get free gas.
Play a round of golf.
Take the family to an amusement park.
Watch the latest movie.
Gamble at casinos.
Sleep overnight in a hotel.
Visit new apartment structures.
Shop for Insurance.
Interview for jobs.
Shop online...Some companies simply want to know what your online experience was with a particular website and order forms.
And try on clothes and purchase products.

Added bonus: you’ll get lots of free things!

Depending on the mystery shop company you shop for, you may be paid to eat in a restaurant and get the meal free, or you may simply be compensated for the meal. Sometimes, you get paid to purchase merchandise and keep it. Other times, you get paid to purchase the merchandise and you have to return it to the store or ship it off to the mystery shop company that hired you.

Mystery Shoppers are everyday customers who simply want to make a difference in the way we shop.

First Impressions Count

In any business, first impressions are only made once. Because positive first impressions often result in return customers, companies do everything possible to ensure each customer’s first impression is a good. Some companies employ mystery shoppers to act as “company spies” to find out how customers are really treated.

Mystery shoppers are everyday people like you and me who get paid to visit small and large companies, do things a normal customer would do, interact with company employees, and then report back on how they were treated, the quality of the product and/or service, the appearance of the business and/or employees, and so on—all based on the specific criteria provided by the company.

Each report is an unbiased evaluation of the company and reflects how the company treats customers and/or clientele that walk in off the street; therefore, companies need shoppers that are not employees—but independent contractors. (Normal everyday people, like you and me.)

The Main Purpose Of Mystery Shopping

The main purpose of an evaluation is to make sure that the company’s policies and standards are being followed or maintained. Each evaluation differs depending on the company you are shopping for and the type of shop taking place.

A restaurant shop could require details about customer service, the quality of the food, and how clean the bathrooms are.
A clothing shop could require details about where a specific designer’s clothing line was displayed, how easy it was to find a certain object, the description of the employee that helped you, what the employee said to you, and how payment was handled.
A bookstore shop could require keeping notes of where a specific book was located in the store, how the customer service rep answered your question regarding an out-of-stock book, and how the cashier handled your cash payment.
A car shop could require making up a story about a problem with your car, noticing whether or not the store promotions are properly displayed, and then turning down the estimate to have your car repaired.
A grocery store shop could require you to get the name of the employee who helped you locate a specific food item, specify if the manager’s name tag actually had the word “manager” on it, or to take notes on the cleanliness of the uniform, whether the cashier greeted you while checking your groceries, and whether he/she made eye contact with you.
An interview shop could require being interviewed for a certain position within the company, or as a potential renter for a specific property. During the interview you’ll take notice on how the interviewer presented himself, how he or she treated you, the types of questions asked, and how the property looked.
A hotel shop could require checking into a hotel, asking questions about the area, asking for something extra for your room, asking for a late check out time, observing the hotel staff, checking out the hotel pool, sleeping over, and then leaving the next day. More detailed hotel shops could require taking photographs, reporting something lost, misplacing your key and having hotel security let you in the room, or “stealing” something from the room and waiting to see if a charge for that item appears on your hotel or credit card bill.
An exit interview shop could require notifying the store manager of your arrival, standing outside the store, and asking exiting customers questions about the service they received.
A demonstrator shop could require you to set up a table with a company’s product and pass out samples to customers as they pass by your table. You could be asked to prepare a simple dish, pass out samples, give a brief presentation about the item you’re demonstrating, and encourage customers to buy the product.

Confidentiality Is Key

While employees know mystery shoppers exist, company leaders do not want their employees to know when, where, or how they are being evaluated. In fact, they don’t want them to know that they’re being monitored at all. Therefore, you should never talk about the shops you go on with anyone in your local area. After all, you never know when word-of-mouth will spread and the news of your pending shop will get back to the company you are shopping for.

If an employee becomes aware of a pending shop or that there is a shopper on the company grounds, that employee will not show his true nature but be more inclined to provide exceptional service. And employers don’t want that. They want to know how employees really act when they don’t know they are being formally evaluated.

Another reason to make sure your identity isn’t compromised is because you could lose out on future shops or have a scheduled shop cancelled.

If you are spotted as a mystery shopper by an employee, don’t be surprised to find the employee reporting you to the manager. If a manager gets a bad report from the main company, he may request the evaluation be dropped because you were spotted. If word gets back to your company, you might not get paid for that shop.

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