Mystery Shoppers With Disabilities (Ask The Coach)

Hi All--

Sorry I haven't had an update in awhile. It wasn't anticipated, but a lot happened in my world all at once. My web host and I had a billing dispute, so they shut down my web sites until we could get it all worked out (but my web site Mystery Shopper Coach's Corner at http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com is alive and well and available as a valuable mystery and merchandising resource.

Then my brother and his fiancee decided to move up their wedding date, so I became an instant wedding planner for a Las Vegas nuptial--that was fun and the wedding was one of the best I have ever been to other than my own! I am also in the process of moving over the next few days. So please bear with me.

Anyway, here's another installment of "Ask The Coach"--a question I get quite often.

Question:

"I am physically disabled and was wondering if I could do mystery shopping?"

Answer From Coach Melanie:

I don't know the full extent of your physical disabilities, but good for you for considering doing mystery shopping work. While you can do many tasks related to mystery shopping at home--generating work for yourself, administrative tasks and reporting, most shops, with the exception of phone and website shops, do require that you go out to a place of business and make many observations as a customer of that firm.

If you can get out and about by yourself, or have someone who regularly assists you who can go with you on assignments, as long as you can act like a prospective customer of that business establishment, I don't see why not. In fact, you could prove very valuable to mystery shopping companies whose clients will be interested to know if you are treated well by their employees as a customer who has physical challenges, and if their place measures up to the physical disabilities act for things like wheelchair access.

Just be sure to read the shop guidelines carefully to ensure it is something you feel comfortable doing, and that the requirements for the shop will not be more trouble than they are worth for you.

Have a great day and happy shopping!

“Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping”—Melanie Jordan
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

Mystery Shopping Pay For Leads Sites (Ask The Coach)

Question:

Do you think it's helpful to sign up with one of those web sites where you pay to find out about assignments? Are they a scam?

Answer From Coach Melanie:

First of all, it is never an absolute necessity to sign up with what I call the “pay for leads” sites. There are plenty of assignments available to shoppers by making the right connections with schedulers and companies who have active shopper needs.

You also need to be careful because there are many sites that are either scams or are just not a big enough resource to be worth paying for their leads. Plus, there are no guarantees that you will actually get the assignment as the lead is not exclusive to you.

I actually kicked the tires and did a 60 day test a well-known “pay for leads” services where I monitored every single day what kinds of assignments I was offered, how much they paid and projected the annual potential for earnings versus the outlay to be a site member. These findings are available as a special report called “The HireAShopper.com Experience: The Test Results, Pros & Cons” for a nominal fee from my web site at
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com/books.html.

Overall, I believe a couple of the top such sites have value for certain shoppers, but they are definitely not for everyone—-especially if you live in a small area. Plus, since some of them are getting quite pricey, I believe they price themselves out of their usefulness.

The best tactic for finding mystery shopper or merchandiser work is always to do what every independent contractor and self-employed person does, regardless of their field--learn to make contacts and network in the right places, and make an effort to market yourself to stand out from the crowd wherever possible. That's how you reliably generate business for yourself on an ongoing basis without incurring upfront costs.

Have a great day and happy shopping!

“Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping”—Melanie Jordan
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

Judging Mystery Shopping Companies (Ask The Coach)

Question:

What do you think of company (XYZ)?

Answer from Coach Melanie:

If I had a dime for every time someone e-mailed me with this question, I'd need a Coinstar machine! I'm generally not one for giving opinions on specific mystery shopping companies because a company I like to work with, may be one that another shopper does not have a good experience with and vice-versa.

I cringe when I see shoppers commenting on particular companies in chat rooms because of this-—unless it is to get the word out about the rare company who is not paying shoppers or merchandisers on a regular basis, and not just due to a one-time disagreement between the shopper and the company.

The best way to judge a company you are considering doing an assignment for is to see if they are professional and easy to work with—-the way they offer you a shop, help you with your questions (or not), make it easy for you to provide your report (or not) and if their pay appears fair for the work being offered, create a pretty good impression of what to expect. Also, always check out a company with the Better Business Bureau at http://www.bbb.org. While this is not a guarantee of a solid company, any problem reports on a company are sure to be cause for concern).

Have a great day and happy shopping!

“Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping”—Melanie Jordan
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

An Interesting Mystery Shopping Trend Revisited

I originally wrote about potential competition for mystery shoppers from stores and restaurants themselves a couple of years ago in an article called “An Interesting Mystery Trend”, which can be viewed in full at this URL:

http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com/mysteryshoppingtrend.html

The idea was that mystery shoppers could face competition from the very clients who tend to hire them for basic “checklist-type” shops, by being replaced with surveys that companies invite customers to complete either online or via phone via the sales slip on their transaction. The proactive firms even call attention to the fact that there is a survey to complete by mentioning it to the customer. I have even had an employee circle the web site or phone number to call!

The incentive to do the survey is either a discount on a future purchase, or the chance to win a prize like a shopping spree—overall, much cheaper than paying a mystery shopping company, and the subsequent shopper who actually does the work. I haven’t seen anything on the response rate for these surveys, but it must be decent since they seem to be everywhere. I can’t get through a day’s shopping, eating out or errands without getting at least one of them.

Check out the article mentioned above for my thoughts on how mystery shoppers can protect themselves from becoming obsolete.

Have a great day and happy shopping!

“Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping”—Melanie Jordan
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

Who Mystery Shops Who? (Ask The Coach)

Question:

How can I find out who shops a particular company so I can do their assignments?

Answer From Coach Melanie:

The ability to find out "who shops who" varies by company. Some mystery shopping companies are very secretive and will only say a shop is for "a women's retailer", while other companies and schedulers will come right out and say it on their web sites or in their lead e-mails. Many companies don't flaunt their client list because of confidentiality issues.

Other ways to find out is through other shoppers who volunteer the information (although they really shouldn't as they are supposed to respect confidentiality clauses too), or possibly from someone who works for a particular company and is aware of this information. In addition, some chains, like Jack-In-The Box, use their own employees as shoppers and do not hire outsiders.

Overall, if you are looking to really make money in the mystery shopping field, it is best to just have a regular system in place for securing your work, and when you do that, you'll regularly find out "who shops who" in the course of your work. Sure it's fun to try and do a shop for a favorite restaurant or store, but to me, I take that as it comes and focus my energy instead on who actually has some shops that I can do right now and make some money!

Have a great day and happy shopping!

“Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping”—Melanie Jordan
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

Starting A Mystery Shopping Business (Ask The Coach)

Question:

What does it take to start my own mystery shopping business?

Answer From Coach Melanie:

It is pretty much like starting any business except for the particular nuances of the mystery shopping field. I strongly feel that anyone interested in pursuing their own mystery shopping business first have some experience as a mystery shopper.

While it is not mandatory, I feel you will have a huge advantage, because in my opinion, there is no substitute for having first-hand experience before sending out others to do the work for which you are hiring them, and prior to approaching potential clients.

My friend Shari Joseph, author and veteran mystery shopping business owner, has the first resource on this topic that I feel confident in personally recommending. To find out more about owning your own mystery shopping business and this valuable guide that will honestly get anyone interested in starting their very own mystery shopping business going, use this URL:

http://www.mystery-shopper-business.com/affiliations/mj.html

Have a great day and happy shopping!

“Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping”—Melanie Jordan
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

Getting Paid For Your Mystery Shopping Work (Ask The Coach)

Question:

I am having trouble getting paid by company (fill in the blank). What should I do?

Answer From Coach Melanie:

I am sorry for your trouble. Most companies are careful to pay their shoppers as they want to maintain their reputations and be able to attract skilled personnel. However, there are a few bad apples in every basket as they say.

Please read the article on my web site called “Getting What's Coming To You: What To Do When You're Not Getting Paid”, you’ll find it here:

http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com/gettingpaid.html

Have a great day and happy shopping!

“Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping”—Melanie Jordan
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

The Nametag Challenge (A Mystery Shopper Anecdote)

Hi All--

Here in Southern California, we have a popular salad buffet restaurant that also has many locations across the country. Recently, one of my schedulers notified me that this restaurant was now one of their accounts. The only thing better than going to a favorite place, is going there for free!

I don't do lots of restaurant shops since you don't really make much, if any, money on them, but if it's a place I like, fine. What I always find fascinating is that when you go to a business you always patronize, but now as a shopper, the experience does change because you are in researcher mode. What I found most challenging was reading the nametags of the personnel behind the main salad bar because the top frame and sneeze guard were at a level that blocked my view of the workers. The first person was pretty easy. Salad bar attendant number two was giving myself and my husband the fits. She kept looking down with her body bent over where her nametag was while sweeping, and sweeping, and sweeping! Great--I have to get the worker whose goal is to have the world's cleanest salad bar floor!

I bent lower, acting like I needed to reach the broccoli-the worker is still sweeping. My husband went to the other side of the salad bar, she turns away just as he gets there. Does she turn in my direction? No, now she goes all the way down on the floor to investigate the broom bottom. We keep working at it as we fill our plates with salad items and move down the line; she keeps sweeping. Finally, I decided to ask her a question, figuring I've got to see her nametag when she talks to me. Oh no! She stands with her hands on top of the broom as I speak with her--exactly in front of her nametag. As my mind raced for another idea, I finally hit pay dirt. I heard someone call out "Tanisha, I need you over here". As luck would have it, the mad sweeper's identity became known. Tanisha, you are a credit to sweepers everywhere! And for the shoppers reading this--always stay alert, be creative and persevere.

Have a great day and happy shopping!

“Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping”—Melanie Jordan
http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing