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How to Secret Shop and Get Paid to Eat!
Large and small companies need average shoppers to secret shop their casual dining, retail outlets, apartment communities or vacation/travel presentations to gather customer service opinions. How consumers are treated as they shop will result in repeat successful business or failure. Hundreds of retired seniors, wheel chair bound folks, mothers with their children, teens, home owners, or apartment tenants perform secret shopping for cash and free services. Every customer is wanted.
As a mystery shopper or secret shopper, you accept an assignment to be a regular customer and write a report. The company hiring you will specify any special requests or roles that you are to perform. For example, if you secret shop a high-end clothing store which specializes in footwear and handbags, you might be asked to tell the clerk that you are purchasing a handbag as a gift. The company will want to know what questions the employee asked you and how he/she handled the purchase and cash register. The shopper might also be asked to return the purchase a few days later and evaluate that visit, or the company will reimburse for the cost of the item with the shopper keeping the merchandise.
Your assignment might be to evaluate an eating establishment. If so, the shopper reports on how long it took to be seated, how clean the establishment was, how much time passed before the order was taken (the company may have certain menu items to be ordered), and how quickly did the food arrive? Was the entree attractive or the wrong temperature? Was the restroom clean and well stocked? Evaluator compensation might be the price of the meal for two. If the mystery shopper is to be seated in the bar, drink costs are included.
As a mystery shopper, you begin to accept jobs without investment. Paying only for purchases, the mystery patron receives a check the following month for expenses and the report. If the consumer has posed as a possible renter, he or she will not make a purchase, but just evaluate the targeted staff person and complete the questionnaire. While individuals only make a small amount, if shoppers limit their visits to local establishments or select the services that they can use, mystery shopping cash can be helpful. The requirements of shops do differ, so make sure that you can fulfill the guidelines.
To find secret shopper assignments, don't buy a list of companies. Google "mystery shopper" or "secret shopper" on the Internet to find out all about the industry. Search the Internet for mystery shopping companies that are accepting applications. Legitimate companies don't charge an application fee. Complete applications online and companies will either contact you with assignments or instruct shoppers to log in for available jobs. The hiring company will train you. Be aware that these companies do have strict requirements as to what is to be checked and certain hours and days that the secret shop may be performed, as well as how quickly they must have the report. Generally, there is zero tolerance for late reports or missed shopping dates, so only accept an assignment if you can complete it. Do some homework about mystery shopping. Check libraries or bookstores for tips on how to find companies hiring mystery shoppers, as well as how to do the job effectively.
The most efficient way to secret shop is when you do your own errands, or in sets of 2, 3 or more. Since most shops have a range of dates or days (Monday or Tuesday morning), with careful planning, you can do several and even let a shopping company buy you lunch before heading home to type up the reports. Remember to watch your miles, so that you don't accept an assignment that is too far away. If you time your shops well, you can even secret shop the grocery for a dinner entree. - That's the way to have the best of both worlds - Food and cash!
Mystery shopping is your opportunity to write something good about the clerk who went out of her way to find you a matching sweater, or report the fellow in the hardware store who told you to send your husband in to get the items, because the subject was too complicated for your female brain! Have a great time shopping in retail America.
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