This is part two of a report on the Golden Rules of Mystery Shopping.
The second five golden rules of mystery shopping are:
– Do not try to remember
– Post the report on time
– Keep receipts
– Log the shop
– Thank the scheduler
Do not try to remember: One big mistake that new mystery shoppers make is to try to remember. They believe they can remember the entire mystery shop until they get home to upload it to the provider. This is doomed to fail. If you forget a clerk’s name or timing the entire mystery shop is ruined.
I personally use a memory system which helps, but even then I process it to my cell phone or note pad as soon as I can (bathroom of establishment, my car etc.)
Post the report in time: One of the saddest things is to do a full mystery shop with all the details and a great commentary and then turn it in to the provider too late to be used. That becomes costly to you and to the mystery shop provider.
Log the shop: Not to be mercenary but this is a business and how do you know if you get paid for all of your shops if you do not keep a log or record of everything you do. Sounds like a no brainer but you might be surprised how many people do not log everything and try to leave it to their memory.
I contract out to about one hundred companies and there is no way that I could ever remember what shops I am owed (and amount of payment and merchandise cost and my gasoline mileage etc).
Thank your scheduler: Email your scheduler after each mystery shop alerting them that you have finished the shop within times and that you have posted the report to them. Also thank them for assigning the mystery shop to you and state that you will be glad to work with them again. It makes the scheduler feel good and you might be surprised how much good will that spreads for you. Schedulers are people and like to work with people that are nice to them.