Shopper, undercover
Florida Times-Union
By Diana Middleton
When Delia Betterton breezes into the CiCi's Pizza on Atlantic
Boulevard, she's no normal customer.
Running down a mental checklist, she scrutinizes the beverage
station, scans the employees' uniforms and pops into the bathroom
to inspect its cleanliness. Oh, and when she has a moment, she
actually orders some food.
To the half-a-dozen Cici's employees rolling dough, taking orders
and blending sauce behind the front counter, Betterton is the
next person in line. But she's also one of the estimated one million
secret shoppers in the U.S. that anonymously visit retailers,
restaurants, banks and convenience stores to test their services
-- and score some freebies in the process.
A quick turnaround of inexpensive, yet deeply detailed data analyzing
the company's customer service makes financial sense for many
companies. The Mystery Shopping Providers Association estimates
that mystery shopping companies' revenue is growing by more than
12 percent per year (although actual dollar amounts are not available
for the hundreds of companies that provide the service).
Part of mystery shopping's appeal to corporations is that it
offers an immediate snapshot of a store's customer service and
merchandise offerings without a huge expense.
For Betterton, 31, there are the perks, such as free meals and
some extra cash. A mystery shopper for 10 years, she averaged
30 shops per five-day week at her peak. Now that she has a son,
19- month-old Riley, she's slimmed down to 4 shops a day. While
each shop visit generally lasts less than an hour, she still has
to write deeply detailed evaluations within 12 hours. Some evaluations
can take as long as an hour to complete.
"I feel like I've written a research paper sometimes," she said.
"Too much information is never a bad thing."
Even a five-minute convenience store shop means hustling to the
nearest computer to fill out an evaluation. It's not a puny questionnaire,
either. They can contain dozens of questions, all grilling the
shopper on specific aspects of the store. Were the floors in the
bathroom scuffed or sanitary? Are any of the store's light bulbs
burnt out? Did the employees smile or introduce themselves by
name?
Some questions are multiple choice, but most are fill-in-the-blank,
and the shopper must describe -- in detail -- each aspect of the
shop. Adhering to a strict 12- to 24-hour deadline, Betterton
sends her evaluation electronically to the mystery shopping firm.
An editing committee reviews each submission, either amassing
the information into a sleek report for the corporation, or shredding
it into ribbons during the editing process.
Betterton says vagueness is the kiss of death in the editing
room, and that a shopper's stock plummets with a mystery shopping
company each time they must make a serious edit. The better a
shopper's rating with a company, the more lucrative and juicy
an assignment.
Lyn Seaward, a mystery shopper and homemaker from Daytona Beach,
says companies squeeze every detail out of the 100 shops she does
a year.
"They ask the same question five different ways, just to keep
you on your toes," Seaward, 61, said.
Aside from written evaluations, there's also training to complete
before visits to certain shops.
Both Betterton and Seaward say many companies want you to sit
through store-specific training, usually online, before you shop
there.
Training usually includes PowerPoint presentations detailing
the specific things the shopper will grade, followed by a pop
quiz.
But the training is also meant to iron out inconsistencies in
shoppers' personal tastes, especially when it comes to a store's
cleanliness.
Companies will display photos of beverage stations, bathrooms
and dressing rooms, showing what constitutes a passing grade and
what doesn't.
"What I think is dirty may not be unacceptable to the company,"
Betterton explained.
"Now, streaks on the walls and an overflowing toilet -- you can't
argue with that. But it isn't always so simple."
Seaward says she trusts her gut reaction.
"When you're trying on a $300 dress and you don't want to put
your Kmart jeans on the floor because it's so dirty, you know
there's a problem," she said.
It's that candid feedback that companies find so invaluable.
John Swinburn, executive director for the MSPA, says mystery shopping
is the best way for a company to see if its corporate policies
are implemented on a store level.
"You can't get this information any other way," he said. "Companies
learn exactly what's happening at a store level, and that affects
their bottom line." Steve Hawter, director of training at CiCi's,
says the Texas-based pizza chain spent $500,000 to upgrade its
customer service research from phone- and Web-based surveys to
an aggressive mystery shopping campaign. Now, every CiCi's location
is mystery-shopped at least once a month.
"We want feedback on the entire experience," Hawter said. "The
mystery shoppers are our most important set of eyes."
And shops take mystery-shopper suggestions seriously. After garnering
mystery shoppers' feedback, CiCi's realized its newly introduced
macaroni and cheese pizza became too gooey after sitting at the
buffet. They whipped up a new recipe, and Hawter says it's been
successful ever since.
It's that tangible difference in company policy that Swinburn
says attracts loyal mystery shoppers.
"They know they're able to have a big impact on the delivery
of service," he said.
That said, he warns, prospective shoppers lured in by e-mails
and newspaper ads promising fast cash are likely to be disappointed.
"Mystery shopping is not a glamorous job that pays a lot of money,"
Swinburn said.
"People who respond to the quick riches will be turned off quickly."
Even at her frenzied peak of 30 shops per week, Betterton says
she topped out at $1,500 a month. Seaward says an average shop
will nab her about $20, which sometimes includes a free cheeseburger
or candy bar if it's a food-related shop. Seaward says she gets
about $10, plus food for a fast food mystery shopping trip and
$20 plus food at a sit-down restaurant.
But companies don't pay hourly for the time shoppers spend laboring
over the written evaluations -- and gas money is the shopper's
responsibility.
While the financial rewards may be paltry, there are other benefits:
Both Betterton and Seaward say they can control their work schedule
while feeling like they are contributing to a company's bottom
line.
"I'm my own boss," Betterton said. She often squeezes in shops
during day trips to Gainesville.
And while Seaward usually does five shops a week in a self-scheduled
two-day blitz, she managed to fit in a handful of shops while
she was visiting Lexington, Ky., for a few weeks.
Still, she says, it's not all glamorous. "If you are conscientious,
it is hard work," she said. "That's why they call it a job."
