Mystery Shopping is a process through which companies can measure the quality of their retail or service facility by gathering certain information about their establishment, products and employees through the services of an unknown shopper. A Mystery Shopper acts a a normal customer and needs to perform specific tasks such as buying a product, asking questions, and sometimes making complaints. This information is then provided to the owner or parent company in detailed reports about the mystery shopper’s experiences.
The parent company may ask questions like: How well were you treated? Was the employee helpful and friendly? Was there anything you didn’t like? Was your overall experience positive or negative and many other things about your shopping assignment.
The success of a business depends on the quality of its service and the people who are employed there. A decline in quality of service or employees who are indifferent to shoppers will probably cause a loss of customer satisfaction and the possibility they will never return to the store again. Mystery Shoppers must evaluate their shopping experience and complete their assignment is a very honest fashion, otherwise their findings will be misleading and could actually cause the company harm.
The Mystery Shopper has been around for more than 60 years, but we were always of the impression it was something like a “stuffing envelopes” scam until we noticed a segment on one of the country’s largest news networks giving a very favorable impression of the business Paid Surveys, which is, in our opinion, a sister business.
Investigation shows that mystery shopping has been used as a tool for secret shopping assignments that could range from simple questions to audio and video recordings. People who want to be Mystery Shoppers can register and receive assignments entirely through the Internet. Assignments could cover retails stores, fast food chains, automobile dealerships, non-profit organizations and endless others, even including churches.
Before you register for Mystery Shopper assignments, it’s a good idea to gather all the information you can about the subject so you know what to look out for. Beware of services that want to match you up with assignments. In many cases its probably not going to happen. You need to know who you’re dealing with and lots more.
There are many normal people, no different than you or me, who are secret shoppers. But, those people worked hard to get their mystery shopper job. Not everyone makes it because they give up too easily. More and more companies are starting up mystery shopper programs to help them improve their services and products. So, more and more opportunities are available for new people to get in on this boom.
However, you need to find the good, trustworthy programs that are currently available. Its a great job, and with the proper information your chances are much improved. The excitement never ends when you know you can eat out at restaurants, go shopping, and do many of the thing you already do every day, and get paid for doing it. It can be well worth the effort to make some good connections.
If you’re serious about applying as a “Mystery Shopper”, don’t bother applying for every job that comes your way, at least not in the beginning. Look through the listings available and apply to 3 or 4 that you really feel qualified for. Try to determine what you can offer, to give them reasons to hire you. In this way you can learn the business slowly and be better prepared for the next application.
By Richard Charles as published on Articles Collections.com
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