NERVOUS! My first audit!

Hi guys!

I am so freaking nervous! I just signed up for my first audit for a client at a major auto show! This will be my very first audit ever. From what the scheduler has told me so far, I will be checking out the display and stuff like that and it should take an hour to complete. This doesn't sound too bad. Plus, i'll never gain audit experience if I never complete one! Has anyone ever done an audit like this before? Can someone give me some tips on how to complete an audit successfully? Of course I cant say who the client is, but the audit came from GFK.

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I haven't done the audit but I want to wish you good luck on your very first one.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

It sounds like photos are a major component of the audit. If so, bring extra batteries and be sure you have enough memory to take the photos. Plan on taking duplicates so insure you have good ones of what you need.

Good luck!

Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut

3 hours? does the audit pay $100?

I understand wanting to have a good clear photo to submit. I don't understand taking 3 to 5 pictures of the same item. It is a lot of extra work. Since you can preview the photo on both cameras and phones, why not do that?

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

I don't know about everyone else, but I do take a few extra photos. My preview screen is small and the photo may look in focus and it's not. I am not using cheap camera either. That's what I do and I don't mind. I choose the best photo.

Can you zoom on your preview screen? When making my final check before leaving I will zoom in on any shots that aren't obviously clear and sharp. After taking tens of thousands of pictures for shops, including from a moving car, my confidence level is high

I also take several shots of each required item. Sometimes a picture looks okay on the preview screen but it's a little fuzzy when downloaded, so I take several and pick the best one. I highly recommend multiple shots but to each his own. I don't want to run the risk of having to go back.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

Exactly, Mary. I often drive over 50 miles one way to do a shop and no way in hell am I going back. I mean, if I had to I would, but I try to avoid that as much as I can. Taking multiple photos is my way and I know one MSC that LOVES extra photos. Man oh man, do they EVER get a bunch, hahaha.

Lucky for me, the audit im doing only requires pictures of things that arent they way they should be. If everything is the way it should be, no pictures are needed! After getting all the guidelines and forms, this audit shouldnt take more than an hour if everything is ok. Im excited! May be the quickest $55, ive ever made. Thank you guys for all your advice! I will keep it in mind for the audits that do require pictures of certain things.

Sounds like a great gig. Have fun!

Yeah. Good luck!

Too bad there isn't a test drive...or is there?

.
Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
"Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." (The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil, 1977)

"Somedays you're the pigeon, somedays you're the statue.” J. Andrew Taylor

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." Galileo Galilei

Every type of audit is different, but you'll do great. I know that because your nervous which means you care. Have fun. I don't have much advice since I'm a noob but in my limited experience its best to take your time. If your in a hurry you'll miss something.

Some of us would prefer no test drive James. Time is money, test drives eat up time and my idea of fun is more money

@LisaSTL, Agreed! Although it depends on what I'm test driving. If it's another econobox... Give me the money for my drve fun cars fund.

I agree on the numerous pics rule. My personal rule is 2 or 3 pictures, that way when I get home I don't have to panic about the picture quality.

Somewhere in the Midwest, shopping / auditing full time since 2014. Will use PV-500 for food!

That comment was a bit tongue in cheek Lisa...obviously no test drives at an auto show. And I agree, unless it's a luxury car, the test drives have lost their allure. I still keep a lookout for the Tesla shops, I do want to give one of those a test drive.

And life hasn't been quite the same since the Porsche shops went away...

Test drives are the devil. I absolutely loathe them, and avoid them like the plague unless 1) they are video, and/or 2) they have a nice big fat juicy bonus.

@James Bond 007.5 wrote:

That comment was a bit tongue in cheek Lisa...obviously no test drives at an auto show. And I agree, unless it's a luxury car, the test drives have lost their allure. I still keep a lookout for the Tesla shops, I do want to give one of those a test drive.

And life hasn't been quite the same since the Porsche shops went away...

I want to test drive a Telsa too..or a Fisker! The only luxury car brand (if its even considered luxury, im not sure) that I have even see was an Infinity. Im terrified to even look at dealership shops for luxury cars! I keep thinking..okay, i'm a 23 year old college student, who is gonna believe that I am looking to buy a Benz? LOL

New car shops in my area are $17-$23, including test drive. If offered, you MUST take the test drive. I can do one apartment shop and make what three of these would pay. The only high-end ones used to be a $75 video shop at a Porsche dealership, but I haven't seen them for awhile, either. Even the motorcycle shops require a female to have an endorsement - whether you take a test drive or not! New car shops don't appear to be in my future any time soon.

$40 for those car shops listed at $17- $23 for me but I ask for a get them bonused to that rate. 45 min shop including test drive and 45 minutes to enter. worth it for me. To the OP you will do fine. GFK audits I have done were easy.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

Regarding test drives, if you sign up for info at car manufacturer web sites, you may get invitations in the mail to come in for test drives with incentives from $25-$100. You get the incentive offer signed by someone at the dealership and mail it in like a rebate. This is directly from the car manufacturers, not a mystery shop, so all you need to do is show up, take a test drive and you're done. Most times you don't even need to do the test drive if you go in and tell them you aren't ready to buy but can't turn down the incentive (in my experience they understand and don't want to waste anyone's time). They will sign the form and send you on your way. I have done this several times, averaging $75 each time, though the offers don't seem to come as often as they used to.

Best wishes on the audit!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2015 09:18AM by rainy.

Its not an IRS audit.

You will do fine.

Don

I did one last year. It wasn't hard at all. It was a little time consuming basically because it was the first time I did that particular audit.

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NERVOUS! My first audit!

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