Need advice from experienced shoppers

so tomorrow is my first route that I will be doing

I have about 15 shops to do, I haven't had a day like this before with so many shops! I'm so excited! Any tips / advice would be wonderful

Thanks!

www.Facebook.com/oatsandgrins

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

Hi! Congratulations on your first route! I would spend all of today organizing everything, reading all of the guidelines, printing out requirements, bookmarking the sites on your smartphone, map it all out on google and look at all of your stops, and make sure you have plenty of pens and paper available ... just in case.

Also - my BIGGEST piece of advice is to photograph your receipt IMMEDIATELY after your shop (just as soon as it is safe to do so). I cannot tell you how many times I have either lost my receipt because I was worried about going to the next location, or sometimes I don't get to keep a receipt for a purchase/return......then I'm like....wait! I NEED that receipt. lol!

I just thought, too, to have a routine of where you keep any parking garage tickets too - in case any of your stops involves a garage, whether you are shopping it or just need to park there. I keep mine in a special area in my purse, because one time I lost my ticket. It was a shop as well as a parking place for another store. I had to pay the maximum fee for lost ticket, PLUS I lost that shop because of my error. I lost more that day than I made for that trip.

Best of luck to you! I hope wherever you are you experience good weather!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2015 12:13PM by Chix.

Chix gave you great advice. As for the receipts, I also email them to myself right way. God forbid something happens to the phone, they are in your email as well. Best of luck!

If in doubt about any of the addresses try street view on Google maps and just be sure to take a look at the image date. I was checking for a bank one time and the building was not on street view because it was under construction at the time of the image. There was a sign saying something like the future home of XXX bank

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.

Know where you are going BEFORE leaving the house, bring your chargers and make all notes/uploads right after the shop while it is still fresh in your mind. Nothing worse than going home to do a report and wondering what the employee at your first shop said to you about _____.

Silver Certified ~ Shopping all of Toronto and beyond

Carry a stapler and staple the instructions, report, and receipt for each shop together so you don't accidentally mix up the receipts if you do more than one of a certain kind of shop.

Go a block away and fill out your report right away, before you go to your next stop, so if you realize you forgot something (cashier's description, name, business hours, check the trash cans, etc) you can go back in right away "I think I left my sunglasses in the restroom" or some other pretext (if they look at you funny if you come back inside). If you forgot a receipt, "Dang it, I forgot to get the receipt and my boss said he isn't allowed to reimburse without them. Those sodas add up over a month's time. Can you reprint it? I was just here a few minutes ago."

If you have Drop box or other online storage, upload your photos to it right after you take them so they'll be waiting for you when you get home to your computer.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

If you can, complete the most distant shops first. If something messes up your ability to complete the route, you'll have the shortest distance to go in order to get it done the next day.

Ditto ditto ditto what elcareve68 said. Working towards home takes a lot of stress off you, and if you arrive at your farthest point when they open, it makes it easier to get to your last point before they close and get home at a decent hour to have time to do the reports. If you get to your closest point when they open, you'll get home much later.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

Thank you so much everyone! I think im ready... I spent all day organizing and I am taking all the suggestions from you guys that I received

www.Facebook.com/oatsandgrins

For me, I use my iPhone's camera and rely heavily on pictures to keep myself on-track.

Ex. I type my notes on the "notes" app on my phone, then screenshot it. I Geoverify my location, then screenshot it. I take a picture of my 'start' mileage and my 'end' mileage. I screenshot my clock for 'start' times and 'end' times for each shop. I take pictures of my receipts, documents, etc. Then when I'm finally on my laptop, I plug my phone in via USB, then drag and drop the pictures to their respective folders.

For long routes (basically anything with 5+ for me), I "assign" simple shop ID's for each assignment; this becomes useful, especially when I'm shopping different locations of the same client. Typically, I just name it whatever matches up with my route map (I usually use Mapquest for this), and name it that way (Location B, C, D, etc.). I find it easier to remember Location A and B, instead of street names.

Of course, what may work for me, may not work for you.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

I organize each shop with it's paperwork into a folder. Each folder has a paperclip to attach the receipts and a blank paper for any notes I need to take. After each shop I move about a block and pull in somewhere and take a photo of the receipt, jot down any notes (names, descriptions), fill out the paper version of the report, and make sure everything is under control before I even start thinking about the next one. The folder then goes on the bottom of the pile in my briefcase.
Then I take out the next shops paperwork and re-read it if I need to, and start over. This system works pretty well for me. I also keep a camera, spare batteries, a voice recorder and extra pencils and paper in the case.

Good luck!

What great ideas! We're so lucky to have this forum to share ideas and tips!

grab your laptop. open the shop reports in separate tabs. put laptop on hibernate. When you are done with the shop, open the tab with the shop report and type in some quick notes. put laptop back into hibernate. repeat for each shop. When you are done for the day and a wifi spot, open the laptop and sign into each msc and finalize the report then press submit.

Just lost trying to find a fire pit in a concrete jungle wishing it was a wooded glen...

if it wasn't for bad luck, I would have no luck at all

@gypsymonkey wrote:

grab your laptop. open the shop reports in separate tabs. put laptop on hibernate. When you are done with the shop, open the tab with the shop report and type in some quick notes. put laptop back into hibernate. repeat for each shop. When you are done for the day and a wifi spot, open the laptop and sign into each msc and finalize the report then press submit.

This is kind of brilliant.

Hi everyone, I am new in the forum. Are there companies who need spanish phone mystery shop??, my english is basic, thanks

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

@gypsymonkey wrote:

grab your laptop. open the shop reports in separate tabs. put laptop on hibernate. When you are done with the shop, open the tab with the shop report and type in some quick notes. put laptop back into hibernate. repeat for each shop. When you are done for the day and a wifi spot, open the laptop and sign into each msc and finalize the report then press submit.

This is kind of brilliant.

Kind of? This actually beats whatever I've been doing. Kudos CoffeeQueen!

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

@maryjob wrote:

Hi everyone, I am new in the forum. Are there companies who need spanish phone mystery shop??, my english is basic, thanks

Yes, there is one in particular who is always looking for Spanish-speakers to do phone mystery shops of funeral homes. Sign up with Shoppers View and Joel will keep you busy.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

And read this interview with him: [www.mysteryshoppermagazine.com]

Time to build a bigger bridge.

@maryjob wrote:

Hi everyone, I am new in the forum. Are there companies who need spanish phone mystery shop??, my english is basic, thanks

Hi maryjob and welcome.

I haven't done any Spanish phone shops, but I've seen them come up on jobslinger.com. So that's one place you can check to get started. Maybe some other forum members will have additional ideas. Good luck to you!

I also keep shops open and saved for later on my laptop. It makes it much easier if it is a Sassie report, you can prefill things with dates and an approximate time that you think you will be there (micro seconds add up with 17 shop reports to do and 34 contacts to describe- brown hair is so prevalent, select it before hand and change if need be). I also prefill with certain things that I say such as the cashier, the associate, the team member (whatever terminology they want you to use). If there is something that you are supposed to be hearing from the target, such as a loyalty card request, or an offer to sell/close, I put that in to, very generically, so that it is in the section where it needs to be. I have found my after shop reporting to be much less taxing when I prefill reports with any specific question that I must ask as well (eg Hardware shop, my question is about handtools, Can you help me find a drill bit ? He asked I said).
Sometimes a quarter of the report is written without actually saying anything about what happened, more as a reminder of key points that must be addressed in the narrative. (eg, loyalty card, request to serve, additional offer, thank you, etc) This helps me prevent any returns from shop editors.

Wow. What an interesting strategy. For myself, doing that would actually help me remember to do things. Thanks for sharing that method. I think I will give that a try.

Time to build a bigger bridge.

FYI - All this information is more than just great for route shops, it is great for those of us that may do only 2 or 3 shops a day. Things like taking pics of receipts.

One thing that I can add that may not be for "routes", when dining/eating out, I always take pics of the food. It helps when I have to describe it later.

And since I live in a one party state and tape every shop, I talk to myself a lot. I will say names, give descriptions, and make notes. When speaking to people, I am always "a little hard of hearing do to my multiple sclerosis" so I ask them to speak up. That way my recorder (worn on my bra) captures everything they say. When I get home, I upload the recording to a file on my pc. That way if I can't remember something (always), I check the recording. Trick is to talk to yourself a lot. I found the best way to do this is to pull out my cell phone and make like I am on a call, mentioning key points in the "call".

When you learn, teach, when you get, give. Maya Angelou

@Tarantado wrote:

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

@gypsymonkey wrote:

grab your laptop. open the shop reports in separate tabs. put laptop on hibernate. When you are done with the shop, open the tab with the shop report and type in some quick notes. put laptop back into hibernate. repeat for each shop. When you are done for the day and a wifi spot, open the laptop and sign into each msc and finalize the report then press submit.

This is kind of brilliant.

Kind of? This actually beats whatever I've been doing. Kudos CoffeeQueen!

This is what I do. It's the clearest way for me to keep them straight.

All above good advice and suggestion. I take photos of the shop exterior and note the stores on the left and right, in case that information needed. ALSO TAKE YOUR TIME. CHECK YOURSELF after each shop.

So how did it go?

15 shops in a day? I'm lucky to get 4 in a day, in my area.

My first mystery shopping assignment period was two routes. One with 8 gas stations the other with 9. There were 12 within 30 minutes of my home. I was excited and pumped when after requesting them and planning the routes when I got rewarded the shops. Learned allot real fast about keeping time straight, how not to forget pictures and the importance of reading guidelines over and over. My next route was 400 miles long with 17 gas stations during the dark hours( didn't get em all dark) to neighborhoods not typically frequented by those who know better. Since then It is all I do and just recently did a 25 station run. I love to drive so for me its all about the route. I generally will consider any job within 250 miles of my location and use a good job as an anchoring point then build around it to get a good route. The best part is always leaving the house near empty and returning with a full tank that when reimbursed cost me nothing and my family enjoys all the goodies I bring home.

I just recently started doing part of my reports right after shops and it's been so much of a help. I do it on my phone however and not on my laptop since I find it a bit cumbersome to carry with me. I have even found a new trick: on my revealed gas shops I actually fill out the reports as I perform the audit. This way I am totally sure I am not missing anything. My phone even let me take the required pictures from within the report which means that all I have to do when I get back to my car is upload the picture of the receipts and click submit!

Amandad, I really wish I had a cell phone, can't even afford one. There are jobs I miss out on, because I don' have a cell phone or tablet.

Have you compared the income you're losing to the cost of a smart phone? Mine paid for itself in a couple of weeks just with the additional work. Adding in all the cost savings makes it a real win/win.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Need advice from experienced shoppers

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine