@vlade5394 wrote:
I have several scheduled. A prior post suggested the hard part was the phone call. For me, this was an understatement. When making the phone calls today, I learned this assignment is mischaracterized. It is not auditing or even merchandising, It is cold calling. The contact persons names and information is outdated or clearly wrong (one listed email address was something like Mickey1234@Donaldduck.com). The people I did speak to treated me like a salesperson rather than a partner. I was hung up on when I told them who I worked for (the phone script called for me to identify the MSP), told I had the wrong number when I asked for the contact person and then hung up on, or told they don't need the materials.
I suppose the absence of a letter of authorization should have alerted me to the fact there is no coordination between the supplier and optician's offices.
In my opinion, it was a very poor choice to have random mystery shoppers do these assignments. They would be much better suited for a salesperson who is well versed in these particular materials and the optician's business.
How long does it take to do? I haven't been on-site yet.
UPDATE: After doing a few, they aren't as bad as the previous post suggested. Let me explain.
The previous post assumed that the MSP would be stickers for getting an appointment and doing all the set up and explanation as asked when much of it relies on permission from an office that is not expecting the call/visit. Furthermore, the first call I made the visit was refused and I was hung up on. Not a good start, eh?
Well, the MSP has adjusted on the fly to take the difficulty of getting an appointment into account and accepted the reality of not always being able to set up some or all of the stuff. They changed the instructions regarding the appointment and allowed shoppers to just go to the store if they can't make an appointment. After the first one, I found responses to be professional. They met with me and allowed me to show them the materials, but not place much in the stores. The MSP accepted the shops as they occurred, including the first refusal. I find they do take about 20 minutes on-site. I'm pleased to report I was wrong to assume the MSP would not account for the unpredictable element of cooperation from the office staff.
So, I went from - I'll do them because I agreed to do them, to they're ok and sometimes enjoyable depending on the employee I meet, to I'll look for more to do as the fees are larger for the ones still on the board. As of today, there are a bunch left of the board. If my earlier post scared you off, I suggest you take a new look at these shops.
Have fun with these.
Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut