I pretty much do what BBird does, that is use a seperate folder for each visit. I scan rather than photo and do re-name each item, eg M R1 or V Card (for mail rate sheet pg 1 or visit business card). They are put into monthly folders and it is a simple search if I have to find a document. I don't have to re-size and select J Peg on the scanner so it is a fairly simple process and I don't have any confusion in putting the right scans in the right slots.

dspeakes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think it's the radius that is getting me.
> I actually tried to get my local bank and got the
> same response. I cannot do the shop because my
> profile answer to "eligible to shop for xxxxxxx"
> is not set to "yes." When I asked how it gets set
> to "yes" I was told that xxxxxxx told RSG who can
> and can't shop for them. They said nothing about
> radius.
>
> I *do* bank there, so it's possible they don't
> want any customers of the bank doing these shops,
> but I think I've heard from another one who is a
> customer and is allowed to do them. So I really
> don't know.
>
> Maybe I'll ask Maritz if they know what's going
> on, but they probably want me working directly for
> them for $x.xx instead of for RSG for more money.


I don't know if someone else already answered this. I'm sorry if this is repetitive.

I was having the same problem. I asked about it and was told that they have to individually approve people for XXXXX bank and that it should take about a week. It took longer, I think closer to two weeks. Eventually, I received an e-mail telling me that I was approved and from then on, was able to apply for the shops. In fact, I was assigned a bunch of them right after the approval was processed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2014 05:08AM by SweetPea513.

When I asked Darius about it he just said "the client tells them who can shop" and that was the end of it. No hint that they could ask the client to approve me.

I just wish they'd stop emailing me fifteen times a day about these shops.

@dspeaks the have not approved me either, but Darius is a good manager he helped me with other shops.

@mrcomputer101 Darius of RSG always responds accordingly with all line of communications, especially Skype!

I just finally (and completely randomly) received approval from RSG for these bank shops. I've been doing them for the other company all last month and I was very excited to get the approval because it looked like they were pretty much exactly the same and RSG paid more.

So I immediately requested one, was awarded it, and lo and behold, they are EXACTLY the same, with the only difference that I can tell being that it appears that you don't have to resize the photos to 640 x 480 AND you only have to upload the first page of the rate sheet! That shaved a BUNCH of time off my data input time!

Needless to say, if this one goes through with no corrections, I'll be signing up for a bunch more!

Outdated post.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2014 04:05AM by Shop2LiveinFL.

@Shop2LiveinFL: Yes, bonuses are wonderful, and so is flexibility, so I can see your point. I live in a major metropolitan area and there is one of these banks on almost every corner, so it's not a problem, and I haven't grown to the point of doing routes yet, so even that kind of flexibility hasn't been much of an issue.

I haven't been around long enough to see huge bonuses yet, either, so I guess that's why this seemed like a sweet deal. Just goes to show how awesome it is that as IC's we can make this work to suit our lifestyles!

Edited for outdated info.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2014 03:53AM by Shop2LiveinFL.

I'm tech feeble. Do editing functions on the computer have a way to easily resize pics down to the needed dimensions?

I also sell online and had a friend get all my camera settings configured to be best for still life shots. I don't want to have to mess with my camera. I'm afeared that I'd mess it up.

Could someone tell me what is entailed in shops that say they are combo phone and visit?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2014 12:15PM by Watching the Wheels.

Tracyvp, I haven't done the ones for RSG but I believe there's a major difference. The ones with Maritz are auto-reassign and can be shopped six times per year per bank. I believe the ones with RSG are catch as catch can. I also think RSG pays $2.50 more per bank. A bank auto-reassigned with Maritz six times per year is worth $75.00 per year. If you can catch the bank five times with RSG you'll come out even.

If you have sixty Maritz banks on your schedule every other month for 360 shops per year, you can count on that cash flow. Can you pick up sixty RSG banks six times a year, or 360 RSG bank jobs? What are the odds on that?

It's looking at the small picture or looking at the big picture. We all have different ways of making this work.

Or do work for both companies and almost double the fun and money!

I don't think the bank will let that happen.

Watching the Wheels Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm tech feeble. Do editing functions on the
> computer have a way to easily resize pics down to
> the needed dimensions?
>
> I also sell online and had a friend get all my
> camera settings configured to be best for still
> life shots. I don't want to have to mess with my
> camera. I'm afeared that I'd mess it up.
>
> Could someone tell me what is entailed in shops
> that say they are combo phone and visit?

I can only give you instructions for a PC. If you're a Mac person, I can't help you. Once you get them on your computer, you can follow these steps:

1. Right Click on the image and select "Open with Microsoft Office (or Microsoft Picture Manager if you have an older version of Office)
2. At the top click on "Edit"
3. Over on the right, click on "Resize."
4. Select the button for "Predefined width x height"
5. From the dropdown menu, select "Web - Large (640 x 480)"
6. Click "OK"
7. Click Save!

Thanks! That sounds easy enough, even for me!

The nice thing about Picture Manager is you can do everything in a batch. I really miss it

MDavisnowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think the bank will let that happen.


Yes, they do. But you still have to stick to the rotation.

Sybil, I think we're not on the same page. Say I'm shopping the bank at 1212 East West Street for Maritz, and I shop it every other even numbered month because I have it locked up when I opt for the re-assignment. I don't think "The Bank" will let me shop it in an odd month for RSG.

I'm thinking you're talking about a bank branch I don't shop for Maritz. Right?

Not exactly. I am talking about double dipping with permission. "The Bank" has allowed shoppers to shop the same branch on the same day basically at the same time but with different scenarios so it is two different shops even if it is with the same banker. I don't think they want to make a habit out of it but exceptions have been made.

I think the mystery has been solved....

Some of us have wondered what it took to "qualify" to do these bank shops for RSG/now Beyond Hello.

I think what it took was two solid months of not shopping these banks for Maritz.

I just got my email telling me I am now qualified to shop for "the bank." It turns out I did zero bank shops for Maritz in October and November, and that is probably the first time ever that I went 2 months without doing one. The email I got goes into a lot of detail about "thou shalt not" shop the same branch within 60 days. Absolutely. No exceptions. If they catch you doing it you'll be banned forever. Since they are not privy to Maritz's records regarding who has shopped where, I think "the bank" had to tell them when a shopper was clear for 60 days to ensure the appropriate gap occurred.

So if anyone is still wondering how to get to do for $15 what we have been doing for $9.50 in the past ... I think you need to go two months without doing any of them.

They also have a 20 mile radius rule that would preclude me from doing any anyway, since I won't shop my local branch and the next closest one is 60 miles away. But they said if you owned or rent multiple homes you could change your address in the profile to reflect that. So I'll see if I can use my rental house address for these (if I start mystery shopping again; I've been pretty much on hiatus for the last two months, which is how I managed to go 2 months without doing a Maritz bank shop) so I could do some in Phoenix.

Anyway, I think this may be the way to become "eligible to shop for *the bank*" if you haven't been able to so far.

Sorry dspeakes, I don't think that's the reason. I've been doing shops for both companies. I do them every month for Maritz and more infrequently for BH/RSG. I have no idea how I was approved but was from the beginning. I have to check my own log to be sure I don't go to the same branches too often. There are a lot of them around here.

Not true, at least in my case. I have done these banks consistently month after month for several years for Maritz. I then kept applying for the same shops with RSG, and getting the "Sorry, you are not qualified..." etc message. Since the merger, I tried applying once again via an email from Beyond Hello, and--lo and behold--Accepted. I never got the email that dspeakes refers to, just an acceptance notice of the shops I applied for. Not sure what happened or why, but whatever.

I have shopped the bank for both companies. There are different eligibility criteria for each. One has the 20 mile radius (from home address or zip code?). The other 30 miles and within area code of both home and business number. As I change jobs alot my area code of my work number changes. And i have lots of second homes.