Market Force losing a big client?
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Or it could simply be a franchisee or several franchisees are choosing to have their stores shopped independent of the corporate shopping program. It's quite common because it then gives the franchise owner an opportunity to address issues before corporate is even aware a problem exists.
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 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 doubt this very much, given that the dudes' corporate shopping program is weekly and involves near-real-time feedback to stores.
I could easily name 5 national chains that use multiple MSC for different parts of the country simultaneously and have not drooped an MSC.
Maybe in that region the client wants a wider variety of shoppers and does not realize most shoppers work with multiple MSC.
Maybe in that region the client wants a wider variety of shoppers and does not realize most shoppers work with multiple MSC.
And I doubt the shopper reports are anywhere close to real time unless the client is seeing reports before they go through editing. Of all my projects I know of only one where the client receives notification and can see my data before it has gone through a second verification.
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 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.
Sorry -- I totally forgot that there were so many easily offended experts here who always know more than everyone else. But, in fact, the company I am referring to has used Market Force exclusively in a way similar to how Chipotle has used their MSC. And by "near-real-time", I mean within a few days. (I have verified that directly.) That's actually somewhat unusual in the industry; many larger clients don't really care about real-time information and use mystery shopping primarily for aggregate statistics.
I know 2 companies that shop the Hedgehog 
@migrants,
So many newcomers have predicted the demise of Marketforce and how they were losing a major client, etc, yet the company has gone only up. As for how it treats its shoppers, if you read the old threads, there is a lot of information from an ex-employee who explained how MF is oversensitive that they have accurate and efficient shoppers, and their software algorithm compares data on each location, from various shoppers, to identify if the shopper constanlty misses things, or always writes only positive etc. MF has a top business plan, expanded creatively in forming an all included in house department for all types of the clients' needs, from qualitative to quantitative, call center, survey collection, prizes, they experiemnted with long reports for fine dining, got the movie industry, etc, and have been improving on the software and reporting platform light years before other companies.
So many newcomers have predicted the demise of Marketforce and how they were losing a major client, etc, yet the company has gone only up. As for how it treats its shoppers, if you read the old threads, there is a lot of information from an ex-employee who explained how MF is oversensitive that they have accurate and efficient shoppers, and their software algorithm compares data on each location, from various shoppers, to identify if the shopper constanlty misses things, or always writes only positive etc. MF has a top business plan, expanded creatively in forming an all included in house department for all types of the clients' needs, from qualitative to quantitative, call center, survey collection, prizes, they experiemnted with long reports for fine dining, got the movie industry, etc, and have been improving on the software and reporting platform light years before other companies.
@KateH wrote:
@migrants,
So many newcomers have predicted the demise of Marketforce and how they were losing a major client, etc, yet the company has gone only up. As for how it treats its shoppers, if you read the old threads, there is a lot of information from an ex-employee who explained how MF is oversensitive that they have accurate and efficient shoppers, and their software algorithm compares data on each location, from various shoppers, to identify if the shopper constanlty misses things, or always writes only positive etc. MF has a top business plan, expanded creatively in forming an all included in house department for all types of the clients' needs, from qualitative to quantitative, call center, survey collection, prizes, they experiemnted with long reports for fine dining, got the movie industry, etc, and have been improving on the software and reporting platform light years before other companies.
how can we be sure it was really a MF employee?
I saw two at another MSC on the east coast. Both were in shopping centers.
I have seen the Mexican phone company shops with three different MSC, and I am only registered with maybe 3 dozen MSCs.
I don't consider three days to be real time results. That said, the OP simply has a bone to pick with MF. I don't care if MF thrives or falls apart tomorrow. It still doesn't justify the subject line.
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 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.
Lisa --
Thank you for weighing in with your expert opinion and setting the record straight, as usual. It makes me feel fuzzy knowing that you can always be counted on to provide clarity for the benefit of the board.
Thank you for weighing in with your expert opinion and setting the record straight, as usual. It makes me feel fuzzy knowing that you can always be counted on to provide clarity for the benefit of the board.
The one I saw was reimbursement only and no fee!
I don't consider 3 days real time. Last time i checked it was 72 hours.
@LindaM wrote:
The one I saw was reimbursement only and no fee!
Same here, the few that I saw listed were reimbursement only, and they were for locations that I don't recall seeing on the MF website.
The shop referenced by the OP is being shopped by another company, but at the same time MF is posting new shops for the client. This seems very similar to when the inside/drive-thru shop were being shopped by MF and another company at the same time a year or so ago. The shops and the reports were identical. I did a couple for the other company as well as doing them for MF. Maybe the client wanted to see if a different company found it easier to get all the shops completed. The shops the other company posted seemed to be the hard-to-fill shops, located way out of town, at least in my market. I guess the other MSC could not, because MF still has the client. And now a different company has a couple of the shops, although MF is still posting most of them. It seems to be the same thing with their carhop shop. And with the burger shop the OP references. Who knows?
I think many of us care little whether MF loses a client or two here and there. They are gaining clients every day. There's a new batch of clients I'm seeing since January. The OP said " I predict that this marks the beginning of what will be a big decline in Market Force's prominence." I predict he's wrong.
I think many of us care little whether MF loses a client or two here and there. They are gaining clients every day. There's a new batch of clients I'm seeing since January. The OP said " I predict that this marks the beginning of what will be a big decline in Market Force's prominence." I predict he's wrong.
I like this company because they pay by direct deposit on time. Their reports are not difficult or time-consuming. And the Helpdesk has been friendly to me when I've had to call them with a problem on a shop.
In my area, MF board has been basically empty for the last two weeks.
When MF dropped the fee on these to $6 I stopped doing them unless they were bonused. I sure as HECK won't do them for reimbursement and no fee.
@Jay C wrote:
The shop referenced by the OP is being shopped by another company, but at the same time MF is posting new shops for the client. This seems very similar to when the inside/drive-thru shop were being shopped by MF and another company at the same time a year or so ago. The shops and the reports were identical. I did a couple for the other company as well as doing them for MF. Maybe the client wanted to see if a different company found it easier to get all the shops completed. The shops the other company posted seemed to be the hard-to-fill shops, located way out of town, at least in my market. I guess the other MSC could not, because MF still has the client. And now a different company has a couple of the shops, although MF is still posting most of them. It seems to be the same thing with their carhop shop. And with the burger shop the OP references. Who knows?
I think many of us care little whether MF loses a client or two here and there. They are gaining clients every day. There's a new batch of clients I'm seeing since January. The OP said " I predict that this marks the beginning of what will be a big decline in Market Force's prominence." I predict he's wrong.
I'm seeing this with a couple clients in my area. It's great, cause this restaurant is one of the few I'd actually pay out of my pocket for.
I agree with Jay C. All we can do is speculate, at this point. Maybe the client was to spread his risk amongst other companies instead of dedicating the entire project to one company? Maybe the "new" company is offering additional analysis that's not in Market Force's scope? Who knows.
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
I received a phone call (offshore) to do one here a few days ago.
@december baby wrote:
In my area, MF board has been basically empty for the last two weeks.
I came to the board today because I have been shocked at how empty the board has been and I have not gotten a single call in over 2 weeks and I'm usually getting calls at least every couple of days for the burger shops. I saw there was a new fastfood place on the list today.
Since I started mystery shopping I have seen and heard on this forum of many clients jumping to another msc. I myself have done promo shops for the same clients that I had seen posted on other company's boards. Some of the promo shops I have done have resulted in a new client for the msc I did them for but some have not. So why would this be a big deal if it is in fact happening. They will find another client to replace the one who left. That seems to be the way the business works. It's like the stock market with constant gyrations, up and down and then up again in client count, takeover bids for jobs, mergers and acquisitions..etc.
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