Customer Impact & calling in for each new assignment

This is a minor annoyance, but still an annoyance. I've been shopping for 6+ years and have done thousands of assignments. Customer Impact requires you to call them for each new (first time) assignment for a particular store/restaurant.

I had an assignment for a home goods store last week. I've done many for similar stores but for a different msc. Per the requirements I call up Customer Impact and the person literally reads the guidelines to me word-for-word (and in a monotone)!!! I was on the phone for ten minutes and it was a complete waste of time. If you're a newbie and you have questions, you should be able to email or call them. But to make shoppers (especially seasoned shoppers) call every time you do a particular store for the first time is ridiculous, especially if the employee is just going to read the guidelines verbatim.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2016 05:52PM by DareWright.

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It's even more annoying when you get an employee who acts clueless about why you are calling and seems confused and acts like you are just overly nervous and acts reassuring in a way that seems like you are crazy. Every time I do it, I say I'm going to skip that phone call in the future. But then I don't

I'm not sure what happens if you skip the call. There seems to be no downside, because it is not enforced. In searches on the forum, several situations have come up where the shopper did not make the mandatory (not enforced, I don't think) call and nothing happened to them. Except if they didn't do it right and then they didn't get paid. But doing it wrong would mean you don't get paid anyway, whether you made the pre-visit call or not. There's no penalty for not calling.

I almost accepted a $5 phone shop yesterday, until I read you had to make that phone call first. 20 ft. pole.

Yes, I wasn't sure if we could skip the call or not. On one page it states you can skip the call, but on another page it states you must call. I'm glad they're easy to reach by phone, but if I have to call each time I might not be so quick to take on these assignments.

I skip the call

and haven't had my knuckles rapped yet.

I always call. I always start out with, I read the directions, looks pretty easy, is there anything I might have missed. They always say no or point out one or two little details. I've never been on the phone with them more than 2-3 minutes.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

I've only seen the requirement to call the first time you're doing the shop on a few of their jobs. I've done two different shops for them that haven't required it. The lady I talked to when I have had to call in was very friendly and efficient. She thanked me for calling and gave me a couple of tips like @bgriffin described before turning me loose. easy peasy.

Shopper in California's Bay Area

@bgriffin wrote:

I always call. I always start out with, I read the directions, looks pretty easy, is there anything I might have missed. They always say no or point out one or two little details. I've never been on the phone with them more than 2-3 minutes.

The same here. It is a requirement. You either do the call or you don't accept the assignment.

My call was also very efficient. I started off with saying that I thought the requirements were clear and rattled off a few key items - which departments, which pictures were required - and asked if there was anything specific I should be aware of. The CI rep was friendly and confirmed that I seemed familiar with the key points and wished me good luck. It was pretty painless and didn't take more than a few minutes of my time.

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

The same here. It is a requirement. You either do the call or you don't accept the assignment.

Not always. Maybe it depends on longevity, or history?

Harland Clark has the same requirement. I did two shops for them one week, and had to call both times. I figure they are covering their tailfeathers.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I'm trying to have a Harland Clark shop assigned to me. They seem to operate differently from most companies.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230

I'll admit I have skipped the call once by complete accident. My shop was a Saturday lunch shop and I hadn't called in to go over the guidelines beforehand. I went through with my lunch and did just swell. I also picked up several more since then and there's been no mention of my oversight. This, of course, was unplanned and won't be the norm but my guess is that they do ask you to call in so as to reduce potential mistakes. I'm not sure how enforced it truly is.

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

I call too. I am usually prepared to summarize the report. If I have a very specific question, then the call is really short--it shows that I have read the instructions and have thought beyond them.

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Customer Impact & calling in for each new assignment

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