Badgerman wrote: I just got started Mystery Shopping a couple of weeks ago. I did a few audits, and today I actually did my first real Mystery Shop.
I was worried about being able to remember all the details, so I went ahead and got myself a small DVR like the others above. I was a little worried about the legality, but I did some research and found that I live in a ‘1 Party’ state, which means that only member of a group need be aware that a recording is being made.
The Sony recorder I got (ICD P520) was about $60 and came with computer software. It was really handy for getting exact timings down without having to stare at my watch and take notes.
I’ve got a couple more ideas to try as well, since I’ve got a restaurant shop I’m going to tonight. The checklist I have seems pretty exhaustive, and I can see missing things without the ability to take decent notes. (Even with the DVR.)
My first idea I actually stole from Ocean’s 11. It’s probably overkill on the sneakiness factor, but anything worth doing is worth overdoing. The simple was is to just use a crossword puzzle out of a newspaper or something and take notes on that. There’s a fair amount of space to fill up, and it just looks like you’re doing the crossword. If you want to get fancy, you could scan in the actually grid or pull one of the internet and stick it into Word and at the bottom of the page type in some or all of the questions on your checklist so you have those to reference.
The other idea I had was to just use my Palm Pilot. Every now and then when I go out to eat by myself, I bring it along just to have something to do. I play Scrabble or Sudoku or something. It wasn’t too tough to cut and paste my checklist off the website and into an Excel doc where I cleaned it up, got rid of all the form checkboxes and whatnot, and just left extra lines in between the questions to write down answers.
It’s pretty easy to switch between apps, so when the server comes around I can just leave the Sudoko game open and no one is the wiser.
Sneakers wrote: 1–For years, I’ve had a key under my license plate. I drilled the hole in the key larger, lubricated the license plate bolt, and pushed it through plate and key. The hex bolt can be unscrewed with my fingers, so no need for a screwdriver or nutdriver. But this is not just an MS tip. It has saved me countless times.
2–When I get a shop, I write it on a slip of paper that exactly fits in my appointment book, folded in the center. Place, date, address, phone number, landmark on left. I take only TODAY’S shops and clip them in, so as not to get confused. I note very briefly the important things to look for in that shop. Most of the paper is still blank. It’s not unusual in real life to pull out your appointment book in a bank or store, and make a note in it. He-he. Much more natural than a notebook, which is unthinkable.
When ready to report, the slip of paper becomes part of my permanent record of the shop, stapled to other notes, business card, receipt, etc. The name, address,date etc are already there in front.
Good subject, Flash. But I learned a lot of my stuff from you!
Should we mention the other thing you use and I bought today?
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