Summarize how the Leasing Professional demonstrated the apartment (or floor plan) and/or property in 5 or more detailed sentences:

Hi, Yolanda!

Writing the demonstration part is a bit tricky, but it gets better in time.

Things to think about:

1. Did they flick on lights, demonstrate storage spaces by opening doors? Or did they just stand there passively, arms folded, in the center of the room?
2. Did the agent encourage *you* to look inside cupboards, closets, and appliances?
3. Did the agent suggest furniture arrangements for your apartment while demonstrating? Were you encouraged to discuss plans for "your" apartment - entertaining, lifestyle, convenience (valet trash service, concierge, etc)?
4. Did the agent paint a "word picture" of your life in the apartment? Did they point out features that you had previously said were important to your stated housing needs?

Read the questions that precede the narrative box - they almost always have lots of hints for what the client wants to know.

Good luck!

Let me guess, The E company sent your report back askung you to complete that part without any further details.

I am glad to see this particular topic. I have done a few of these and feel there is a lot of required repetition in the information being submitted. Also, the request for so much detail describing the furniture, makes this shop a little difficult for me, personally. I think the video should be sufficient and my input insignificant, when compared to the video.

I felt I was being asked for the same information 3 or 4 different times in narrative format. Then I started to wonder? How does my description in this paragraph compare with the same information I provided in previous paragraphs? Is this some kind of quality control effort to find discrepancies in my report?

Does anyone have some insight on this issue?

I am now saving my narratives (1000+ words) in Word form.

Having some good narratives on hand helps me get the overall structure and tone down pat for a new assignment. I can remember some of the details from the current shop.

MissyH71 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am now saving my narratives (1000+ words) in
> Word form.
>
> Having some good narratives on hand helps me get
> the overall structure and tone down pat for a new
> assignment. I can remember some of the details
> from the current shop.


Hi I just read your note and the first thing that popped into my head was a warning I read: Something to the effect that if you copy and paste anything for your reports you may be eliminated from future shops.

I imagine that is true for every shop. However, I do see value in having a great sample to work from. If you were able to provide the required information, accurately, I see no problem with copy/paste sentences and paragraphs.

I think Missy is using them as a template rather than a copy and paste. I perform certain shops for one MSC who provides a sample which helps with the tone and level of detail required. I copy and paste the sample into Word and refer back to it as I write my own narrative. Some have said it is difficult to get a 10 with them, but each of my reports for this client has scored a 10.

The more I think of it, the more I feel we might all benefit with writing macros? We could develop a few macros consisting of one short phrase that would write out a few sentences.

The idea is good. But again, it is the same as copy and paste. My only complaint is the very time consuming verbal descriptions required every 4 - 7 questions. I feel like I could have easily provided all the information in 20 - 30 minutes vs a 45 minute input.

I do not mind long reports; except, some reports have taken me so long to submit, my time invested drops to less than $5 per hour. That is when I must look for a remedy.

Do most of you feel I am facing an issue that is actually the result of being new? Do you think the submission time will drop to less than half of a 45 minute input?

Thanks in advance.

Today, I had my first video assignment that also required a complete written report, that, itself, was extremely repetitious. I don't plan on repeating that work unless I'm considerably well compensated. I can handle an exhaustive report, but repetition is a short coming with me. It's necessary for me to block all logic and have a conversation with myself that it's strictly business.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think Missy is using them as a template rather
> than a copy and paste. I perform certain shops for
> one MSC who provides a sample which helps with the
> tone and level of detail required. I copy and
> paste the sample into Word and refer back to it as
> I write my own narrative. Some have said it is
> difficult to get a 10 with them, but each of my
> reports for this client has scored a 10.

Yes, I do not, under any circumstance, "cut and paste." Really. It's not worth it.

What I WILL do is tile my previous report on the left (saved as a MS Word file) on the left, then write my new report on the right hand side.

It's a huge help for me. I can address similar areas of the report, and it helps me with length and level of detail. My reports aren't plagarizing each other, but the general outline and order of events chronicled are similar.

Bonus #1: Each time I write like this, my reports get better, tighter, more detail-rich.

Bonus #2: I can write about 1,000 original words per hour with this method.

Assuredd, I questioned some of what you wrote here. Some of my video shops had very little written reporting while others had almost as much repetitive questions as the solely written report does. When I asked about it, I was told it was the clients choice to ask what they wanted and it was not ultimately up to the mystery shopping company. I started looking for companies that require less on the written portion when submitting video reports. It led me to Video Shopping Network. I am still searching. I get most of my answers here in this forum.

Assuredd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am glad to see this particular topic. I have
> done a few of these and feel there is a lot of
> required repetition in the information being
> submitted. Also, the request for so much detail
> describing the furniture, makes this shop a little
> difficult for me, personally. I think the video
> should be sufficient and my input insignificant,
> when compared to the video.
>
> I felt I was being asked for the same information
> 3 or 4 different times in narrative format. Then I
> started to wonder? How does my description in this
> paragraph compare with the same information I
> provided in previous paragraphs? Is this some
> kind of quality control effort to find
> discrepancies in my report?
>
> Does anyone have some insight on this issue?

I just completed a video shop. When I did the online report, there were 121 questions. Of those 121 questions, about 30 percent were referencing my opinions of the services provided. Fortunately, these were not essay type responses required.

However, I still feel the questions could better be answered by watching and listening to the video. So, my personal input is probably just that of another individual to compare to the opinions of those who watch the reports.

Assuredd,
For some video clients, the video goes to one deparment, along with the written report; but the report alone goes to another.

That said, most of my many videos have very short, easy reports. For some, the report is little more than labeling the video more extensively than can be done ON the video clip.

Assuredd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The more I think of it, the more I feel we might
> all benefit with writing macros? We could develop
> a few macros consisting of one short phrase that
> would write out a few sentences.
>
> The idea is good. But again, it is the same as
> copy and paste. My only complaint is the very
> time consuming verbal descriptions required every
> 4 - 7 questions. I feel like I could have easily
> provided all the information in 20 - 30 minutes vs
> a 45 minute input.
>
> I do not mind long reports; except, some reports
> have taken me so long to submit, my time invested
> drops to less than $5 per hour. That is when I
> must look for a remedy.
>
> Do most of you feel I am facing an issue that is
> actually the result of being new? Do you think
> the submission time will drop to less than half of
> a 45 minute input?
>
> Thanks in advance.

I have shopped about a dozen on-site apts. mostly with one company. I could never get one written in under about two hours.