Complete sentences etc etc.

So most of my shops receive a 10, however occasionally I get feedback for not using complete sentences or punctuation. When a text box about a shop limits the number of characters, in order to get a full review of what happened, its hard to not have bullet points.
So basically these assessors would rather have nice writing than full scenario of shop covered.
Seems to me some assessors think they can write English well and then in there report they place punctuation in the wrong place.
Bothers me but maybe I should just ignore it, I am getting paid, lol

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Try to stress less. You can often write less detailed reports when character count limits are applied.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Over time you will intuitively understand what each MSC is looking for with their various clients. Such experience does make the reporting go much faster. You obviously express yourself with clarity so it becomes a process of 'learning through mistakes' to be on target next time with volume. Different MSCs do want different degrees of detail. Wanting 'five sentences' versus giving you 500 characters flags the clarity or conciseness desired. Keep in mind the client is reading for information, not literary pleasure.

@Flash wrote:

Over time you will intuitively understand what each MSC is looking for with their various clients.

Indeed, I learned that one MSC's definition of a "well-written narrative fully describing of each detail of the shop," meant one paragraph of not more than five sentences, no employment of words beyond a fifth grade vocabulary, and absolutely no use of semi-colons, colons, hyphens, or dashes while avoiding the use of commas, if at all possible. Such makes one wonder what, if any, value the client receives from the shop.

yes, I obviously wrongly assumed the client would prefer as much information as possible squeezed into the allowed text. Clearly not. Besides what qualification do these assessors have to judge punctuation etc.

When I was an editor there was a guide sheet as to how that particular MSC wanted punctuation. I personally disagreed with some of their requirements based on the writing style guides I was required to follow in college, but the MSC makes the calls as they pay the bills and keep their clients happy.

Which makes it very hard to know what they want. Guess I shouldn't worry about it.
Don't like getting things wrong, but of you don't know the rules before hand that's kinda hard.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2021 08:18PM by Kph100.

Time to take a deep breath and realize that if the editor/QC person needs a detail, they will ask for it. They realize that the guidelines do not really tell you WHICH details they most need.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I agree you need to take a deep breath. Schedulers and editors like working with shoppers who respond pleasantly to suggestions and get the job done in a timely, complete manner. Every person in this business is human and I have yet to meet a perfect person--even when I chat with the mirror. Very few instructions are written by professional writers and they are not completely changed when the client wants something else. Know what you are to observe and always try to observe more than that in case you need it. Report only that which is asked about unless you observe something that could be life threatening to you or others. Do what you can but don't make yourself crazy. This is not rocket science.

Yeah basically trying to do a job well, seems over the top. Not the mindset in my 30 year previous career.

The final audience for your written narrative blocks will be some overworked District Manager type, who most likely sees dozens of mystery shop reports weekly. They will not be interested in the most minute details of each interaction.

Your best bet is to make sure that you've addressed each Y/N bullet point above concisely and clearly (I try to sandwich two or three of the bullet points into each sentence), and then to note anything truly exceptional that occurred. Beyond that, it's just TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read) and a PITA (Pain In The A$$) for the management.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2021 08:26PM by ColoKate63.

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Complete sentences etc etc.

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