MS'ing as Marketing Opp for Clients?

I don't know if anyone has discussed this before, but since I've been "expanding" my MS'ing, I've started going to places I wouldn't normally go.

It occurs to me that perhaps some of the clients who employ MSCs do it as a way to get NEW traffic into their businesses?

I mean, when an MSC offers a gig that has a $0 fee, but "allows" you to keep $X in product, this seems to me to be more a marketing ploy than a legit shop.

Thoughts?

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I look at it as. Company wants the shopper to go in and get a product/service but company does not want to pay them anything extra. Let the money come back to the company.

I only say this because I go to a restaurant where I have to buy sn entree and I get reimbursed via gift card. Yea, I can sell the card but I usually give them as gifts if I don't use them myself.

ShopperGuru, the flaw in your logic is for such a strategy to have a significant impact on the corporate bottom line, the business would have to be scheduling multiple shops every day at each location.

I'll consider unreimbursed shops, if it's for something I need/want. If I want to treat myself and a friend to dinner, yeah I'll do an unreimbursed restaurant shop. I'd say 99% of these shops are at places I would not normally go to, so no, they aren't converting me to a customer.

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I don't think that clients use mystery shopping as a marketing vehicle per se. However, it definitely is advantageous to them to expose more consumers to their businesses. That free advertising can pay off for them long term if a shopper becomes a loyal patron of that business as well as offers recommendations to others via word-of-mouth.

Also, sometimes clients have shown themselves to be overly zealous in taking advantage of a mystery shopping situation by offering insufficient reiumbursement and pay to cover the basic costs of completing an assignment. This can border on being disrespectful of the effort involved in conducting a shop in a worthwhile manner at times. It would also be easy to see why some could view the inequitable reimbursement as a thinly veiled discount or coupon on the products and services a client offers, yet the client still receives a professional evaluation of their operations.

The reasons for taking on reiumbursement only assignments have been discussed at length on this forum, and they vary widely. In the end, everyone decides for themselves what is of value to them and their individual MS enterprises.

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In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
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I began my sales career in Nov. of 1963 and remained in that profession my entire working life. Had I been in that capacity for the MSC with which Kroger's was a client, my pitch to them would have been that the $9 in groceries for which the shopper was reimbursed would have been a profit + for them, due to most folks spending considerably more on food. A few reasons being the shopper who felt uncomfortable with only 4 items and the ones who decided that since the food was "free," they would over-purchase. In addition, on the scale of food costs, Kroger's, while not being the highest priced, is definitely not near the bottom.

As has been mentioned, this wouldn't greatly move their net, but it also would be an inexpensive manner by which they could attempt to keep the workers "on their toes."

Not just the reimbursement only shops. $14 for a car shop vs. How much does a dealership pay in advertising per customer they get to walk in the door?

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up, up, down, down, left, right,left,right, B,A, start.

I have decided what my next car will be based on a mystery shop. After going to a couple locations, talking to the salesmen, and searching online I am convinced. It wasn't even on my radar before.

I think it is a small portion of a companies marketing budget is earmarked in this way. I doubt it makes a huge difference, but the word of mouth when somebody tries a new restaurant or gets a product demo is great as long as the employees don't mess it up.

I get what you are saying, Michael, but marketing is more than getting a customer in the door. A client's advertising has to make the consumer feel as though making this specific purchase fills a need. Someone without that mindset makes no impact on the bottom line of any business.

However, if the opportunity presents itself in which a mystery shopper can be converted to a motivated customer, that's an entirely different situation. Making that happen for big ticket items would be difficult.

This would be a much more likely scenario for purchases of less expensive items. And it does happen. Speaking for myself, I am very aware of the fact that my buying habits have changed due to my exposure to businesses I had not patronized before I mystery shopped them.

After thousands upon thousand of shops it is hard to say for sure, but I cannot think of even one place that I patronize now because my first visit was through MSing. How odd is that?

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LisaSTL Wrote:
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> After thousands upon thousand of shops it is hard
> to say for sure, but I cannot think of even one
> place that I patronize now because my first visit
> was through MSing. How odd is that?

Very. You are one tough target, gal. You are a marketer's nightmare. LOL!

I opened accounts at a new bank and a new credit union, dumping my old bank and my old credit union, because of what I learned through MSing. But I was not happy with the old credit union (ironically, several months later I MS'd THEM), and I changed banks because my old bank started "feeing" me when they hadn't been before.

I also never would have known the joy of Five Guys fries if not for MSing. And I've learned about smart phones through MSing. So I've discovered things I wouldn't otherwise have known. The companies are benefiting, but so am I.

The thing is, they won't gain our business unless their employees do the right things. So I think their first motivation in having their places shopped is to improve customer service so they CAN get new business.

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

I definitely have some places that I go to more because of MSing and places that I won't go because of MSing! I'm about to change banks, I want a new TV, I know what kind of mattress I will buy next, and I will continue to go to the post office!!

I'm with itsasecret on Five Guys. I just wish they'd let us order something other than a burger. I do adore their fries, though. Oh man, now I'm hungry--

Thinking back on which of my buying habits have changed since I started mystery shopping...

...I now shop at a restaurant wholesaler for big purchases to stock up on groceries, and have switched to a different grocery store for smaller items. I never visit fast food establishments anymore. I changed banks. My shopstitute changed banks. My dogs now go to a different veterinarian. I purchase supplies for my chinchillas at a local feedstore. Shake-n-bake (tanning) has become part of my routine. I have become finicky about what hair products I will use. I wait to see if I can land a holiday ham assignment before planning my menu for the festivities. I upgraded to a smartphone after sitting through a zillion presentations that demonstrated all of their useful features. We order pizza out a lot less often. We rarely dine out at upscale establishments on our own dime. Gifting others with lingerie, clothing, cosmetics, and gift cards has become the norm. Like others, I know exactly what mattress I am going to buy when it's time to ditch this one.

These are just a few examples, and I am sure there are many more. So I'd say that the changes have been pretty significant overall.

There are restaurants that I have had the pleasure of visiting thanks to MSing. My husband no longer thinks that the PAppas franchise is any good because of the fine dining places we have visited.

I'm with you shopgal! I rarely eat out now when I'm not getting paid for it! But, the places I DO go are definitely worth it!

What is now on my wish list - the Bose Soundbar (incredible).

Me too! Their veggie sandwich is pretty good...we frequent often and never did prior to ms'ing!
cvb42jeb Wrote:
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> I'm with itsasecret on Five Guys. I just wish
> they'd let us order something other than a burger.
> I do adore their fries, though. Oh man, now I'm
> hungry--

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