someone please tell me why Apartment shops are WORTH it??
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Think of the lovely apartments you got to tour! Sorry, that's all I could come up with.
I think the ones that are video end up paying more, but I find you can't get the video shops if you don't have previous experience doing non-video apartment shops (I've seen a recent few that pay $75, I believe, but I have no hidden video recorders so I couldn't pick them up).
If you want to springboard into a sales career someday..
Shopping the great state of California!
are popcorn ceilings considered an area of concern on these shops? What about AC built into the wall? painted countertops?
STATUS: One finished...one more to go...
STATUS: One finished...one more to go...
They're good for testing your ability to memorize a lot of tiny details?
BJay M,
They purpose of the shop is to evaluate the leasing consultants ability to sell the apartment. The company that manages or owns the communities are very much aware of the popcorn ceilings, painted countertops and AC built into the wall.
They expect the MS to give them a complete detailed narrative from start to finish of what was said, how did the leasing consultant sell you on the apartment.
Did they just stand there and let you look around? Did they open cupboards, demonstrate the apartment in any way? Did they show amenities, what was said about them? Did they try to close you on the deal or just let you leave without doing so. The more details you offer the better rating you will receive.
Its all about details, you can use a recording device, hide it in your purse or pocket. You can refer to it when filling out the long narratives.
Once the scheduler realizes that you are dependable with a good rating, then they will offer you better paying apartment jobs.
Hope this helps...
They purpose of the shop is to evaluate the leasing consultants ability to sell the apartment. The company that manages or owns the communities are very much aware of the popcorn ceilings, painted countertops and AC built into the wall.
They expect the MS to give them a complete detailed narrative from start to finish of what was said, how did the leasing consultant sell you on the apartment.
Did they just stand there and let you look around? Did they open cupboards, demonstrate the apartment in any way? Did they show amenities, what was said about them? Did they try to close you on the deal or just let you leave without doing so. The more details you offer the better rating you will receive.
Its all about details, you can use a recording device, hide it in your purse or pocket. You can refer to it when filling out the long narratives.
Once the scheduler realizes that you are dependable with a good rating, then they will offer you better paying apartment jobs.
Hope this helps...
I actually think the tour and all your observations are "easy" but the report itself is time consuming.
I drove to a parking lot a few miles away and filled in the report. It took me about an hour...because of the narratives...
I drove to a parking lot a few miles away and filled in the report. It took me about an hour...because of the narratives...
BJayM: Do you refer to the "Fun Apartment Shops?". I guess I would call them "challenging" because you never know what will happen from the time of the initial phone call(s) to the visit to the data input to the editor's e-mails for more details. Some companies are more reasonable than others in their pay and expectations.
I do somewhat have the same sentiment as BJayM but I also just started doing video shops and I absolutely love them compared to regular or audio shops. I do audio record all of my shops as I would never remember all the necessary details.
I am getting ready (I hope) to do my 2nd video shop and I have not yet received feedback on the first one so I hope there are no issues as that would result in losing pay for both video shops. The one I am trying to do now has been a booger. I have been calling since the 23rd and still have not reached the target. I was going to cancel the shop but they changed the target to the person who had been answering the phone the most and extended the deadline to today. They also mentioned a cancellation fee which I told them to not hand me that crap as I had been working the shop diligently and had asked for help numerous times! Wouldn't you now that now someone else is answering the phone!!!
Can anyone make suggestions for questions I can ask to not look like a shopper when the same person answers the phone for the 3rd, 4th & 5th, etc. time?
I am getting ready (I hope) to do my 2nd video shop and I have not yet received feedback on the first one so I hope there are no issues as that would result in losing pay for both video shops. The one I am trying to do now has been a booger. I have been calling since the 23rd and still have not reached the target. I was going to cancel the shop but they changed the target to the person who had been answering the phone the most and extended the deadline to today. They also mentioned a cancellation fee which I told them to not hand me that crap as I had been working the shop diligently and had asked for help numerous times! Wouldn't you now that now someone else is answering the phone!!!
Can anyone make suggestions for questions I can ask to not look like a shopper when the same person answers the phone for the 3rd, 4th & 5th, etc. time?
In terms of a concern to raise to the sales associate, the painted countertops would be. IMO, paint should never be used on a surface that has the potential to come into direct contact with food. The AC built into the wall is also a possible concern, just in terms of accessibility for maintenance. I don't really see popcorn or textured ceilings as a concern. They are generally used for sound deadening as well as decorative accents.
BJayM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> are popcorn ceilings considered an area of concern
> on these shops? What about AC built into the
> wall? painted countertops?
>
> STATUS: One finished...one more to go...
BJayM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> are popcorn ceilings considered an area of concern
> on these shops? What about AC built into the
> wall? painted countertops?
>
> STATUS: One finished...one more to go...
.
Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
"Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." (The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil, 1977)
"Somedays you're the pigeon, somedays you're the statue.” J. Andrew Taylor
"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." Galileo Galilei
Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
"Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." (The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil, 1977)
"Somedays you're the pigeon, somedays you're the statue.” J. Andrew Taylor
"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." Galileo Galilei
I don't mind the shops themselves but the report for the MSC doing most of these is beyond ridiculous. Especially, the last section where they want you to provide information that the client won't see but the MSC will use to prove the accuracy of their shopper if the client questions it. A mystery shop survey shouldn't take over an hour to complete, imho, if the form is well designed to begin with. I personally get to the point that I find myself wanting to hurry and throw sufficient characters into the narratives just to get through them and end up having to walk away for awhile to regain the patience to provide a good report. It's too bad because I do enjoy the shops themselves most of the time.
Apartment shops are worth it because......
Generally speaking the payment is higher then a lot of other shops. For example. I have seen apartment shops going from 25 bucks to 50 in my area. So the appointment takes 40 min and the report takes an hour. So that breaks down to two hours of your time. If the shop is close to your house or on a route you have less gas mileage to pay for. So would you rather drive around and do 3-5 10 dollar shops or 1 apartment shop. Would you rather drive the crappy winter roads to 3 places or 1. Apartment shops are also something different. No cost upfont or need to reimburse. I have also had some of the most terrific free food. Go around Holidays and sometimes you will luck into a nice spread of free food hospitality.
I've also gotten much better on my reports since I am taping them but they are still pretty time consuming and repetitive.
Anyway that's why I still do them.
Generally speaking the payment is higher then a lot of other shops. For example. I have seen apartment shops going from 25 bucks to 50 in my area. So the appointment takes 40 min and the report takes an hour. So that breaks down to two hours of your time. If the shop is close to your house or on a route you have less gas mileage to pay for. So would you rather drive around and do 3-5 10 dollar shops or 1 apartment shop. Would you rather drive the crappy winter roads to 3 places or 1. Apartment shops are also something different. No cost upfont or need to reimburse. I have also had some of the most terrific free food. Go around Holidays and sometimes you will luck into a nice spread of free food hospitality.
I've also gotten much better on my reports since I am taping them but they are still pretty time consuming and repetitive.
Anyway that's why I still do them.
Anyone know how the reports are for Business Observations apartment shops? I'm about to do three of them . . . maybe . . . snowstorm may change things ..... I've never done an apartment shop and I normally don't like to book multiples until I've done one but these are in a route town with a bonus that more than covers the travel costs.
Time to build a bigger bridge.
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