Keeping track of shops

How do you all keep track of your upcoming shops? Currently I'm printing them all off and putting them in date order in a pile but I'm wondering if there is a more effective process that you use?

With all of the different companies and shops out there it's hard to keep track of them all!

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Head on over to the New Mystery Shoppers area. There you will find worksheets developed by other shoppers, for free. You will also find a lot of good info if you are somewhat new to MS and/or have not yet signed up with many MSCs.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
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My method is definitely overkill.

I have a mystery shopping spreadsheet including a page set up like a calendar. Brief descriptions such XYZ Bank, the location and the MSC go there. It is easy to see at a glance what is upcoming for the entire month and at the end of the day I pop my mileage into a field that keeps a running total for the month.

I also put more detailed information in my Outlook calendar. There is the exact address, the name of any targets, my alias information if needed and any other shop details I want to access without pulling up the entire guidelines. My Outlook calendar syncs with my phone and iPad. While out I have all the information at my fingertips. Exact times can be adjusted and notes can be added about any details I may not remember later on.

So yes, I am entering data twice. Two seems to be a magic number for me meaning when I've repeated the process the second time it becomes unlikely I will forget. My printing is minimal. In fact, I have one ongoing project which is all I print for and that is only because a hard copy of my data has to be emailed to the client.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

I'm about a step removed from "Little House on the Prairie", I just plain write down the shops I have to do, yes in cursive, on sheets of paper from my yellow legal pads. I have listed the due date, MS company, shop location and address and the fee off in the far corner. I then pin them to the corkboard on the wall next to my computer desk. My finished shop reports and receipts are fastened together with paper clips or clothespins until they go into my filing cabinet.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

I use one of the spreadsheets from the new shopper area and it works great... It tracks shops by month, fees, payment dates, and lots of other details. I tried to keep a calendar too, but that lasted a week. I highlight my upcoming shops as blue, completed as yellow, and paid as white / no color.

I use a calendar next to my computer like a spreadsheet. Company, shop, on the date I shop. Mark paid when I receive payment. This for scheduling only. I also keep a ledger with company, date of shop, and payment.

@Jk1nole wrote:

I use one of the spreadsheets from the new shopper area and it works great... It tracks shops by month, fees, payment dates, and lots of other details. I tried to keep a calendar too, but that lasted a week. I highlight my upcoming shops as blue, completed as yellow, and paid as white / no color.

This is the same method that I developed and have been using for 3 years. The only difference is that I have two more sheets. One sheet is sorted by MSC and the other sheet is sorted by Month. ONLY when a shop is completed, it is cut from the "open" shops and pasted to the MSC sheet and also pasted to the monthly shops. That way I have a total that I have completed for each MSC and a total I have completed (paid) by month. My main sheet shows all open sheets. This allows me to also follow up on shops that I have not received payment for.

When you learn, teach, when you get, give. Maya Angelou

A spreadsheet works for me. One sheet set up like a calendar with shops I need to do, or have applied for. A second sheet where I cut and paste completed shops from the first sheet. Here, I track payments, income and mileage. A third sheet is handy for tracking expenses.

@shaynes5 wrote:

How do you all keep track of your upcoming shops? Currently I'm printing them all off and putting them in date order in a pile but I'm wondering if there is a more effective process that you use?

With all of the different companies and shops out there it's hard to keep track of them all!

Hi shaynes5

If you have a smartphone then that becomes your best friend. Most of these devices, if not all, have a calendar app and if you use that app to put in your schedule then that would be it.

I use an Apple iPhone 6s Plus. It has a large screen, it can hold all my shop instructions in PDF format, and it has a darn good camera.

The problem with spreadsheets is that unless you take it with you on a laptop, it is hard to use. So it serves the purpose of documenting your work, but it is an at home work, and not on the run or at the site work. For that a smartphone or a tablet is essential.

Let me know if you need help developing a spreadsheet application. I am currently developing a nifty spreadsheet that will be useful, just give me some time and I'll share it when it's done and ready.

That would be great! I have an iPad and I would love to take it with and have the spreadsheet with me. I think the iPad can open my spreadsheets now though...not sure I'll have to look.

shayne, I have been using Office 365 for years. It is what syncs my calendar from laptop to iPhone and iPad. It includes OneDrive so everything can be accessed from any of my devices including photos, Word documents and spreadsheets. Everything is saved to the cloud so they can also be accessed from any computer. If you have not, check out the spreadsheets in the New Mystery Shopper section. They are free and were developed by long time shoppers.

The cloud is a wonderful thing. You definitely can have access to spreadsheets and other documents on the go with OneDrive.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

The cloud is a wonderful thing. You definitely can have access to spreadsheets and other documents on the go with OneDrive.

You are right, but if a spreadsheet is large, with multiple columns and rows, and worksheets and the ones MSers develop will be of that kind do you really want to look at it and get information out of it on a smaller than ideal screen.

I hope you have eagle eyes to do such a task.

Everything in the World can be done in multiple different ways. But there is ONE correct way and many other semi-correct ways. I tend to like that SINGULAR correct way.

@shaynes5 wrote:

That would be great! I have an iPad and I would love to take it with and have the spreadsheet with me. I think the iPad can open my spreadsheets now though...not sure I'll have to look.

Not that I am touting Microsoft products, but they tend to be the standard these days, and EXPENSIVE, to boot there is an Excel version for the iOS devices.

"You are right, but if a spreadsheet is large, with multiple columns and rows, and worksheets and the ones MSers develop will be of that kind do you really want to look at it and get information out of it on a smaller than ideal screen."

You are joking, right? How many shopper's have shared their spreadsheets with you?

"But there is ONE correct way and many other semi-correct ways. I tend to like that SINGULAR correct way."

That is just too wrong and too absurd.

The smell of arrogance and your condescending attitude in the forum is very off-putting, Wassim. I have been a mystery shopper for over 16 years and you are trying to tell me that I am "semi-correct" in my methodology? And Lisa has been a shopper for about a decade I believe, though she is a much more serious shopper than I am and really does consider it a business, whereas it's more of just a sideline business for me as I have other means of income as well. That being said, I have done at least 8,000 shops since becoming a shopper, maybe more, but I would have to go through my records to get an exact count.

Let me give you a piece of advice: being patronizing and condescending to long-time forum members with years and years of experience is beyond rude.

Edited to add: I was "alluding" to the fact that you should stop said behavior while you are NOT ahead. You will not win any hero citations with your attitude.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2017 08:16PM by JASFLALMT.

@Wassim wrote:

Everything in the World can be done in multiple different ways. But there is ONE correct way and many other semi-correct ways. I tend to like that SINGULAR correct way.

It is amazing to me that you think there is only one correct way of doing things in this world. I am flabbergasted that you wrote that, and even more astounded that you actually believe that.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

The smell of arrogance and your condescending attitude in the forum is very off-putting, Wassim. I have been a mystery shopper for over 16 years and you are trying to tell me that I am "semi-correct" in my methodology? And Lisa has been a shopper for about a decade I believe, though she is a much more serious shopper than I am and really does consider it a business, whereas it's more of just a sideline business for me as I have other means of income as well. That being said, I have done at least 8,000 shops since becoming a shopper, maybe more, but I would have to go through my records to get an exact count.

Let me give you a piece of advice: being patronizing and condescending to long-time forum members with years and years of experience is beyond rude.

Edited to add: I was "alluding" to the fact that you should stop said behavior while you are NOT ahead. You will not win any hero citations with your attitude.

is this guy for real? maybe hs kid on summer vacation. other end of spectrum is old guy not willing to learn new & more efficient ways of doing things. still "smell of arrogance and your condescending attitude" is good description.

There is more than one way of achieving a desired goal and diversity is the name of the game here on planet earth. Lest you tell me I'm doing everything wrong too, I've been a shopper for over 24 YEARS at this point and RESPECT each shopper's right to their own methodology that works for them.

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

I found the assertion ironic. On not one, but three different jobs I was trained on what was considered to be the right way to do the job. In every case I organized and streamlined the procedures so drastically it was taking me half the time it had taken my predecessors to do the same work.

I made a slreadsheet with 12 tabs, its named mystery shopping xxxx(year). Each tab has date, name of shop, shop fee, reimbursement, roind trip miles , msp, paid(y/n). Each tab also has a total taxable fees and total reimbursemnt and total mileage spots. I also set up a cover sheet that totals up total taxable shop fees , total reimbursemenrs and miles.

I fill each line and then sort by date walla...
Oh i do this on google sheets so it syncs to everywhere when a change is made anywhere.

Each year i just open the master and save it with that year and im glod to go.

If anyone wants it let me know, id have ro figure out how to send it and take my info out of it.

@indianyooper wrote:

I made a slreadsheet with 12 tabs, its named mystery shopping xxxx(year). Each tab has date, name of shop, shop fee, reimbursement, roind trip miles , msp, paid(y/n). Each tab also has a total taxable fees and total reimbursemnt and total mileage spots. I also set up a cover sheet that totals up total taxable shop fees , total reimbursemenrs and miles.

I fill each line and then sort by date walla...
Oh i do this on google sheets so it syncs to everywhere when a change is made anywhere.

Each year i just open the master and save it with that year and im glod to go.

If anyone wants it let me know, id have ro figure out how to send it and take my info out of it.

hi and would love to have it, thanks

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