Hi All,

I am new to working as a scheduler for MarketStat and I was wondering what type of perks, bonuses, etc attract you to certain shops?

For example which of the following would you most prefer?

Decent pay, but get paid quickly? (one - two weeks)
Slower pay, but more pay?
Easy Shops without a lot of complications like a target shop?
Good/fast communication from schedulers?
Something else?

What makes your job as a shopper easier, better or more enjoyable?

Thanks!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2017 03:35PM by eseaton001.

I like all those things!!!! Along with more pay (always) I would like to see reports without a lot of redundant questions. I hate having a multiple choice question and then, regardless of the answer, having to spell it out in narrative form. i.e. What benefits did the salesperson tell you about the product?(and then a list to check off) What did salesperson say about why you should buy from this store? (and then a box to write a narrative in) If we have to write a narrative, I don't think we need the checklist.and vice-versa. Or even worse a whole list of questions about whether this or that happened that cover the whole visit and then you have to write a narrative about your visit from the second you walk in the door until the second you leave. This would just basically restate the answers to the questions but in a paragraph.
Good fast communication would be great. When I have a question or problem I usually need a quick answer. I'm sure others have the same problem

Welcome to the forum! While there is no listed rule about this, most forum members like to request that people who are affiliated with an MSC to put their title and company in their signature line. You can do that by clicking on the down arrow next to your name up top, clicking on profile, then in the next window click on edit signature on the left.

For me, I am interested in only 3 things. How much I am being paid, how long the shop will take me, and how much I will enjoy performing the shop. I am odd in that I just don't do shops I don't like unless it's as a favor to one of the 3 or 4 companies that I primarily work for. So for a shop I don't like (assisted living) it doesn't matter how much it pays. I'm not gonna do it. I do not care about payment terms, as long as the company actually pays when they say they will.

Both good and fast communications from schedulers is not something that attracts me to a shop, but it is something that attracts me to a company. There is nothing more annoying than asking a scheduler a question and either get no reply or get the answer to a question I did not ask, or only 1 of the 2 questions I asked, etc.

For your specific company, I have never worked for you, but I would. You have a lot of shops in an airport I frequent as my two closest friends work there. There have been several times I would have done shops there, but the flat rate didn't seem to be enough to cover the purchases I would want to make. I will say though that the times I've seen video apartment shops on your board (I don't think there are any there right now?) the pay has been very fair and I would definitely do some were in a place I was.

Decent pay - I rarely look at a shop under $15.00 and I'm okay with waiting for payment
Let me view the guidelines before I assign
Honesty about the length and ease of a report (and without massive redundancy)
If there is a target let me ask for the target (or let me ask after 2-3 attempts)
Respond to me before the shop date if I have a question
Don't put "HUGE BONUS" in an email unless it's really huge. I don't consider $5.00 huge
Please please don't have me use an exact phrase - let me paraphrase based on the situation

Just curious, do you have jobs in the Atlanta area?

Fair pay for the amount of work involved. Also, I want to see the guidelines before I commit. I want to judge how long a report will take to complete. When the scheduler says it's "easy," it never is.

Do you have jobs in the St.Paul-Minenapolis Minnesota area?

Money. Slow, fast - doesn't matter. I would do almost any shop if the pay is worth it but pass on many because it isn't. Phone calls with full narrative and recording, $1.00? Cell phone inquiry, $7? No thanks.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2017 12:54AM by sestrahelena.

Fair pay for the amount of work involved. Just because I live 5 miles from the shop does not make it convenient. There are rivers, mountains and places you just do not want to drive thru. Payment terms are unimportant as long as I am paid.

Ability to see the guidelines and the actual survey before committing to the assignment. Fees that respect both my time and my effort. (Mileage is only very loosely related to driving time!) Guidelines that are succinct, accurate and do not treat the shopper like a child who is likely to lie. Payment on time, as advertised, regardless of the actual time frame. Schedulers who "get" the value of using route shoppers will get my attention first and foremost! When I say that I need all 6 of your shops to make doing them worth my while, I mean it and can be counted on to perform. Respond by assigning fewer than 6 without contacting me to see if I can agree to that and you will not see me again soon!

I am much like griff, albeit probably not as skilled. I don't care how long the pay takes, but don't make me have to chase it. If I have to send even one email asking about it, I will probably not work for that company ever again. Of course I want the most money I can get, but I am okay with reasonable and fair shop fees. I am okay with more complicated shops but I may not attempt them until I think i have a reasonable chance of success. I am just starting apartment shops so I wouldn't try a targeted shop yet, for example.
It would be nice if schedulers would actually answer the questions. If I go to the trouble of emailing a scheduler, I really want the answer. Rest assured I have looked for it everywhere else. Many times I just get ignored.

That's about it. Thanks for asking!

I want in this order:
1. quick pay for reimbursement jobs
2. Gas increase for jobs over 20 miles one way
3. Bonus for jobs you need done yesterday, with you offering, no hassel.
4. Fair Editors that have actually read the instructions.

Thank you.

@walesmaven wrote:

Schedulers who "get" the value of using route shoppers will get my attention first and foremost! When I say that I need all 6 of your shops to make doing them worth my while, I mean it and can be counted on to perform. Respond by assigning fewer than 6 without contacting me to see if I can agree to that and you will not see me again soon!

Absolutely! There are companies who do not value route shoppers at all, there are companies that do value them but not enough, and then there are companies that treat route shoppers very well. The middle category is my least favorite, btw. I can deal with a company that does not value route shoppers. I will take only a few shops at the best fees from those companies but the shops will be few and far between. And I know what I'm up against so my expectations are low. Companies that value route shoppers highly make up 99% of my work and they are companies that I never have to negotiate pay with as I know it will be fair. The middle category, uggg. I once asked a company that does both video and written shop if they had any video for a route. The scheduler got all excited because I was driving right past a half a day's worth of $15 shops she wanted to get scheduled.

I want easy shops with decent pay, lol. Not worried about when I get paid, as long as I get paid when promised.

I also like a quick response when I ask for shops, whether it be a yes, no, or a maybe. I don't plan my routes far in advance. Schedulers and mscs that take a long time to respond tend to drop off my radar.

Welcome!

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on a few issues.

So far, I have encountered and greatly appreciate kindness, clear communications, and opportunities to view shop guidelines and report forms before selecting an assignment. I appreciate feedback for my work. I hope that these conditions are constant throughout the industry.

Fees and bonuses are an enigma. Sometimes, they jibe with the nature of the work and time spent performing necessary tasks. At other times, they are stubbornly insufficient. Occasionally, they are generous and lavish!

I acknowledge that we are unique and experience this large industry in unique ways. Thus, I make no demands. I merely wonder about a few things...

**edited**

For tax purposes, some are professionals and some are hobbyists. Our professionalism will speak for itself, regardless of how the IRS treats our efforts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2017 06:50PM by Shop-et-al.

Good/fast communication from schedulers

eseaton,
You are getting replies from PROFESSIONAL shoppers who really are telling you what they expect from you and your organization: professionalism and respect.

sassymmmm,

Thanks so much for the feedback. I am loving these responses and can't wait to see how we can improve even more.

bgriffin,

Thanks for the etiquette tip and great insights into how you pick shops! I agree, enjoying the shop can be so much fun and is very important!

Iamme,

Great tip on the bonus thing! $5.00 isn't a huge one. thanks!

@Spotnnotfarm wrote:

Just curious, do you have jobs in the Atlanta area?

Unfortunately, right now we don't, but it's a market we would love to tap into! I wanna work on making MarketStat an awesome company to shop FOR and then expand as we can.

@walesmaven wrote:

Ability to see the guidelines and the actual survey before committing to the assignment. Fees that respect both my time and my effort. (Mileage is only very loosely related to driving time!) Guidelines that are succinct, accurate and do not treat the shopper like a child who is likely to lie. Payment on time, as advertised, regardless of the actual time frame. Schedulers who "get" the value of using route shoppers will get my attention first and foremost! When I say that I need all 6 of your shops to make doing them worth my while, I mean it and can be counted on to perform. Respond by assigning fewer than 6 without contacting me to see if I can agree to that and you will not see me again soon!

Really appreciate hearing about "routes." I have only encountered them a couple of times so far, and will definitely take that into consideration going forward.

* I like to get paid fast, especially for shops that require a reimbursement.
* Be upfront. If your shop is a loser and you can't fix it, pay more. A lot more.
* Remember those who do favors for you. If ShopperA takes those hard-to-fill shops, let her have first crack at your better ones.
* Post your shops as far out as possible so that we can make routes. I might not be able to drive to [x] for $20, but could for [x] [y] and [z] at $20.
* If you find that you have to bonus a particular location every month, there's a reason. Smarter to start it at $50 than to bonus it at the end of every month for $100. Posting it early lets me build a route around it.

@ eseaton001 do you have jobs in Arkansas and Texas. Thanks

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2017 02:43AM by Isaiah4031a.

Something that I have learned recently - and something I now seek that goes beyond mere money - if there is a problem with my shop, please don't keep me in the dark. Give me an idea of what the problems behind the scenes are and what the chance of my shop being accepted are and some very rough ballpark estimate of when I might know if my shop has been accepted or not. I won't mention the MSC that taught me this but it is something I am going to retain going forward. And higher bonuses would be great, too!

I have some thoughts and they revolve around signing up for shops. Sometimes when you see a shop the description is very brief, and you know there is more to it, but you need to sign up for the shop to view the entire report. Another HUGE pet peeve of mine, are shopper guidelines that are for a lot of different shops and tell you that you must read something ELSE in order to know what you are assigned. The instructions in the second document are to succeed those in the first. So if you read something in the guidelines, but your shop has different requirements, then that is what you need to do. The cross-referencing is very annoying and takes a lot of time, which no one gets paid for. It would be FANTASTIC if before you sign up for a shop, you get to see the report. That way you can quickly understand how much time it will take, whether it is worth it to you, and exactly what you need to do. When I see a PDF of guidelines that are general across a multitude of shops I get anxious. This is because shoppers aren't paid if they don't follow the report. It seems that if companies put some more money up front on the guidelines so they were specific to that particular shop, that would be good. I think of one company that had a client that had about 20 departments in their store. Each department had different rules and requests. PLUS, some were return, some were inquiry only, and some were purchase only. But they only had one document for the guidelines even though it was 20 x 3 different shops. So frustrating. If shoppers are going to dedicate their time and commit to a shop, the company should IMO, ethically, prepare proper instructions and guidelines so the shopper can make the best informed decision about accepting the shop. Some of us have full time jobs and are doing this to supplement and don't have time to mess around unnecessarily.

When there are 9 assignments available and I will complete them all, including the 100+ miles away or more travel ones but I need them all assigned to me, as soon as possible so I can create a route. Instead, 1 is assigned to me, or worse yet none are assigned to me and then the company wants me to do the travel assignments, at the last minute, for the same pay, because they couldn't find someone to do them after all, is something that I would like to see changed. Otherwise, I take assignments that are obviously reasonable and leave the others to the inexperienced shoppers.

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

@ eseaton001 do you have jobs in Arkansas and Texas. Thanks

Nothing in Arkansas, but we do shops in Houston and Dallas every month! Mostly airport shops, but some apartment shops as well. Follow this link if you want to take a look! [marketstatreporting.com]

Thanks,

@OP: Please be patient with us and ignore our grasping and snobbery. We tend to make much of ourselves and our perceived plights when we are jockeying for position, or in this case when we are attempting to get specific assignments.

Please remember that you do not exist to pander to ICs. You exist to fill assignments for clients. We exist to fill available assignments-- not to fill some self-designated number or types of assignments. There is nothing in the world that mandates this industry as a career. The numbers and types of persons who work in this industry and simultaneously in other fields amply demonstrates that is is not necessary to treat this work as a sole means of livelihood. Using this information, how shall job fees and bonuses be determined? What are the salient features of fee and bonus, regardless of any other factor?

I appreciate that you want to appeal to shoppers for the purpose of filling assignments. I appreciate that some shoppers consider this industry as their career. Power to them-- to the extent that they can remember that people who work in this field sporadically and/or part time are not necessarily inexperienced, inferior, unprofessional, or any of the other pejorative terms that have been bandied about directly and as aspersions in this forum.

There are many shoppers, and this large industry is best when a broad cross-section of humanity participates in it. How can you please some of us without alienating others of us? How can some of us participate when others have a stranglehold on most/all assignments of certain types or in certain areas?

I wish you the best of luck in this monumental task that you have undertaken. You efforts are raising philosophical and practical questions for your job, your company, and this large industry. Thank you for doing what you are doing, which considers MSCs, clients, and shoppers.

I received a dozen beautiful B-day cards from my companies, so, thank you, you know who you are, and it's nice to be remembered.