We at Melinda Brody and Company are conducting a poll for an upcoming seminar at the MSPA conference and would welcome and appreciate your feedback ANY AND ALL!! thanks so much

*1 Where are you finding the best/great shoppers? (for all types shops)
*2 What are the best resources you have found for shoppers to be trained,... please
recommend books, sites, etc.........
*3 How has any social media sites helped and which ones?
*4 How are you obtaining shopper loyalty

I fail to understand why you are asking that here. We aren't finding shoppers--we are shoppers. Training is certainly a matter of opinion. We do have opinions on shopper loyalty! Pay in a timely manner and act and sound like you are functionally literate.

I'll second the above on paying in timely manner. I've been shopping for a few years now and find that the late payers are not worth the trouble...especially when I am owed reimbursements. We are shoppers trying to make what little bit of money there is to be made, not banks. I am sure most of us don't have money to give to companies to use for a few months, interest free.

Pay me and I'll answer your questions, you have a nerve trying to take your survey on our forum. This is a shoppers forum, wrong all wrong.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2010 02:00AM by Irene_L.A..

Wow! If this is the mentality presenting to the MSPA, I'm starting to understand why they can't come up with an effective training program....

There's such emphasis on finding great/educated/trained shoppers, but no one wants to discus the 500 pound gorilla in the corner (otherwise known at the $0.95 shop).

I can say that Melinda Brody and Company pays on time, as promised, eveytime. And, their video shop pay sets the industry standard. As for why Vikki posed the question here, I haven't a clue, but I do understand that she is new to the company.

On edit: sorry, Vikki, I was wrong about you being new to the company. I didn't say that you were new to the industry tho. I know that you are not.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2010 01:47PM by walesmaven.

Vikki apparently did not read anything on the forum before posting. She appears to believe this is a MSP forum. Surveying the shoppers here would not give answers to the survey she has posted above.

[Taken from the MSPA conference program found online]

"Thursday, September 23
2pm – 3pm Concurrent Session II
Moderator: Melinda Brody, Melinda Brody & Company, Inc.
Recruit/Retain: ROI…Finding and Keeping Great Shoppers

Panelists: Jodi Bray, Instant-Replays, Inc.; Kimberly Nasief-Westergren, Measure Consumer Perspectives. This session will address the various ways to successfully recruit great shoppers using social media. It will also cover how to attract the right shoppers and where to find them – including some unexpected places!

Methods of building skill levels and ways of retaining and building the loyalty of the best shoppers also will be discussed."

[end clipping]

ouch! I give all conferences equal bashing here. Nothing personal....

I'm just saying that it has to be a bit embarrassing for Melinda to be giving a seminar on this in 2 weeks while having her new staff scrapping for info on a public shopper forum.

I actually did want some shopper feedback as I have found shoppers in the field can really be of help.
Sorry for offending anyone on this site, I was just looking for some feedback, but apparently from your post's I have angered many of you. I posted this on Linkten and not real sure how this got here. I am not new staff to Melinda and have been professionaly video shopping for many years with hundreds of quality shops under my belt. Melinda is well prepared for her seminar and is a professional speaker by trade, this was just a survey asking for some opinions, I had no idea there would be so many mean spirited people/ shoppers out there. I thought we were all trying to offer better service and help do quality shops making the shopping industry a better place to work. I have found important and valuable information from shoppers response. I am a shopper full time as well, but I will sure be careful before posting a question on here in the future as to not offend any of you.

Mystery Shopping Discussion
Talk to other mystery shoppers: Ask questions, learn about mystery shopping and have fun!


Mystery Shopping Company Discussion
Discuss the good and bad of mystery shopping companies. Which ones treat you well? Which ones have burned you? Give your feedback here.

*****Thought my questions fell under these questions of giving feedback...

Perhaps items #2 and #3 are appropriately answered by shoppers.

For #2, my absolute best training has been from interactions with other shoppers in a forum and PM environment.

For #3, I don't twitter, tweet, facebook or any of the other time wasters. I can come to a forum and find plenty of information. I can go to the company websites and see what work is available. I can go through my email. I view the business portion of my business as not a 'social networking' event. I come to a forum to visit and share with my shopper peers.

I'm with Flash: no twitter, no facebook, etc. I go to company web sites wherever I can find them if, and only if, they contain shop announcements. The forums are the place to learn. Next best are workshops with real shoppers and some schedulers to share ideas. DVDs? Nope.

I also don't social network for work. Can't be bothered with twitter and I only use Facebook for my own social purposes. It would not occur to me to use such a site for work since it would so easily compromise my anonymity.

The best place to learn about the work we do is to go out there and do the work, build up experience. I find that forums such as this one are also very helpful. There are job postings and experienced shoppers here who are willing to share some of their hard-earned knowledge. Books, DVDs, etc. are marketing tools and I would not find them helpful.

From a shopper's perspective, if MSCs are looking for shopper loyalty, they need to pay on time, each and every time. That's the main one! Other than that, honesty and transparency in shop instructions, fair wages, open channels of communication whether that be by phone or email, editors who are fair and don't act like they're editing the next great American novel, etc...

As to where to find us amazing shoppers...the MSCs need to let us know when they have jobs available. The best way to do that is either to email their shopper base (keeping in mind geographical logistics ~ I don't care to hear about the jobs available in Alberta when I live in Quebec) or to advertise job opening on forums such as this one. We're a crafty independent bunch and we're used to having to troll for work.

Does that help at all? We're not a bunch of meanies but we are wary when we feel people are trying to get something out of us for nothing.

MtlShopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does that help at all? We're not a bunch of
> meanies but we are wary when we feel people are
> trying to get something out of us for nothing.

And we give freely all the time to newbie shoppers who are looking to not make idiots of themselves when they start working. Thus the 'wolf in sheep's clothing' of companies emailing unpaid surveys or requests on forums for information do not set well. You guys at the companies proclaim yourselves to be the professionals in this business, so act professionally. If you want opinions, read shopper posts! It really isn't all that difficult to find what makes shoppers love or hate companies--it shows up in threads all over the forum!

To clarify my point, Vicki; I'm not offended at all that you posted. I welcome any and all dialog with MS providers.

I was, however, shocked at the initial posting because it was clearly not intended for the audience it reached. On one hand you say that you are looking for shopper feedback, but then you claim to have no idea how the post even got here. Which is it?

I hold MSC representatives to a higher standard for grammar and content. You need to set the bar when your industry puts demands of perfection on shoppers, and I feel that your posting, and responses, don't necessarily live up to that. It's my understanding that Melinda Brody and Company is a good MSC to work for and I was not questioning that. Perhaps grammar is not a paramount concern in the video shopping world.

I do feel offended that time is being dedicated to hosting a seminar on recruiting "great shoppers" via social media at the MSPA convention, however. I know that Vicki is not responsible for the content of the seminar and perhaps my anger is displaced a bit regarding that. I just gives me the impression that MSPA members feel their lack of quality shoppers is somehow related to a lack of exposure, rather than dismal pay and unreasonable demands placed on shoppers.

As for my opinion on gaining shopper loyalty; Don't ask your shoppers for ideas on how to recruit their competition. Loyalty is earned through mutual respect and financial relationships that are beneficial to both parties.

I don't rely on social media to find shops or companies at all. IMHO, the best way to recruit good new shoppers is by the MSCs promoting loyalty! We're loyal to the ones that treat us well. Communication, clear instructions, paying on time, etc. Shoppers who take their job seriously will often find their way to a place like this, and as you can see, we DO talk to each other! Word of mouth is one of the best tools, but you have to give us positive things to talk about! There are plenty of posts here about good MSCs, and many of us have been turned onto new companies by reading positive posts from others.

Thank you all for your valuable information.

I guess I'll add (for what it's worth), I have only Facebook (I control it) and it is limited to family and close friends. My family is spread out, so Facebook gives me an opportunity to catch up. Work related stuff, don't bother me. You can find us or put a survey on your site, and let your registered shoppers take it....I have not worked for your company, so, have no gripe, but maybe nosey would be the word.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2010 04:55PM by Irene_L.A..

One of the schedulers did a facebook name search and came up with a similar name. She read through his postings, sent him an email. The guy emailed her back with a flippant attitude and said he was not who she was looking for.

The scheduler was offended and sent an email (to the email address on file with the MS company) and asked about the facebook page, the flippant email, etc.

I was offended that she searched for me on facebook! It was like she was poking around, trying to learn more about me, behind my back. I don't have an active facebook account. My MS is secret. Confidential. There's no way I'd blab about it on a public forum with my identity known!

Same scheduler has not offered a phone number, or a personal email address. The only way to reach said scheduler is through the "work" email that is so vague, it doesn't tell me her last name. We have never spoken on the phone. My shops are always rated 10. I do fewer than 10 shops a year for her, I think.

So what business does she have searching me out on facebook??

Facebook (unless you control it) becomes everyone's busines. I totally don't believe we intend it to be a way for strangers to seek you out, however, there's no stopping this. You can set you setting's to allow only those you accept and no others, then it's nice to have. I have reconnected with a couple old friends, seen photo's of family newborns living in another state, connect daily with my daughter, etc. This serves a purpose, but for a random Co. to seek me out for their use, no thanks...go through the proper resources, and there are many. I have gotten job offers from an MSC saying they were given my name through MSPA and I always look through that offer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2010 04:57PM by Irene_L.A..

That's really sneaky and ... just wrong... IMO. Schedulers have no business looking us up on Facebook. Just one more reason why I'm glad so many others have the same name as I do. Between that and my privacy settings being maxed out, good luck to those trying to find me!

It's also another reason why I won't "like" an MSC on Facebook. What's the point? Gives potential shop subjects a chance to see what I look like, if they're zealous and know which MSC is shopping them.

I see many downfalls to using Facebook and not many advantages. Am I missing something?