@Rhondabryant wrote:
I’m new (shopping for 2 months) and I’m terrified that if I make a mistake, the companies will drop me. Sometimes there are jobs that I would really enjoy doing, and feel that I would be a great match for the shop, but I don’t apply because I’m fearful of doing something wrong and not being able to work for them again.
I study the guidelines very carefully and take notes in my phone for reminders. I also try to record each shop if it’s possible. 4-6 hour shops just can’t be recorded, though.
Is there a way to foolproof a shop so that nothing is forgotten or overlooked?
I’m still learning but I know that’s not the company’s problem, I know they expect perfection and I want to do everything I can to give them the report to their criteria.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I don't think you have to have that fear, Rhonda. Mistakes happen and it's a part of life. Even mystery shopping companies make mistakes in scheduling, bonuses, etc.
But, I'm like you in that I'm a perfectionist on shops sometimes and if overdone, it can become paralyzing and unhelpful. There might be some healthy amount of fear that motivates you to prepare well and that's good. But, just realize that everyone in every area of life makes mistakes.
I won't speak to avoiding mistakes, because I'm sure others probably have lots of great tips. I would just say that for the 10's of shops that I've made mistakes on, I've always admitted them to the MSC up front. A Closer Look is great, because they even have a "disclosures" part of their reports that allow you to report areas you're unsure of or made errors on. I love that! They'd rather you admit them up front rather than lie and have the client find out and then you may not get paid. I respect them highly for that, because I've had situations where the scheduler or editor for a company more or less wanted me to lie on a report. I did not do that, but I did let them use my report using whatever final edits they made on it. At that point, it's out of my control and I feel I did my part to be honest. If the editor wants to overwrite what I said, then I can't help that. That's been very rare. I think it's only happened 2 or 3 times out of 100's of shops I've done now. I also always keep emails of convos I have with MSC staff to exonerate myself should it ever be needed. If there is something shady going on, I'll take a picture of the email and print it, etc. for records. But, again, that's been VERY rare, thankfully.
I've made tons of small mistakes and always admitted them in the actual report (or, if not possible, to the scheduler via email) and they've always been accepted, except for one case.
I did a restaurant shop once where they wanted an itemized receipt and the server gave me a signature one and I forgot to ask for the itemized. That shop got rejected. But others that got accepted WITH a mistake included:
-forgetting to observe if a manager was on duty
-estimating a timing, because I forgot to press my stopwatch (that was back when I didn't have a hidden audio recorder)
-forgetting to observe how a server handled delivering parts of the meal (one aspect in particular)
-forgetting to observe if music was playing in the background
-forgetting what the apartment agent said in response to a question!!! (yes, I was so nervous asking a neighborhood crime question that I literally did not remember what she said to me afterwards)
-forgetting if a crew member repeated my order or not
...and there are lots more. Most happened when I was a newbie and didn't have an audio recorder. And, it happened when I was rushing to do shops and not preparing for them very well. Once I put in the work to study for them and even practice some elements in fake scenarios, then I started to get perfect shops. A hidden audio recorder I bought for about $35 from Best Buy was really a life saver! So much that I didn't have to recall as much. But one thing to keep in mind is that recorders can malfunction sometimes or have high background noise that makes the audio hard to hear. That's rare, but it does happen occasionally. So, it's best to rely on BOTH the recorder and notes/memory.
All those mistakes I admitted up front and the reports were never rejected except for that one with the itemized receipt mistake. MSCs are not as draconian as one might fearfully believe.
Many of them and their clients are very understanding. Preparation, preparation, preparation makes the biggest difference.
I think you'll do fine with your careful attitude! Good luck!!!