Hello again,

So a few questions:

(1) I turned in my first report on Monday this past week for a bank shop I did on Sunday last week. I had to wait for the day after I did the shop for the bank's follow-up call, and once I got that I completed the shop and submitted the report within 2 hours. How long is reasonable to wait to hear back from the editor/reviewed about any questions about my paperwork? I don't want to be a pest, but I am new at this and want to learn. If that report wasn't what it needs to be, I want to make sure to do it correctly next time.

(2) I signed up for a phone call shop (I think?) and it says "do not shop before Dec 3" but the shop is due December 4. I guess I was thinking it could be done any time between now and Dec 4, but I may have misunderstood. This seems a bit of a long way out. I have emailed the scheduler twice with no response asking to double check the date, and did she really want me to wait that long. Is that the norm?

(3) How do you guys feel about giving a negative report? I did a retail shop this week, and by any measure they were dreadful. There was one employee who was very, very good, but overall, the location was not good. Do we get negative "points" or what have you for turning in honest, factual but negative reports?

(4) On IC Pro, is there a reason to or not to allow IC pro to do automatic invoices?

(5) . Is there one easy place to track pay? For the moment, I created a Google calendar called "shopping". I gave it its own color, and put my shops on it with the comment (submitted) when I'm done, and (sched) when they are shops I am to do. This seems to be working, but I'd love to hear how you guru's track them!


Thank you!!!

First, welcome to the forum. A bit of advice you didn't ask for: stop apologizing for your questions. And please give your subject lines a subject that represents your post. It will make it easier to get answers. Many posters don't bother to read threads with "newbie question" and things like that. It might be easier to break a long post with a lot of unrelated questions into multiple posts, because some people may know one or two answers but not all. Also, a shorter post encourages people to read it. Having said that ...... my post is long so I can address all the questions .... LOL ...

1) It depends on the MSC. Some take a long time to edit and others do not. I would not worry or contact the company to ask for at least two weeks. Although some forum members say they get frequent questions on reports, it's been my experience that I rarely hear back from the editors with questions.

2) "do not shop before Dec 3" but the shop is due December 4 means you can shop December 3 or December 4 and the report is due December 4.. Sometimes companies book a long way out. In fact, those are my favorites. I love to book in advance.

3) I have written a lot of negative reports, and they are more difficult to write than positive reports because you have to explain everything more. Your report is actually a performance review for the employee and its management. Many clients use mystery shops to determine bonuses, raises, and even promotions, so getting a good mystery shop report is very important to the facility manager and to the employees involved. Your report means they may not get a raise or a bonus, so of course they are going to ask detailed questions, and, if enough detail is not provided, they may well argue with the information provided. Your objective is to provide so much detail that it's clear that you saw what you saw and heard what you heard. You need to provide a lot more detail when writing a bad report. Describe the employees, what they said, what they did, where they stood, and, if you overhead any portion of their social conversation, describe it. Lots of detail. You are being paid for your observations, so these are not your opinions or impressions, they are what you saw and heard. The managers and store employees will hear what you write about them. Be honest about shortcomings, but give them credit for anything they did right, no matter how small it might seem. I've had some really bad situations during shops, but I've never done a shop that was ALL bad. Point out the good, too. Try to include something they did right in with what they did wrong. Like: Although she did not greet me and offer the special of the day, Susie smiled and made eye contact. Or: Although the cashier and bagger carried on a personal conversation about their plans for the weekend while ringing up and bagging my order, both smiled, made eye contact, and thanked me warmly, inviting me to return.

4) Don't know

5) An Excel spreadsheet works great. There's one you can download in the New Mystery shopper section.

Yup! Everything roflwofl said. You seem like a very proactive and thorough person, I am sure you will do well with this gig. Welcome to the forum!

I can't answer all your questions, but I'll answer what I can.

First off, never hesitate to ask questions. Lots of people read the forum and never participate. You might ask something they'll be glad to learn, so your questions may benefit more than just you.

Length of time to edit reports varies from MSC to MSC. So, be patient. Keep on top of your e-mail just in case they DO ask follow up questions.

If the guidelines say "don't shop before Dec. 3", don't shop before Dec 3. You did right to e-mail the scheduler. If you don't hear back, send a polite followup.

Submit honest reports. Negative or positive, they want the TRUTH. They want to know what's wrong, so they can FIX it. If your report isn't honest, they won't know what's wrong.

I have no idea what IC Pro is.

And for (5), LOL, I'm old school. I have a "desk planner", you know, one of those books with a page for each month? When I do a shop, I make a note of the payment due date in my planner. Just a short note, like "$75 due from ACL for shop performed 11/2/18".

Old school, but it'll never crash or have a "critical process died" (which just happened to my brand new 4 months ago computer).

Cease, I love that you got that shop for $75. How did it go?

I too don't know what IC Pro is.

I have the same thing you did -- my shops are in my Google calendar, with a different color than my personal appointments. I also have an Excel spreadsheet where I keep track of shop fees and reimbursements by date, as well as a mileage record. As for invoicing, most companies consider your submitted report your invoice and do not need to be separately invoice. Marketforce has you sign the CPI and submit it at the end of the report. Maritz has you invoice them through a form on their website. For most others, check the contract for payment terms and you will know when to expect the money.

I had to write a bad report last week. I really hate to do them It was a recorded call though, so the client can at least listen to the interaction. It was turned into the client and I am still doing their shops, so it was alright. You always wonder if they will question what you are saying.

IC Pro is from Jobslinger. If you have a logo, company name, have your EIN verified, etc. you are known as a IC Pro. There are a few steps you take to get verified. It shows up on all of your Sassy boards. All you are doing is proving you are a legit company and it has been verified. I am an IC Pro.

Thank you That's somewhat enlightening.

In my humble opinion. The negative reports ARE much harder. But, your honesty on the matter is job security. In other words, you prove to "corporate" that you are a necessary part of their business.

@BurnedbyMaritz wrote:

In my humble opinion. The negative reports ARE much harder. But, your honesty on the matter is job security. In other words, you prove to "corporate" that you are a necessary part of their business.

I should make my handle (twice burned by Maritz) (once under the old company and then again under the new company) but I have learned.

For IC Pro you do NOT have to use an EIN, register a business name or have logo. I know; I am IC Pro and have done none of those.

To be 100% IC Pro you need the following points:

You don't need to fill out all sections of the IC Pro page to get a score. The only required section is the W-9 section, which must be completed to get a score. By filling out additional sections, you can raise your score. The sections are:

W-9 information (required -- 40 points): legal name as it appears on tax documents, business name (only if your tax ID is registered to a business of this name, rather than to you as an individual), business structure (how you file your taxes), tax ID (SSN or EIN), tax ID type, and address.
Independent contractor declaration (10 points): declaration that you are an independent contractor rather than a mystery shopping employee.
Invoicing authorization (10 points): permission for SASSIE companies to automatically generate invoices to help document your independent contractor status. By producing an invoice for work that you have performed, the mystery shopping company can demonstrate that you were not a full-time employee.
Logo (10 points): a logo for your business. If you don't have one, IC Pro can create one for you!
Verified tax ID (30 points): if you have verified your tax ID on at least one SASSIE system, you can establish it as verified on the IC Pro page to get another 30 points.

@walesmaven wrote:

For IC Pro you do NOT have to use an EIN, register a business name or have logo. I know; I am IC Pro and have done none of those.

Thanks for spelling out the actual, alternative, ways of becoming 100 % IC Pro. Since I can answer those questions without having an EIN, a logo, or a "registered" business name (I file under my personal name, which is an option) I am 100 % IC Pro. And that pops up as "recognized" when I submit applications for shops with MSCs that recognize that designation.