CES1948,
Well, it is NOT a shop where you go to Blockbuster to evaluate the customer service, as I once thought!
A video sho is performed wearing a concealed video camera and microphone. It is usually do for a longer duration that the typical, written report, shops. This is because you are likely to be in a situation where a much longer interaction is required, such as in a new home sales office, an apartment lor office leasing office, at an assisted living facility or a new or used car sales location. The shopper muct typically have a seperate scenario (why are you moving to West Timbuctoo; who is your employer; how many kids/elderly relatives are involved, etc) along with a different name, phone number and email address (for getting follow-up contact from the sales person) for every shop.
I call these "long format" shops. They take some planning, and considerably more acting and memory skills than the average bank or retail shop. The shopper may also be given a travel allowance because the locations may be widespread. some of us regularly do multi-day route shops using video and/or audio. The video shops usually have little or no written narrative. You go home (or to your hotel) and upload the recording to the MSC and answer a few questions about timing, name used, etc. You then check your emails and phone lines for follow-up and report those, often by just uploading them to the MSC. Video shops average about $70, plus travel allowances, and I have done quite a few at $100 or more. That sue beats doing 7-10 written shops at $10 a pop!
Some shoppers are worried about being discovered because of the video equipment being seen. What's more likely is that one's story just won't hold water over 60-90 minutes of interaction with trained salespersons. That's where Carrie's workshops are invaluable. not only will you learn to be comfortable with, and almost forget, the equipment, but also, you will learn how to plan and execute great scenarios, use multiple sources for phone numbers and emails, and plan routes. Carrie and I, like all earlier video shoppers, learned by trial and error and sharing with one another. Carrie has distilled all of what we learned into one day that gets rave reviews from shoppers. And, yes, most video MSCs do recruit directly from her trainees!
Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.