I've done targeted shops, where you target a certain employee. You're given the schedule when the employee is there. When you get there, the employee is not there. You're told because the employee was not there, you don't get paid. Would you do these shops?

Ah, the old Schroedinger’s Employee scenario.
Would I do it?
Not a chance in Hell.
Why?
They are already devaluing your time and effort from the start by not obtaining and providing an accurate schedule.
Why encourage this kind of abusive business practice?

John,

I charge an extra $10 for a target for whom I may request and $20 if I must attempt to catch the specific person. I have never encountered what you described, but my fee for that condition would be predicated upon the variables of distance and due date. A minimum up charge of $30 to infinity sounds logical to me.

Once I was supposed to talk to Sarah but she had called in sick that morning. I spoke to Kate and was paid. A shop where I'm supposed to keep calling until I reach a targeted employee? Nuh nuh no way.

If it's one where I have to do a visit to a specific employee, I'm calling ahead with an excuse to confirm that person is working.

I believe they should allow the shop, even if the targeted employee isn't there. You have a target, but if they are not there, you should be able to shop the person there.

@johnb974 wrote:

I believe they should allow the shop, even if the targeted employee isn't there. You have a target, but if they are not there, you should be able to shop the person there.

That’s why it’s so important to understand the scope of work before you agree to the shop. And clarify what happens if the shop goes sideways. A quick email (always get it in writing, always!) can save your profit margin.

Given the schedule? Well thats lucky. Ive done targeted but never once was I given a schedule.

@johnb974 wrote:

I believe they should allow the shop, even if the targeted employee isn't there. You have a target, but if they are not there, you should be able to shop the person there.

Thats called a non targeted shop, they have a name for it, just do those instead

I've called, "Sue" answered the phone, I talked to her and scheduled an appointment. Did the shop and then found out there were two "Sues" in the office and I had shopped the wrong one. Shop was not accepted. I found out the one I was supposed to shop was only part time and worked Wednesday and Friday afternoons only or something like that.

I'm not sure many people would ask for a person by their first and last name when calling someone without raising suspicion.

I was not provided a schedule or told there were multiple people with the same name in the office by the MSC which I think they should have known and told me.

That's the last EPMS shop I did.

The issue I had with the last shop, I was told Bob (made up name) would be there on Saturday. I went on Saturday and 'Fred" (made up name) was there. In the scenario they want you to make up a story to find out when the target is there. I said, someone at a BBQ told me to ask for "Bob". I was told Bob would be back on Tuesday. I told the scheduler what happened and offered to go back on Tuesday. I went on Tuesday and Fred was there again. I asked about Bob, and was told they were not working today, they'll be here on Wednesday. I was not going back a 3rd time. I wonder if the target is being tipped off about the shop.

Sometimes you can save a shop where you’ve lost the target by writing it up very carefully. If you do it right, it gives valuable information to the client about how their leasing office is being run. This is called a “pass-off,” and clients DO want to hear about these.

For example:

“I arrived at 10:59 AM for my 11:00 appointment with Susan Allen, with whom I’d spoken the previous day. I was greeted in the lobby by the concierge (Matt) and I explained that I had an appointment to tour with Susan. Matt expressed regret, but said that Susan was busy on a Zoom call and that I’d be touring with Annie instead.

I offered to wait in the lobby for Susan to finish. I told Matt that I much preferred going through a leasing process with just one point of contact, so that there would be no ambiguity. At that point, Matt told me that Susan’s Zoom call would be at least another hour. Since that was beyond the wait time in the Shop Instructions, I completed my on-site tour with Annie Smith instead.”

This tells the story of how exactly you were passed off, that you were on time, that you made every effort to get the target. Valuable information and you should get paid for the shop.

No, that is not called a non-targeted shop. You have the wrong name.

John was describing a targeted shop where you have to try to shop a target first but are allowed to shop a non-targeted employee if the target is unavailable. The shopper would probably have to explain in the report why the target was not available, what step the shoppers took to try to shop the target, etc.

@SunshineQT wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

I believe they should allow the shop, even if the targeted employee isn't there. You have a target, but if they are not there, you should be able to shop the person there.

Thats called a non targeted shop, they have a name for it, just do those instead

I rarely do leasing (apartments or offices) shops and will not do a targeted leasing shop. I will do some types of targeted shops (such as for bankers) that pay well enough.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2022 05:59PM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

Not anymore. I did one where it was required to make 3 attempts in order to be paid. Made 3 attempts and the target was not there as when they were supposed to be. Scheduler's response was can you try one more time. Will I get one more money? I did what was required.

The only "targeted" shop I ever did was where I was supposed to not shop one particular person. I got there and all three salespersons were busy. The do not shop person had a female name and there was one male so I tried to stay near the male so he would notice me when he was done. No one had visible nametags. Unfortunately by the time he was finished he said he needed to go to lunch and offered me the female with the name I was to avoid. Since I had already spent a good deal of time I said I would wait until he returned. The shop was local altho local in my city means a drive of a half hour. When he got back from lunch after refusing several attempts from the other person, I did the shop with him but it was a shop where you needed to bring dimensions etc for a new bathroom. Well that was not one I could get out of quickly as I needed to get answers to specific things not addressed in the first 10 minutes.
Never again! I see these shops all the time and no one seems to want them. There was no max wait or fee for a failed shop lilsted.

I've had a few times that the target made themselves unavailable for a scheduled appointment. I also go into great detail in the report and have never had a shop declined.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

Sometimes you can save a shop where you’ve lost the target by writing it up very carefully. If you do it right, it gives valuable information to the client about how their leasing office is being run. This is called a “pass-off,” and clients DO want to hear about these.

For example:

“I arrived at 10:59 AM for my 11:00 appointment with Susan Allen, with whom I’d spoken the previous day. I was greeted in the lobby by the concierge (Matt) and I explained that I had an appointment to tour with Susan. Matt expressed regret, but said that Susan was busy on a Zoom call and that I’d be touring with Annie instead.

I offered to wait in the lobby for Susan to finish. I told Matt that I much preferred going through a leasing process with just one point of contact, so that there would be no ambiguity. At that point, Matt told me that Susan’s Zoom call would be at least another hour. Since that was beyond the wait time in the Shop Instructions, I completed my on-site tour with Annie Smith instead.”

This tells the story of how exactly you were passed off, that you were on time, that you made every effort to get the target. Valuable information and you should get paid for the shop.

I did one bonused targeted bank shop. Called and was informed he would be in later in the day. So i go and ask for him. He didn't want to help me with the ridiculous scenario the MSC instructed to ask. I persisted by adding a bit more details to the scenario and he invited me into his office. After a few, he asked why I asked for him. Luckily, I saw his name depicted on the entry doors as the VP. Told him that my friend recommended him as he was the VP. Thank goodness he didn't ask for my friend's name. I never did another targeted shop again.

The shops that I have done with Targets, I was told to phone first. I have had times where I got there and say the Target was a manager, they let an associate complete the shop. It has happened at least 7 times. I got paid for each of them.

@johnb974 wrote:

I've done targeted shops, where you target a certain employee. You're given the schedule when the employee is there. When you get there, the employee is not there. You're told because the employee was not there, you don't get paid. Would you do these shops?

My mistake. The guidelines do say if the targeted employee is not there, you are to shop the employee who is there.

Targeted shops are on my ten-foot-pole list. In the last month, I have been assigned shops that I thought were straight forward only to get into the specifics of the guidelines to realize that they were indeed targeted shops. I am in the middle of my second targeted in a month where I didn't know it was targeted until I got into the shop. Both with the same company. I just started back shopping again over the summer after a hiatus, but I've shopped off and on for years, so I could have missed something, and I haven't actually shopped that much with this company. I was so aggravated when I realized that I had just "accidentally" got into another targeted shop, I was ready to just trash it and the company both, but I decided I needed to calm down, be professional, see it through and then remove myself from their email recruiting.

I always read the details first before I apply for a shop, but I don't always get into the specific guidelines until the night before, or even that day, mostly because there is other on the schedule. The first time that happened, I thought I must have missed something. Now, I am on the second one this month where I "must have missed something." I've done well over a hundred shops since I started back, so it is not like I haven't been around the shopping block. Because of health and various, most of what I do is online or phone, and our group is already undercut left and right. But this is the first I have encountered such on the recruiting. Before I had finished the first one, I probably made $1.25 per hour. This second one is looking to shape up just about the same. Even on the phone, the targeted shops should be paying at the very least three times what they are offering. I would not have applied for either of them if I had realized that they were targeted. Oh well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2022 09:22PM by GinnyLynn.

The only Targeted Shops I have done were Apartment’s

There's a certain company that started doing this. I think it is deceptive.