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What are the tips and hard rules you've adopted when mystery shopping?

March 12, 2023 04:52AM
@shopnyc wrote:

My tip: be careful not to overbook yourself.

It can be very tempting to apply for or self-assign a lot of shops to do on the same day, especially when the pay adds up to a very nice number for the day. However, one must think about the time in between each one. Can you really prepare for, travel around to, and submit reports on time for all the shops you want? Factor in time for unexpected problems, like traffic jams, sudden changes in the weather, or other things beyond your control. You never know what can happen!

This also applies to your week. You may need to give yourself a break in between very full days more often than you think. This is not only to avoid burn-out. Alternating light days with very full ones can alleviate stress and help you meet the responsibilities of the shops you signed up for. There are few things that make you feel worse than flaking or cancelling because you planned poorly and ran out of time - and no one wants to be considered unreliable by schedulers.
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Way back in the day, I did a route in South Texas and performed like 3 apartment shops along with 3 fast food shops. I think I also did a truck stop quickie on the way back up north. I get home around 5PM or so. I started doing the reports around 7ish or so

I put on Titanic and start doing my reports. I think the lifeboats were all gone by the time I finished all of the reports. Made a nice payday but at the end of it all, I probably made something like 17 an hour for that day. Math is fuzzy.

But definitely don't over-extend yourself. One thing I have noticed was that if you work with the schedulers, they will give you a little breathing room if they can.
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March 12, 2023 07:41AM
@condorchristi wrote:

. . . I have noticed was that if you work with the schedulers, they will give you a little breathing room if they can.
Yes. One needs to be willing to communicate, and a lot of schedulers will make adjustments. You reminded me - I used to enjoy doing airport routes for CSE years ago because they always allowed 48 hours to get the reports submitted. When I had one day to do 10 to 14 shops at a major airport, across several terminals, being allowed two days to get my reports in was definitely appreciated. That was their standard for airport routes, though, not a special accommodation.
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2023 07:46AM by shopnyc.
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March 13, 2023 01:18AM
Always leave your itinerary with someone.
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March 13, 2023 04:11AM
I may turn off my email notifications and choose to not shop with an MSC, but I don’t terminate my relationship. Things change. Clients change. Owners change.
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March 13, 2023 09:19PM
These are great suggestions! Here's one I haven't seen: in addition to taking photos with my smartphone, I frequently have a back-up photo device with me.
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March 13, 2023 09:24PM
My rules: Always prep. Even shops I have literally done hundreds of times (see my thread about the stupid Exxon test!), ALWAYS prep. Rules change, sometimes without notice.

Have back-ups -- extra battery, extra charger, etc. I now use my cell phone for most shops, but in some places I go, there is NO cell coverage. I always, but ALWAYS, have my fully-charged digital camera along, just in case!!!

For me, a note on "hard deadlines" is imperative. It's really really important to know if that report MUST be submitted within 8 hours (I'm thinking USPS shops, they won't give you an extra 5 minutes, even if you're concussed from a car accident!). Part of my planning, going on a route, to block out time to submit that report before the deadline when needed.
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March 14, 2023 12:30AM
@redink wrote:

These are great suggestions! Here's one I haven't seen: in addition to taking photos with my smartphone, I frequently have a back-up photo device with me.

Forgot about this one. I always carry a camera and phone, at a minimum. I also have a cheap backup phone I can slip my SIM card into in an emergency while on a route.
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March 14, 2023 04:24AM
@redink wrote:

These are great suggestions! Here's one I haven't seen: in addition to taking photos with my smartphone, I frequently have a back-up photo device with me.
I just take my old smartphone with me in case the first one gets overheated, discharged, or whatever.
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March 14, 2023 04:27AM
@ceasesmith wrote:

Have back-ups -- extra battery, extra charger, etc. I now use my cell phone for most shops, but in some places I go, there is NO cell coverage. I always, but ALWAYS, have my fully-charged digital camera along, just in case!!!
In addition to having sufficient charge on my devices, I always have an AC/DC inverter that I can plug into the car and charge my devices between shops. I couldn't do a long route shop without it.
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March 15, 2023 06:55PM
I don't do much route shopping anymore, because of my POS Jeep. But I almost never leave the house without a cell phone, and my tablet. The jeep has a built in inverter so I can just turn it on and plug anything in if I want to, but I'm scared of inverters so I don't use it often. I have a charging button in the 12 volt port that has 2 USB slots on it, one three amp and the other 2.4 amp, so it charges everything and does so fairly quickly. I also have a car charger for the laptop which hasn't really left my desk for a while. I need to plug it in and get it all updated again and start using it, or at least take it with me for just in case.

I also keep in stock, in the Jeep, current LOA's for all of the local gas stations. Because I'm very good at printing out all of the paperwork for a gas station and leaving it on my printer. So it just helps to keep current copies in the Jeep anyway.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2023 06:57PM by Morledzep.
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March 15, 2023 08:27PM
@Morledzep wrote:

... I'm very good at printing out all of the paperwork for a gas station and leaving it on my printer. ...

Me too, lol.
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March 16, 2023 05:55PM
If you need to print out 6 forms for 6 gas stations or any other shop types, try printing one form total for all gas stations on your route and use a pen with different color ink to fill each form. Pens last longer and are cheaper than ink and printer paper.

For the gas station audit that requires a 4-page Leave Behind form, I print on both sides and use 50% less paper. I can't find paper for $3 anymore. For my copy that I have to scan and submit, I just print only the 4th page, and I use paper that has already been printed on the other side (see next tip below).

I save all the printed material that is printed only on one side that I get from shops, such as apartment shops. I print on the other side of these when printing anything that is for my eyes only. I save the new printer sheets for printing pages that others need to see, such as LOA notices that I hand to gas station employees.

I almost always print in black and white or greyscale.

Printer quality is set to "better." I have not encountered any need to set it on "best" for mystery shops.

I usually do not print instructions or guidelines. They get sent to Dropbox so I can review them from my smartphone.
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March 16, 2023 05:59PM
@shoppinalongtheriver wrote:

Always leave your itinerary with someone.
Why?
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March 17, 2023 01:00AM
1) Believe half of what you read here. Stick with the percentages of feedback.
2) Time is money, if you aren't shopping for a company, shut those emails off. You can always rejoin. My best jobs have come via the phone from desperate schedulers ready to deal.
3) Don't shop for Cirrus

Evaluating and mailing packages since 1994
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March 17, 2023 02:39AM
Always leave your itinerary with someone because weird stuff happens and someone should know roughly where you are, and when you should be home. It's a simple safety measure. Cars and cell phones aren't 100% reliable, and some of us travel through sketchy areas.
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March 17, 2023 08:13AM
If the pay looks bad, don't take the shop.

Don't be afraid to ask. Phones work for a reason.

Don't put up with rudeness from an MSC. No money is worth being treated badly.
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March 18, 2023 07:35AM
@RobinMarie wrote:

1) Believe half of what you read here. Stick with the percentages of feedback.
2) Time is money, if you aren't shopping for a company, shut those emails off. You can always rejoin. My best jobs have come via the phone from desperate schedulers ready to deal.
3) Don't shop for Cirrus

Robin, I laughed when I read this, so I read it to my son too. And he laughed too. He's never worked for Cirrus (I won't let him), but he has been there when Cirrus has pissed me off to the point that I quit talking, and bite off the heads of anyone that tries to make me...
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March 18, 2023 11:26AM
I think I waited seven months for payment, I totally get where you are coming from!

Evaluating and mailing packages since 1994
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