I feel like it's taking me too long to complete the surveys.

Hello all, first time poster here! I did mystery shopping over a decade ago and recently got back into it for some extra money. It's been going good, other than the fact that I feel like it's taking me FOREVER to complete the surveys. I don't think it should be taking me this long. Of course, I get it all done by the end of the day, but it sometimes takes me hours just to get through one! I think I am also trying to be overly detailed and accurate since I'm newer to these companies and want to make a good impression and eventually get the higher-paying shops.

For example, recently I had to fill out a 60-question survey for a bank inquiry. I mean, this was literally a 10-minute interaction, but they wanted these elaborate summaries for almost every detail. It was frankly overwhelming, and I just don't know how many other ways I can describe a 10-minute conversation? It just felt like overkill after a while. Do you just get faster/better at it with more experience? How long does it take you (on average) to complete the surveys afterwards? Obviously, I know some surveys are much more detailed and longer than others, so times will vary.

Any tips or pointers?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2024 07:43PM by AshleyScottFreelance.

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It's all about choosing the jobs that fit your style. I've cut back on surveys requiring long narratives unless there's a very attractive fee. I'd rather do twenty 5-10 minute shops paying $15-$20 or more with reports that are not stress inducing. You need to find your niche and stick with mostly those type of jobs. You'll get to know the ones (and MSCs) that ask for more than they are worth. There's a lot of info here on the boards with warnings and advice about good and no so good shops. One example is the postal shops. The shop itself can take as little as 4 minutes and the report can be done on your phone in 15 minutes. Also, there's a lot of others that can be completed on apps on your phone while at the location. Also, before accepting an assignment, see if you can view the report and guidelines to get an idea of how involved it is. Sometimes, even easy looking shops turn out to be real buggers.

With that being said, I have a high paying shop today in a huge mall that I haven't been to yet and I'm already stressing over it...I need to get my a$$ in gear and hit the road. Have fun and go on the hunt for easier shops to get you in the groove.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

There are many on here who will give you tips on shortening the time to fill in surveys but I am someone who, like you, writes probably too much. Over time you will find which companies accept less and which want an entire essay on each question.
However, if you just started back there are also many surveys you will put on your 10 pole list after doing it once. This one your are describing above sounds like one of them unless they are paying big bucks for it.
In some jobs you can actually take a peek at the question list or guidelines before accepting the job. Unfortunately there are sometimes hidden questions that pop up for more info if you answer the question in a certain way.

Hi I am a newbie as well and I have made the mistake of letting the Sassie timer run out and poof it was all gone. I now type up my summaries in Word and then do a copy and paste. The surveys I have done aren't super long but Word helps me. I don't really have any other pointers but if you feel the survey is way too long for the pay maybe rething doing that shop?

Doing the answers in Word is a great tip. It has saved me plenty. Personally, I avoid those shops unless they pay a lot. But, generally, work on reducing your narratives little by little until you get pushback from the MSC.

The amount of narrative I write is in proportion to the pay I'm receiving. A job paying $25 isn't going to receive as lengthy a report as one paying $240. Certain MSCs (Coyle, A Closer Look, Pinnacle) are known for having lengthy reports and wanting lots of detail; I (almost always) avoid them like the plague.

With that being said, everybody has a price, and if a job and/or specific MSC meets mine, I'll grit my teeth and get 'er done.

Best of luck to you, and welcome aboard!

P.S. Avoid AI. Your words need to be your words.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

^^^^^ What the good Dr. said.

Make it a goal to find ways to write less and still get in the goods. A couple of carefully crafted compound sentences will usually get the job done for most narrative boxes.

While I have never previously kept a narrative database, I'm being forced to do that with the platform switch for Quick Quack carwashes. I do about 10 of these a month, so efficiency is everything.

The old reporting platform supported auto-fill, and I'd get a nice pulldown list of previous responses from which to choose when completing reports.

The new reporting platform is the pits from an efficiency standpoint, and (no surprise) doesn't support it, so I'm building up a doc with my responses in the various fields so eventually I can just cut and paste, with maybe a bit of editing, and I can be done.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

This...Where do you find jobs for $240?

@drdoggie00 wrote:

The amount of narrative I write is in proportion to the pay I'm receiving. A job paying $25 isn't going to receive as lengthy a report as one paying $240. Certain MSCs (Coyle, A Closer Look, Pinnacle) are known for having lengthy reports and wanting lots of detail; I (almost always) avoid them like the plague.

With that being said, everybody has a price, and if a job and/or specific MSC meets mine, I'll grit my teeth and get 'er done.

Best of luck to you, and welcome aboard!

P.S. Avoid AI. Your words need to be your words.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.

Ark, every so often Pinnacle gets reeeeeeeally desperate with bank shops that are out in the boonies. It’s definitely a time investment, though.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

I feel your pain, Ash. Long ago, when I did restaurants and other long reports, I definitely spent way too much time considering JUST the right word or phrase then changing it over and over. I think it's just a matter of personality type. For some people, those perfect words and phrases flow smoothly and quickly from their minds, mouths and keyboards. For me, I know the words but they don't always come to mind at the right time or in the right way. So I have to keep double checking and rearranging. I rarely do those shops any more. Just not worth the time and effort to me.

Also, from other posts I've read, it sounds like you had a Coyle shop. I never have and don't plan to.

Welcome to the board. Consider doing a wide variety of shops so you can see the varied report requirements. You will see that many reports are answering easy multi-choice questions. But don't assume that a low paying shop is less work than others.

I can sometimes get way overly detailed in my head but sometimes have to trim it down, go back to the basics of what they are asking for.
When I start a report, I do all the "basic" info first (date, day of week, time, etc.) hit save, then I go back and add all the meat and potatoes. I hit save every few questions in sassie. For some reason, they will sometimes glitch out after uploading a pic or something. Sometimes I add all the narrative than do the pics, or vice versa.

@mystery2me wrote:

Doing the answers in Word is a great tip. It has saved me plenty. Personally, I avoid those shops unless they pay a lot. But, generally, work on reducing your narratives little by little until you get pushback from the MSC.

I not only write the answer narratives in Word, but for the really long ones such as casino/hotel resorts, bar integrity shops, and other shops with many narratives, I copy and paste the word count numer at the top of each narrative. Each time I do the same shop, I reduce the word count a little at a time until I get pushback.

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I feel like it's taking me too long to complete the surveys.

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