Well, because of confidentiality, only a handful knows I am mystery shopping. So, why should I refer them? Other than that, most would not have the interest or patience.

Once, I had a volunteer work and I had to a shop. I explained to my organization president why I could not work that day as the shop was very far and I may not be able to come back in time.

After a huge meeting, someone seated beside me talked about a
very popular name brand store where she worked and my president blurted out, "That's where she mystery shops." All eyes turned to us. I had to explain later on what she had done. I decided to never do that shop again.
She was apologetic and said, "And to think we are working in an organization that is focused on confidentiality." See the irony. Do you think I would ever refer her? lol

My wife and I both shop. We have agreed that we will not even discuss this with anyone else, including friends. Why? Quite frankly, WE want the jobs. We will take any job that offers enough money to make it worth our while, and we see no reason to give ourselves competition. Even if we only refer someone to lower paying jobs, or jobs that we otherwise would have no interest in, eventually there's a good chance they'll move on and come to compete with us.

So, all that to say, here's my very honest feedback. My wife and I are both reliable, active, and attentive shoppers. I think a company would be better off, rather than having large numbers of shoppers with high turnover, to have fewer shoppers and higher fees, thereby reducing the amount of necessary referrals.

I hope I dont sound harsh, but I'm thinking since you posted this you want honest feedback. You're asking us to compete with ourselves.

You put it very nicely, Chihlidog. There is a powerful incentive for MSCs to ask for referrals from great shoppers (birds of a feather flock together?). There is far less incentive for shoppers to recommend other shopper with whom they will then compete for jobs.

Some food for thought...I think this MSC already knew the answer to the question asked...but this is a clever way to get good, experienced and reliable shoppers who aren't already registered with them to do so...The vast majority of shoppers following and contributing to this forum are more than not...good at what they do...

i.e. I had never heard of this MSC before this post(granted I've only been MSing for 3yrs) and I did go register to see what shops they offer...I was offered 2 Mortgage shops...not sure the fee is commensurate with the paperwork requirements...so I'm pondering...

AustinMom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You put it very nicely, Chihlidog. There is a
> powerful incentive for MSCs to ask for referrals
> from great shoppers (birds of a feather flock
> together?). There is far less incentive for
> shoppers to recommend other shopper with whom they
> will then compete for jobs.


Further, companies could save themselves a lot of time, stress, and even referral fees if they were able to offer their trusted shoppers incentive enough to take on more. It doesnt even have to be cash - I have seen plenty of comments on this board referring to the low reimbursement amounts. A "free" dinner is payment enough if it's close enough for me and I really enjoy the food, but often the dinner ends up NOT being free.

Another issue is the payment schedules - this is the biggest reason I do not take on more heavily reimbursed shops. Even though I'm not paying for it in the long run, with 3 kids, a mortgage, car payments, gas prices, etc. shelling out $40 up front then waiting sometimes close to 2 months to get that money back is discouraging. One or 2 of those per week could be very enjoyable, but add up very quickly to a lot of money.

What it comes down to, of course, as expressed numerous times in this thread, is that a company will get what they pay for. A burger with an extra $4 is nice, but it's something that quality people will likely only do if they happen to be driving past anyway. If a company wants a reliable, quality shopper to handle more shops, incentivize. The waiting game gets old and I would venture to say is one of the biggest factors that drive people away from the "business".

If I knew I would be able to consistently do x, y, and z each month, make enough money on it to be worth my while and even get some "free" food as part of it, the company would have no need of more shoppers because my wife and I would be the only ones needed.

IF, and only if, I had a fairly solid and consistent source of jobs that I became satisfied with, and the company had more available, would I then choose to share this with someone else. At that point, I would do it to afford the other person the opportunity to make money and enjoy a few fringe benefits. The company would have no need to encourage the referral, it would happen naturally. I would only do this with the understanding that my shops would still be available to me.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2012 11:01PM by Chihlidog.

I don't create competitors, but when I'm asked by interested parties I do provide basic information including the name of this forum and the names of one or two national companies. As far as a scenario in which an MSP offers me money to make referrals, that's not about to happen. What if I sent you a bunch of contacts, you sent me a bunch of money, and what you got was not what you wanted? Wouldn't you feel a little bit "done to"? I would.

Last year Informa asked me to help find some people in my area because of a rotation problem, and I told a couple of former co-workers at H&R Block about Informa because I thought they would do a good job and could use the extra income. I don't know if they made contact or not, but I did not furnish their contact information to the company. I'm not going to take the responsibility of recommending someone. I have enough problems being responsible for my own performance.

Companies would do better to help their existing reliable shoppers to create profitable routes, so as to maximize the outcomes for both shopper and client. If the top 10 percent of shopper were able to get routes to cover even half of the total shops in the country, the MSCs would also be able to pay much better because their "flake rate" would plummet. Yet, many, if not most, MSCs seem very reluctant to spend time helping shoppers create route, yet spend even more time scrambling to replace shoppers who flake, in order to meet their deadlines.

If I knew that I could get more routes, as a preferred shopper, I would not worry much about "local competition" from a new shopper.

walesmaven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Companies would do better to help their existing
> reliable shoppers to create profitable routes, so
> as to maximize the outcomes for both shopper and
> client. If the top 10 percent of shopper were
> able to get routes to cover even half of the total
> shops in the country, the MSCs would also be able
> to pay much better because their "flake rate"
> would plummet.

I have to disagree with you on this one Walesmaven. Limiting MSing to a select group of 'pro' shoppers would go against the functionality of many shopping programs. When a company invests in you to cover all of their shops for a state and you are sick, or just tired of their BS, what then?

This idea may work for a few specific clients, but MSing as it exists now depends on fresh shoppers signing up regularly. Because of that, the flake rate is tolerated.

If you want proof, just look at the MSing programs in Nevada. The pool of shoppers is limited to season shoppers who are employees, but shop fulfillment is still a problem and it's MORE expensive for the client, despite have an almost non-existand flake rate.

Steve,
I make a distinction between "ad hoc" routes and the situation where Shooper Jo gets 100% of Catastrophic Moving and Storage shops in Texas, going there twice a year to do that route. I agree with you about the inherent downside of the latter. Also, 10 percent of all shoppers is still a whopping number of shoppers!

It would be interesting to know what percent of all registered shoppers are responsible for the COMPLETION of, say, 80 percent of total shops in the continental US. In real estate, about ten percent of the agents do about 85% of all transactions.

Agreed, Walsemaven, about the as-hoc routes.

It takes a specific personality to be a full time shopper. There are very few that fit the bill and it's definitely less than 10% of shoppers.

I'm not singling out FT shoppers, BTW. It takes a special breed to do travel shops, multiple FF shops, bank shops, video shops, etc.

I'm guessing from my scheduling experience that 5% of shoppers complete around 25% of all shops, with the remainder going to the general shopper pool. There are a whole lotta shops out there and whole lotta PT shoppers that do 1 or 2 shops per month.

back on topic; I saw an offer last night from a hospitality company offering $150 for a referral to a shopper that completes a very hard to fill assignment. It's not a shop I'm interested in or qualify for, so I would be happy to forward that reference if I knew anyone that did (which I don't). Just saying that $150 cash got my attention....