I found the MSC that does Chipotle shops. That's great. Bonus points for me. However... in order to do any shops for them, they require a 2+ hour face-to-face training session. The two that I have seen are from 9-1:30am on a weekday, in a location that's over an hours drive away from where I live/work. They say it's paid training... at $10/hr. My question is - why the exclusivity and why only on a weekday? Has anybody done the training or the shops? Are the shops really THAT different from Moe's or any other fast casual Mexican place?

Training is easy but the shops are extreme overkill. Not worth it....the overly redundant reposrt takes well over one hour.

The report is quite lengthy, and they want to show you what their standards are including all of the senses. Lunch is part of the training. I enjoyed it.

The training I went to was actually only 2 hours. Mine was on a Friday morning from 9:30-11:30. It may not have lasted quite that long - the last part is when you are eating the meal that you are served. A company rep talked with us and several managers from Chipotle locations were present and added their comments. I think it is only on a weekday because they travel people to the location to present the training and they require other managers to show up - and I'm sure they would rather show up on a weekday. And they plan it for morning deliberately. When you arrive, the restaurant is closed and it is only you, the other trainees, the trainers, and the Chipotle workers. The training ends with going through the food line - planned for before the lunch rush heats up. Then you eat and go home.

The shops are different from other dining shops. While they do focus on service, there are a lot more observation points dealing with the food. They ask you to look at the food displayed on the food bar and evaluate it each of the different items. During the training, they walk you through the line and explain how to perform an evaluation on each food item. The training is paid - $10 an hour. You receive payment for the training after you do your first shop.

I did not think I would enjoy the training, but I did. I took the day off work (my day job) and did the training, had my free lunch, and I had something else planned for the afternoon. I enjoyed visiting with the other mystery shoppers who were being trained along with me. I enjoyed meeting the Chipotle managers (5 were there at my training). Every time I do a shop I look to see if one of those managers is in the restaurant, but so far I've not spotted any of them.

I like the shops and there are a bunch of locations here.

I have done the training and a bunch of shops. When I did it, the training was paid after completion of a shop for them.

It is exclusive because I think they want to take the time to show you exactly what they are looking for. The small group will give you a chance to effectively interact with Chipotle employees, to taste the food and see how it should look and for them to tell you how it looks when it is not up to standard.

Why only on a weekday? I could only speculate. If you ask the MSP, I'm sure they will respond.

Is it any different from any other fast casual? It probably has more detailed observations and a more lengthy report.

Have fun.

Why would they have managers and employees at the same training as the mystery shoppers? Wouldn't that be a dead give-away when they see you in line? Maybe I'm missing something......

Either way, sounds like way to much work for a free lunch.

The managers you will meet are mostly corporate and regional managers. The local manager is not taking pictures of all the folks at the training and has everything to gain from the shops. I disagree about the reports. It takes 3-4 to fget into the rhythym and then they are no big deal.

Actually you are on video in the training in the restaurant. I am would think they are running security cameras. So in theory your picture is now a part of the "watch out for..." if they choose to use it.


walesmaven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The managers you will meet are mostly corporate
> and regional managers. The local manager is not
> taking pictures of all the folks at the training
> and has everything to gain from the shops. I
> disagree about the reports. It takes 3-4 to fget
> into the rhythym and then they are no big deal.

CANADAMOMMY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually you are on video in the training in the
> restaurant. I am would think they are running
> security cameras. So in theory your picture is now
> a part of the "watch out for..." if they choose to
> use it.

I'm not sure it would matter tremendously if they had our pictures and we were part of a "watch out for" although I've never seen any evidence of that. While there are some service observations, the majority of the evaluation deals with food items and cleanliness and organization. Even if one of the workers identified a mystery shopper the moment she entered the door, it would be too late for them to do anything to impact the food observations. If the food displayed on the buffet line is not up to standards, they would not have time to change out that food.

I can't imagine being recognized as a shopper, though, because Chipotle is usually busy and there's a long line most of the time when I go. I'm an anonymous customer in a long line of anonymous customers.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2013 03:48AM by CAscotch.

I agree with wales. Those managers are not there to get a look at who the shoppers are so that they can thwart what they are doing. They really truly want your honest feedback so that the restaurant can become better run. Although the report is long and detailed, I find it to be the best shop I have ever done and will ever do. With regards to the managers being at the training, I recognized one of those managers at the location I shopped, and I think that person saw me. But as I was making my observations, that manager didn't do anything out of the ordinary to thwart what I was there for.

The training for the shop is excellent, because it goes over everything they want you to know about the shop down to the details of the actual food. It is a very well run shopping program.

The reports get easier with time, but I still don't find them to be a breeze. That said, I don't mind them for a few reasons, one of which is that what they're asking actually makes sense! Too many times with shops, the instructions and form don't match the actual experience. Also, it's clear that they really do appreciate and utilize the feedback. The schedulers are great.

The training we had took 2 hours and included a free lunch. There was only one trainer there and he was the District Manager for our area. There were 6 of us, 2 female and 4 males. The one thing I got out of it was a new, best friend. I had not met any other shoppers in my area until this training session. The other female and I have hit it off and we compliment each other on our shops. The ones she likes, I don't and the shops I like, she doesn't. I did two shops for them and since then have asked to be deactivated. I just do not think the reports are worth the time involved. And the food gives me heartburn as it is spicy (which I love but have problems with eating now that I'm older) and heavily salted. My new friend says she also has a problem doing their reports and cringes when they want to assign shops to her.

Heck, if anyone cringes at the thought of doing a particular shop, just say no, please!

I get 2 lunches out of a Chipotle shop since the portions are so large. I eat lunch "out" several days per week on my own dime, so the fee plus reimbursement is all a plus for me. I do the short, 1-2 sentence answers right after the shop and then, later, compile them into the required two paragrph narrative. If you are crafting adequate 1-2 sentence answers, they will become the obvious ones for ccing into the long narrative. No secret formula; all blessed by the editors and well-like by the client, apparently. If the report is taking an hour, the shopper is over-thinking the whole thing.

Irene referred me to this company last year and Im so glad she did! I LOVE their food! I love the private Facebook page where I can get help from editors, schedulers and other Chipotle shoppers. I dont like the reports, but I take a lot of notes on my phone, and then just do the report while Im watching tv. You have a full 24 hours to do the report- its very generous! The training was very easy, fun, and I got paid to sit and eat a delicious and healthy lunch. AND- I met 7 other mystery shoppers from my local area and had a great lunch discussion. The first report was the worst
jrich Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I found the MSC that does Chipotle shops. That's
> great. Bonus points for me. However... in order to
> do any shops for them, they require a 2+ hour
> face-to-face training session. The two that I have
> seen are from 9-1:30am on a weekday, in a location
> that's over an hours drive away from where I
> live/work. They say it's paid training... at
> $10/hr. My question is - why the exclusivity and
> why only on a weekday? Has anybody done the
> training or the shops? Are the shops really THAT
> different from Moe's or any other fast casual
> Mexican place?

So basically it sounds like the training is great (aka worth the time/effort), the first report is a pain, then they get easier as time goes on... correct?

I agree that they should do on a sat sometimes...I also can't go to weekday training....

Same here, it would be great if the did a Saturday morning training. I am sure they would end up with more shoppers.

jrich Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So basically it sounds like the training is great
> (aka worth the time/effort), the first report is a
> pain, then they get easier as time goes on...
> correct?

That's fair.

Additionally the chance to meet other shoppers was a great thing for me. Three of us stayed after the training and just talked about mystery shopping for about two hours.

I'm working for this company doing another one of their restaurant clients. How are they about paying? Are they on time?

I would like to point out that the editors are different for other regions. Some may be more difficult to please than others. I can get two meals out of one w/Chipotle but I repeat, their reports, suck! And I personally thought my editor was very, very picky. But I highly recommend you try them. I think everyone should try at least one shop before making the decision to not do them. Each of us has our own niche!

Can anyone in this discussion recommend how to get either a recommendation or any other tip to get in with this MSC? I filled out the online application and left the "recommended by" blank. It did say, only hiring in the following cities which I am close by to many of the Southern California locations, my home city being one of them. I love the food, eat at Chipotle regularly. Will they let you in without a recommendation? Or am I not hearing back because they have enough people? It did say we are hiring for these cities.

I did not have a recommendation and I had done the application a long time before I was contacted for the training.

jrich Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So basically it sounds like the training is great
> (aka worth the time/effort), the first report is a
> pain, then they get easier as time goes on...
> correct?


You basically have captured it in a nutshell. With that said, now that I have been doing these shops a while it still averages me an hour. I don't know how Wales does it in less. I do all the copy and paste I can and just to review and make sure that everything I am copying is making sense for that report, all in time is about an hour.


Also I think both their editors and schedulers are great to work with. All criticism is extremely constructive and I have never found them to be picky. I learn and incorporate their feedback into future reports and now mostly receive a thanks for the report comment.

First, this MSC pays on time, everytime. I have shopped for them for years without a hitch!
Next, you may wait months before they form a training class near you.

BTW, I am fortunate to live in an area (one of 3 in the US) where this MSC has a second client, and I shop both of them. The second client also flies in MSC and client managers from across the country for each training session. It's quite rare to meet senior managers from the client, as well as the MSC project managers. The training sessions are great and really make the shops much easier than they would be with just written guidelines.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2013 01:18PM by walesmaven.

mleighb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can anyone in this discussion recommend how to get
> either a recommendation or any other tip to get in
> with this MSC? I filled out the online
> application and left the "recommended by" blank.
> It did say, only hiring in the following cities
> which I am close by to many of the Southern
> California locations, my home city being one of
> them. I love the food, eat at Chipotle regularly.
> Will they let you in without a recommendation?
> Or am I not hearing back because they have enough
> people? It did say we are hiring for these
> cities.

Yes on both counts. Recommendations aren't necessary, and they look for shoppers and schedule training in areas where they're needed. I referred a friend last year, and in her area of the country, there were only one or two trainings in a 12 month period.

My personal experience was that I applied and never heard back, then ultimately applied for and got scheduled for a training through KSS. They pulled out my application after I was scheduled, so I didn't have to fill another one out.

Re: the reports, many of us have different methodology. Through time, you will find what works for you, especially if you have a good editor. I was very lucky; the first one I had was absolutely amazing.

nicelytwicely Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> mleighb Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Can anyone in this discussion recommend how to
> get
> > either a recommendation or any other tip to get
> in
> > with this MSC? I filled out the online
> > application and left the "recommended by" blank.
>
> > It did say, only hiring in the following cities
> > which I am close by to many of the Southern
> > California locations, my home city being one of
> > them. I love the food, eat at Chipotle
> regularly.
> > Will they let you in without a recommendation?
>
> > Or am I not hearing back because they have
> enough
> > people? It did say we are hiring for these
> > cities.
>
> Yes on both counts. Recommendations aren't
> necessary, and they look for shoppers and schedule
> training in areas where they're needed. I
> referred a friend last year, and in her area of
> the country, there were only one or two trainings
> in a 12 month period.
>
> My personal experience was that I applied and
> never heard back, then ultimately applied for and
> got scheduled for a training through KSS. They
> pulled out my application after I was scheduled,
> so I didn't have to fill another one out.
>
> Re: the reports, many of us have different
> methodology. Through time, you will find what
> works for you, especially if you have a good
> editor. I was very lucky; the first one I had was
> absolutely amazing.

Thank you so much. I am newly registered with KSS so I'll keep an eye out.

OK, guys. Here is an example of the critique/feedback my friend just got back from her editor:

Thank you for all of the details in your Cottonwood chipotle report (8/5/13). This is your third report and you are doing a good job. (I also shop for Chipotle and remember getting used to this reporting system).

I’ve got a few questions and a bit of feedback for you.

Questions

How many tables were occupied when you arrived?
How many tables were occupied when you departed?
Was there any other crew member that wore a shirt other than a black graphic T-shirt?

For future reports, please list shirt types for each of the crew members (Chipotle prefers crew member, not team member)

Most of the crew members will be wearing a black Chipotle graphic T-shirt. It is just fine to report: ”T-shirt” for each of them.

Managers could wear a variety of black shirts: polo, henley, chef’s jacket, button up collared shirt, hoodie, V-neck with white buttons

And I’ve seen these types of non-black manager shirts: red/gray coaches-style, brown polo, gray henley.

Were you offered different types of taco shells?

Was lettuce specifically offered with tacos? (when ordering tacos always report on the lettuce offering)

In the Food Knowledge section, Chipotle wants us to report how the food is offered. Here is a sample from one of my shops:

The crew member (male, T-shirt, dark hair, apron, cap) at the tortilla warmer offered soft or crisp and then flour or corn shells with tacos. He offered rice and beans. The manager (female, polo, earrings, hair in a bun) offered meat. Another manager (female, earrings, polo, striped headband over brown hair) offered mild, medium or hot salsa, sour cream and cheese. The last crew member (female, earrings, T-shirt, dark hair, apron, cap) offered guacamole. Lettuce was not offered with tacos. Customers were told that guacamole was an extra charge. The cashier (male) asked what I ordered.

When I have the Food Knowledge comment complete, it is also ready to be cut-and-pasted into my Team Evaluation paragraph (only a little tweaking is needed to make it flow). All the info about going down the line is in this observation. Voila!

Feedback

Please use complete sentences in your report. Instead of commenting: “Long, fluffy strands,” change it to: “The cheese was in long, fluffy strands.”

I have a word document that I use for my shops. This document contains my usual “Great” food observations that I cut-and-paste or tweak to fit the particular shop.

In the Greeting section, it is the most helpful if you quote what was said to you at the tortilla warmer station. Chipotle always wants to know about the verbalized greeting and how you were asked for your order. Here are a couple of examples:

The manager (male, polo, black hair, tattoo) at the tortilla warmer made eye contact, smiled and said, "Hi. How are you? What would you like?" He was friendly.

The crew member (male, T-shirt, cap, apron, brown hair, facial hair) at the tortilla warmer made eye contact, but did not smile when he said, "Hi." He did not ask for my order. He seemed to be going through the motions of serving me and I did not feel welcome.

When you have this comment ready, you will be able to cut-and-paste it into the first paragraph of the Team Evaluation.

When I write my Atmosphere comments, I put in enough detail that I can cut-and-paste them into my Team Evaluation paragraph. So, please include crew member descriptions and their associated cleaning activities in the Dining Room or Drink Station comments.

So, here is how I build my Team Evaluation (TE) paragraphs:

In the first TE paragraph, I start with the table/customer counts.

I also include a sentence describing the cook(s), such as “There were two cooks (male, T-shirts, aprons, caps) working in the back.”

The next several sentences are cut-and-pasted directly from the individual comments.

Greeting comment
Food Knowledge comment
Cashier comment.

For the end of the paragraph, I also cut-and-paste

Linebacker comment
Crew Impression or Crew Interaction comment.

Then I re-read my paragraph and make sure that it flows well.

For the second TE paragraph, I do much the same thing:

Begin with a sentence describing the overall customer volume/business level of the restaurant.

Cut-and-paste:

The manager comment (all observed managers are described)
Dining room, drink station or other atmosphere comments.
Table visit comment

I end with a sentence about table/customer counts.

Thanks for bearing with this longer than usual e-mail. I want to work with you to produce the best reports possible. Have a great day.
-----------------------------

As a follow-up to my previous email, my friend just called me to tell me she had forwarded this message and gave me permission to copy it here because I told her we had been having this discussion about the sucky reports required. She is one of the nicest, sweetest people I know but the email above has caused her to lose it. As you can see the editor keeps saying "I" did this, "I" do it this way, "I" do it that way, blah, blah, blah so you know what! They just lost another shopper. So out of the 6 of us who took the training, 2 of us are now gone. And my bet some of the other 4 have dropped this MSC, too.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2013 03:49AM by CAscotch.