The request to be deactivated goes to Support, which is frequently checked. Submissions go through editing and are reviewed by staff and questions sent if needed -- due to the number of submissions, it can sometimes take a couple of days for an editor to get to your report.

most can be answered by the resource center -- [evaluators.coylehospitality.com] --- and they don't always respond that way -- read the client requirements and ask specific questions and they will be answered

@bgriffin wrote:

Your statement about a scheduler not wanting to introduce a new shopper to the shopper pool seems very counterproductive to me. Why would you want to limit the shopper pool? So your favorites can do top end assignments every month instead of every other month? It seems to me if you have a larger pool of shoppers then it makes your scheduling easier.

I understand your logic with that point, but consider shoppers as a more dynamic resource and scheduling as more that just plugging a shopper into an assignment, and you might see mine. It's not just about numbers. It's about cultivating relationships that are functional and minimizing ones that are not. Every other MSC can brag about the number of shoppers they have, but they are not attracting the same clients.

Every email, every follow up from support, and every declined shop take time from the staff, and that equates to money spent. Somewhere along the way the company (It was not my decision) concluded that a smaller base of more prepared shoppers was a better use of resources than letting the flood gates open for all. You ended up on the wrong side of that filter. I'm not sure why. It makes scheduling harder, but editing easier. There are more editors than schedulers so that saves the MSC money.

Steve (not that you want to hear from me), I don’t think anyone would have any issue with their desire to keep their shopper pool small and elite. The issue is that they constantly email all of their registered shoppers offering work. Why do that if you’re not going to give any of your shoppers that have little to no experience with Coyle a shot? That’s what creates animosity. If you can’t be bothered to accept new shoppers, stop offering them work!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2017 05:55PM by Hoju.

My understanding was they already have an intense screening process compared to most MSCs. I am not opposed to any company who chooses to keep a small cadre of top tier shoppers, but why not weed more out at the registration stage? If they take on a shopper they deem has potential, why not just let them know at that point any skills which need improving and how the assignment process will work. While a cumbersome process to the MSCs taking on almost anyone who registers, it seems it would be less so for Coyle. One email sent out versus many sent from shoppers questioning the process after the fact makes more sense to me.

@LisaSTL, I think the issue was in the move to Shopmetrics. The older proprietary system was better set up to do just that. SM is not set up that way so they just let everyone in and only assign the people they know.

I agree that it's a bad system. I think they probably agree that it's a bad system. They put a lot of effort into trying to update their proprietary system and ultimately found that it was not as functional as Shopmetrics, so somewhere along the way an executive decision was made to put up with the issues created by Shopmetrics instead of further developing their own system. This is the result.

But then it's like every other MSC. You discard the emails that are not worth your time. The difference is that many shoppers want these assignments, vs an offer for me to make $8 visiting a cosmetics outlet when gets immediately deleted without any remorse....

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2017 07:07PM by Hoju.

Question for Steve - I haven't gotten an assignment in a month and I have 50+ open apps out there. Would it help me at all to email a scheduler directly and just say "Hey, do you have anything I can do?" or would it just be annoying to them?

I would never have known Shopmetrics lacks those capabilities and can understand that part of the problem. To me it's not quite the same as ignoring the $8 shops unless the registration is as simple as other companies using Shopmetrics. If I have to jump through a lot more hoops just to get accepted and do get accepted, my expectation of getting some shops will be equally as high. I may be in the minority in that my preference is to be told from the outset my skill set is not good enough. I don't take those things personally.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@LisaSTL, I think the issue was in the move to Shopmetrics. The older proprietary system was better set up to do just that. SM is not set up that way so they just let everyone in and only assign the people they know.

But then it's like every other MSC. You discard the emails that are not worth your time. The difference is that many shoppers want these assignments, vs an offer for me to make $8 visiting a cosmetics outlet when gets immediately deleted without any remorse....

It would be nice to be told where i would need to improve and then be given the opportunity to make the improvements. How is anybody supposed to know when they sign up that they have one opportunity to prove their worth.

@LisaSTL, to be honest, I was grandfathered in on the move to Shopmetrics and my info was copied over, so I don't know the process for sure, but I think you can just apply like another MSC and see shops. You probably need to submit samples to be considered for assignments. Perhaps someone else can chime in if they know; Is there even a test anymore?

@Hoju; That's part of the reason for this thread...so people can learn and be prepared. You will probably see this as excuse-making, but if 2 shoppers perform assignments, one knocks it out of the park and the other needs improvement, can't you see the reasoning for keeping the great shopper and ignoring the lower-than-average one...provided you have enough applicants for each shop? When should they spend resources training poorer performing shoppers if they have plenty of qualified ones?

This isn't school or a kids sports team where everyone deserves a shot. Shouldn't shoppers who submit awesome samples, learn the requirements and knock their first shop out of the park get priority over everyone else?

(That said, I have also told the story before that I COMPLETELY botched my first assignment with Coyle. I was lucky that the company was small back then and they gave me a second chance...but there was no thread on Volition to help in those days.)

OMG, really?

I definitely see your point, Steve. However, and you would know this better than anyone here, if I were to replace my sample with a more recent and clearly much better sample, will anyone actually pay attention to that when it comes time to schedule jobs? Or am I SOL because of my original submission?

@Hoju wrote:

if I were to replace my sample with a more recent and clearly much better sample, will anyone actually pay attention to that when it comes time to schedule jobs? Or am I SOL because of my original submission?

I couldn't tell you because it's been 10 years since I was in charge of that system and many things have changed. I used to keep all applications in 1 database and you were not allowed to submit a second under the same email address...but that said, I was also active on Volition and would give anyone a shot who sincerely seemed interested in doing good work.

I am still waiting for an answer from @#$%& about why he is posting in the forum. He is not a shopper, he is not a potential shopper, he is not an owner of a MSC or a rep of an MSC, and he is not the owner of this forum or a moderator/representative of this forum. I ask yet again, David, what is your purpose in posting in this forum?

Hi, i did a search on here and wasn't able to find much, how are Coyle's apartment shops? Are they comparable to other MSCs regarding the reports? TIA!

@Lauraphx wrote:

Are they comparable to other MSCs regarding the reports? TIA!

Sorry, but I haven't done a non-food or hotel shop for then in a long time. I'm pretty sure the editorial requirements are similar to the other assignments, which means they are demanding...but also might be a good way to get your foot in the door with them and learn their formatting.

Hello,

I just completed my first restaurant shop with them. I'm done with the report, except for the Executive Summary part at the top. I'm not sure what they're looking for exactly. Any advice is appreciated.

@kstaplet wrote:

Hello,

I just completed my first restaurant shop with them. I'm done with the report, except for the Executive Summary part at the top. I'm not sure what they're looking for exactly. Any advice is appreciated.

Congratulations on your first assignment.

The Executive Summary is for internal notes. Editorial will handle that.

There is a notes section but that's separate. It tells me that a long comment (30 characters or more) is required when I hit Check Complete.

Hello! I looked back at some of dinner evaluations I completed, and the Executive Summary was not required on most but was on a couple. Where there was an Executive Summary, I wrote an extremely abbreviated objective summary of the visit. The narrative at the end of the evaluation was more thorough and complete, but the Executive Summary simply stated highlights and was very brief. In general, though, no Executive Summary was required for restaurant evaluations. Congratulations on your assignment!

The executive summary is a brief synopsis of the shop...just a few sentences that gives an overview, but not specific detail.

Perfect, thank you guys! I got it figured out with your suggestions. It was lunch shop where you order from the counter (albeit, it was still a very nice place) but I hope I did well enough that they'll accept my application for a full service dinner restaurant this weekend.

I just finished my first Coyle assignment last weekend. They were tough on me re: the timings, but not unfair, as they stress that always. But tonight I got my grade, and I don't understand some of the comments, and I don't know if I will get paid or not....

For instance, there's a statement about wording being dispassionate, and then it says 0%. I think this means they're saying "no, your statements are not dispassionate, and they are supposed to be", but I'm not sure. It looks like I'm graded on some areas more than once, which could be for the original report and the re-submit, but I'm not sure. And then a whole bunch of comments that look like mine are quoted in italics, and it says "this is how they should read," but since I can't access my report any more, I don't know what I originally put!

If they ever give me another job -- and I'm going to wait to apply for more until I get more experience -- I'll try to make sure I can save a copy of my submitted report so I have it to compare. But ye gods, their grading report is incredibly confusing!

@amyann2 wrote:

For instance, there's a statement about wording being dispassionate, and then it says 0%. I think this means they're saying "no, your statements are not dispassionate, and they are supposed to be", but I'm not sure.

They are saying that your statements are not dispassionate. However, that does not mean that 100% of your statements are not dispassionate. It's "all or nothing". So either your statements are dispassionate or they are not. You either get 100% or you get 0%.

Once you complete more than one assignment, you will receive a grade for the assignment you completed, as well as a cumulative grade for all of your assignments.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2017 07:22AM by Professional Guest.

Thanks for the insight!

If they give me another assignment, I will become the most dispassionate person ever. I'm just used to some other narrative-heavy MSCs to want a little more color in the commentary. :-)

I have done several evaluations for Coyle, and the way I would describe it is that they like objective feedback. They also like subjective feedback, and even request it at times. I would suggest that you separate your objective feedback and your subjective feedback.

Within the same narrative section, just separate paragraphs?

Yes, within the same narrative section...Write your objective feedback first, then write "Subjective Comments" and put your subjective paragraph under that heading.