Customer Impact

Anybody have any current experiences with them?
I saw that they now have a job that I used to do for a merchandising company (LMS) and am considering doing their jobs again.
I can't recall what their pay schedule was like, is it decent? As in not 60 days or some such nonsense?

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They pay per job, I think some of the other merchandising companies pay hourly + drive time or mileage.
They pay out usually the 3rd week of the following month, somewhere between the 21st and 24th. So September shops would likely get paid out next week. Occasionally the pay date varies with holidays or weekends.

@Boutique wrote:

Anybody have any current experiences with them?
I saw that they now have a job that I used to do for a merchandising company (LMS) and am considering doing their jobs again.
I can't recall what their pay schedule was like, is it decent? As in not 60 days or some such nonsense?

I like working for them. Most assignments are 30+ miles from me so I always wait for the pay to go up to an amount that works for me.
They are quick to respond if you have question, but only usually Monday to Friday unless it is a project with a weekend deadline.

I consistently do work for them. They respond to emails and pay about the 24th of the following month.

Had a few job issues in the field but they always paid me.

Greetings I've been working for them for a year never had a problem getting paid. 30 days after the assignments completed. I have always been able to negotiate a higher fee if the fee is unreasonably low or distant. I've been merchandising for over 30 years I come with experience and professionalism. I originally sent them my resume for their review never have a problem getting increased pricing.

Shopper2: How do you get the higher fees? Job started at the usual $9. I have completed this shop numerous times for $25. I was told they could only do $11 at this time. This has always riled me about CI.

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

Shopper2: How do you get the higher fees? Job started at the usual $9. I have completed this shop numerous times for $25. I was told they could only do $11 at this time. This has always riled me about CI.

You email them and ask. It all depends on who they have available in the area. Likely to get more if you are their only shopper.

@boutique I think the nonsense with them is a combination of low pay and slow to ship product when needed.

If they need to ship you cards or marketing materials, they don't ship the same or next day you are assigned. This laid back attitude with shipping makes it harder for you to coordinate a route that has other shops because you can't always count on when you will receive the Customer Impact shipment. Other jobs that are listed for that area have small windows when you can apply and submit the work by. By the time you receive the goods, it might be that you are only doing stops for Customer Impact when it would've only made sense if you could build other stuff around it.

Their common job of removing expired or soon to expired cards is a lot more involved than the base pay they offer. I wonder if they expect that shoppers that take the assignment at $9, or $11 are probably going to do a poor job, but that it is better than having no one visit the store.

I visited a couple of stores that were part of a local route that had been done by another worker 6 weeks prior and I could tell as I walked up to the displays that there were still expired cards on the shelf. A couple of expired cards being left could be an unfortunate oversight, but this was a lot more than that and it was more than one location that was done by the same person.

That IC might have not have the same work ethic as most of us here. I wonder if the person that does them for $9 per stop just stays at the store for 5 or 10 minutes so they can hit their hourly number and figures if Custom Impact is paying a crappy wage, I am going to do a crappy job.

@Datagirl wrote:

@big_sky_thunder wrote:

Shopper2: How do you get the higher fees? Job started at the usual $9. I have completed this shop numerous times for $25. I was told they could only do $11 at this time. This has always riled me about CI.

You email them and ask. It all depends on who they have available in the area. Likely to get more if you are their only shopper.

Do you email them with an specific fee request or do you just ask if there's a possibility for a higher fee?

I will usually say I can do 20 shops at 20 each. It depends on the project, some are easier than others so I try to match the level of effort to the fee.

Ah, that was my worry that having to wait for mailed materials would make a mess of a route. I have done these jobs before and sometimes the material arrived only day before the due date so I had already moved on with other jobs. Darn.

I want to contact a scheduler about a remote job but don't want to actually apply for the job first (it is about 99 miles round trip).
Where do you find a scheduler email to ask a question? I want to request mileage or a bonus to do it (have another job I can do in the area).

Does anyone else have jobs that are supposed to be done this weekend that didn't get loaded into GSC? Impossible to do them now and nobody works weekends.

@football1 wrote:

Does anyone else have jobs that are supposed to be done this weekend that didn't get loaded into GSC? Impossible to do them now and nobody works weekends.

Are you sure they were for this weekend? They have a new project that starts November 1st so just make sure the start date is correct. You can also try emailing Daniel Price as he does check his email often. <dprice@customerimpactinfo.com>

@football1 wrote:

Does anyone else have jobs that are supposed to be done this weekend that didn't get loaded into GSC? Impossible to do them now and nobody works weekends.

this can definitely happen with them, probably depending on the scheduler who assigns you the shop forgetting to do a step that would get it on your app. also a lot of times it will go on the app the following day. if i'm assigned something that i need to complete ASAP i always email/call them to tell them to please make sure it goes on my app now. what you could do if you really need to complete that location today is go do the job, take all the necessary photos, take down all the notes of the job on your phone. , and then when it goes on your app, you can input the data, and send them the photos to upload to the job for you. i will do this sometimes when the app isn't working at a location.

My issue with CI is too little pay for the amount of work involved on some jobs. Not all of their jobs are like this, but there are enough of them for me to be very critical when reading their initial invitation emails. I often email the scheduler and ask them to send me the guidelines for me to review.

All the jobs I have done for Customer Impact have been on the app GoSpotCheck. I always check to see if the job is on there. If so, I can proceed to the job site. Lately, they've used Place holders on their Sassie platform. They pay like clock work on the following month.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230

@Boutique wrote:

Anybody have any current experiences with them?
I saw that they now have a job that I used to do for a merchandising company (LMS) and am considering doing their jobs again.
I can't recall what their pay schedule was like, is it decent? As in not 60 days or some such nonsense?

I've done a LOT of work for them over the years and still do. There are pros and cons.

Pros:
Good communication via both email and telephone (one of the few companies where you can actually reach somebody on the phone)
Consistent pay schedule (paid via direct deposit on the 20th-25th for jobs that were submitted and approved* the previous calendar month)
Lots of pre-staffing opportunities

Cons:
High rate of staff turnover (as soon as you form a good rapport with somebody, they're gone)
No self-assigning
No scheduling/field support "after hours" (they're closed on the weekends, and they've apparently gone back to a 3pm cutoff for Fridays)
Pre-staffing opportunities are usually lowballed when it comes to pay (put on the job board at a higher rate)
*QC can sometimes take a week or more, so shops submitted towards the end of the month may not be included in the following month's direct deposit

The biggest thing with them is to make sure your shops show up in the GoSpotCheck app once the first day of the project hits, especially if you're planning on completing them on the weekend. Don't assume they'll be there - check.

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

i agree with the pros though i get some weird prestaffing lists. like i’ve done thousands and thousands of jobs for them since 2016, and the most recent pre staff they sent me for a drug store that starts at the end of the month is a list consisting of one location that’s 140 miles away, twice as far as i’ve ever gone anywhere for them. i did exactly 50 of these locations last round, so i don’t know how that’s what they came up with lol. other times the prestaffing list is much better , though there’s always locations i wonder why they weren’t put on there, when they eventually hit the job board. as for cons, i don’t notice the turnover being too high. it seems like most of their employees will either last a month or 2, or stick around for years, and eventually become project manager or further up. by now i usually have a good feel who will stick around for them. they usually lose about 1 person a year i really like. Lyndsie in 2022 sucked… she was easily the most helpful person i’ve ever dealt with on there. just great in every aspect. Jayme this year, as she was good too, personable and funny. i do occasionally hear back from them during the weekend but it’s spotty. the lowballing yea… they don’t pay mileage so $9 would never be something i’d be willing to do. when i get those offers still after 7 years, it’s like, cmon, i got a long history you can go off. the ones i respect the most, are the ones who get a feel for me, and go off that. anyway, overall ienjoy doing work them, more pluses than cons… hopefully they stay independent.

@drdoggie00 wrote:

@Boutique wrote:

Anybody have any current experiences with them?
I saw that they now have a job that I used to do for a merchandising company (LMS) and am considering doing their jobs again.
I can't recall what their pay schedule was like, is it decent? As in not 60 days or some such nonsense?

I've done a LOT of work for them over the years and still do. There are pros and cons.

Pros:
Good communication via both email and telephone (one of the few companies where you can actually reach somebody on the phone)
Consistent pay schedule (paid via direct deposit on the 20th-25th for jobs that were submitted and approved* the previous calendar month)
Lots of pre-staffing opportunities

Cons:
High rate of staff turnover (as soon as you form a good rapport with somebody, they're gone)
No self-assigning
No scheduling/field support "after hours" (they're closed on the weekends, and they've apparently gone back to a 3pm cutoff for Fridays)
Pre-staffing opportunities are usually lowballed when it comes to pay (put on the job board at a higher rate)
*QC can sometimes take a week or more, so shops submitted towards the end of the month may not be included in the following month's direct deposit

The biggest thing with them is to make sure your shops show up in the GoSpotCheck app once the first day of the project hits, especially if you're planning on completing them on the weekend. Don't assume they'll be there - check.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/2023 04:55PM by jay225.

duplicate

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/2023 04:53PM by jay225.

How do you know they were done by the same person? Did the stores tell you?

Some of the stores I visited indicated it was a different company that was doing a lot of these - I think it was Driveline.

@heywave wrote:

@boutique I think the nonsense with them is a combination of low pay and slow to ship product when needed.

If they need to ship you cards or marketing materials, they don't ship the same or next day you are assigned. This laid back attitude with shipping makes it harder for you to coordinate a route that has other shops because you can't always count on when you will receive the Customer Impact shipment. Other jobs that are listed for that area have small windows when you can apply and submit the work by. By the time you receive the goods, it might be that you are only doing stops for Customer Impact when it would've only made sense if you could build other stuff around it.

Their common job of removing expired or soon to expired cards is a lot more involved than the base pay they offer. I wonder if they expect that shoppers that take the assignment at $9, or $11 are probably going to do a poor job, but that it is better than having no one visit the store.

I visited a couple of stores that were part of a local route that had been done by another worker 6 weeks prior and I could tell as I walked up to the displays that there were still expired cards on the shelf. A couple of expired cards being left could be an unfortunate oversight, but this was a lot more than that and it was more than one location that was done by the same person.

That IC might have not have the same work ethic as most of us here. I wonder if the person that does them for $9 per stop just stays at the store for 5 or 10 minutes so they can hit their hourly number and figures if Custom Impact is paying a crappy wage, I am going to do a crappy job.

I recently did one of the Jewelry merchandising projects and whew...I'm pretty disappointed with their description of it.

I always try to get an idea of the work involved before I accept it, and asked if any equipment would be needed and they said no, but I can say a pair of scissors would have been good to have.
The scheduler emailed me a set of guidelines and it was not the current planogram. Luckily the store had one that was current, because it contained holiday merchandise. After I finished the job, I went back to the Sassie assignment to double check the guidelines, and the one on the shop guidelines was current, but generally, the emails from schedulers are what is the most current info.

The guidelines themselves...well, instead of saying that each item was "individually wrapped", they said "packaged separately" which doesn't have the same meaning to me. I assumed that was for the pegs vs. the jewelry, not meaning that EACH piece of jewelry was in its own wrapper. This is where scissors would have come in handy.

The jewelry was just all thrown in large ziplock bags, so you have to dig around for the rings, or bracelets, etc. and didn't contain enough of the items to do it 100% to planogram (I.E, not enough rings or earrings, etc.)

The other really fun part was trying to do things to planogram and finding necklaces tangled up, or massive hoop earrings that would catch on each other. Good times.

It's a 4 sided display, but each side is split in 2 sections, so its essentially 8 planograms to do.

Won't touch these again unless it is way above the base pay rate. I may email them some feedback on how they have the guidelines worded - it is very misleading and this is not the first time they have had some of their projects wind up being WAY more work than they make it sound. Kinda like the slipper/sandals projects that some of us have done.

Ugh. The slipper/sandals. Nope.

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

@joanna81 wrote:

I recently did one of the Jewelry merchandising projects and whew...I'm pretty disappointed with their description of it.

I always try to get an idea of the work involved before I accept it, and asked if any equipment would be needed and they said no, but I can say a pair of scissors would have been good to have.
The scheduler emailed me a set of guidelines and it was not the current planogram. Luckily the store had one that was current, because it contained holiday merchandise. After I finished the job, I went back to the Sassie assignment to double check the guidelines, and the one on the shop guidelines was current, but generally, the emails from schedulers are what is the most current info.

The guidelines themselves...well, instead of saying that each item was "individually wrapped", they said "packaged separately" which doesn't have the same meaning to me. I assumed that was for the pegs vs. the jewelry, not meaning that EACH piece of jewelry was in its own wrapper. This is where scissors would have come in handy.

The jewelry was just all thrown in large ziplock bags, so you have to dig around for the rings, or bracelets, etc. and didn't contain enough of the items to do it 100% to planogram (I.E, not enough rings or earrings, etc.)

The other really fun part was trying to do things to planogram and finding necklaces tangled up, or massive hoop earrings that would catch on each other. Good times.

It's a 4 sided display, but each side is split in 2 sections, so its essentially 8 planograms to do.

Won't touch these again unless it is way above the base pay rate. I may email them some feedback on how they have the guidelines worded - it is very misleading and this is not the first time they have had some of their projects wind up being WAY more work than they make it sound. Kinda like the slipper/sandals projects that some of us have done.[/quot

Ouch. That sounds like a rough one. I recently took a newer type job that they have had. Their base pay is never a good starting point so I took only a few to check it out. Yikes. No thanks. Not for that fee. They like to hide things in their description but then the guidelines show how much more work is involved. I think I will ask for guidelines before accepting jobs

I'm going to start going the route of asking for guidelines every time. I've done that in the past and in some cases was told that they were still waiting for finalized work orders.
For transparency to my comrades in this business, I did this at $50 (not sure what base was) and it took 4 hours. I've seen them post reloads of the jewelry for $18-20 but I wouldn't do those at that rate. I would imagine the majority of the reloads would take at least an hour, especially with the packaging removal.
It's just ust annoying because a few simple gas station shops could net me the same amount with way less work. Lesson learned for me again!

@Datagirl wrote:

@joanna81 wrote:

I recently did one of the Jewelry merchandising projects and whew...I'm pretty disappointed with their description of it.

I always try to get an idea of the work involved before I accept it, and asked if any equipment would be needed and they said no, but I can say a pair of scissors would have been good to have.
The scheduler emailed me a set of guidelines and it was not the current planogram. Luckily the store had one that was current, because it contained holiday merchandise. After I finished the job, I went back to the Sassie assignment to double check the guidelines, and the one on the shop guidelines was current, but generally, the emails from schedulers are what is the most current info.

The guidelines themselves...well, instead of saying that each item was "individually wrapped", they said "packaged separately" which doesn't have the same meaning to me. I assumed that was for the pegs vs. the jewelry, not meaning that EACH piece of jewelry was in its own wrapper. This is where scissors would have come in handy.

The jewelry was just all thrown in large ziplock bags, so you have to dig around for the rings, or bracelets, etc. and didn't contain enough of the items to do it 100% to planogram (I.E, not enough rings or earrings, etc.)

The other really fun part was trying to do things to planogram and finding necklaces tangled up, or massive hoop earrings that would catch on each other. Good times.

It's a 4 sided display, but each side is split in 2 sections, so its essentially 8 planograms to do.

Won't touch these again unless it is way above the base pay rate. I may email them some feedback on how they have the guidelines worded - it is very misleading and this is not the first time they have had some of their projects wind up being WAY more work than they make it sound. Kinda like the slipper/sandals projects that some of us have done.[/quot

Ouch. That sounds like a rough one. I recently took a newer type job that they have had. Their base pay is never a good starting point so I took only a few to check it out. Yikes. No thanks. Not for that fee. They like to hide things in their description but then the guidelines show how much more work is involved. I think I will ask for guidelines before accepting jobs

Losing Jayme and Cody was depressing. I always enjoyed working with them.

@jay225 wrote:

i agree with the pros though i get some weird prestaffing lists. like i’ve done thousands and thousands of jobs for them since 2016, and the most recent pre staff they sent me for a drug store that starts at the end of the month is a list consisting of one location that’s 140 miles away, twice as far as i’ve ever gone anywhere for them. i did exactly 50 of these locations last round, so i don’t know how that’s what they came up with lol. other times the prestaffing list is much better , though there’s always locations i wonder why they weren’t put on there, when they eventually hit the job board. as for cons, i don’t notice the turnover being too high. it seems like most of their employees will either last a month or 2, or stick around for years, and eventually become project manager or further up. by now i usually have a good feel who will stick around for them. they usually lose about 1 person a year i really like. Lyndsie in 2022 sucked… she was easily the most helpful person i’ve ever dealt with on there. just great in every aspect. Jayme this year, as she was good too, personable and funny. i do occasionally hear back from them during the weekend but it’s spotty. the lowballing yea… they don’t pay mileage so $9 would never be something i’d be willing to do. when i get those offers still after 7 years, it’s like, cmon, i got a long history you can go off. the ones i respect the most, are the ones who get a feel for me, and go off that. anyway, overall ienjoy doing work them, more pluses than cons… hopefully they stay independent.

@drdoggie00 wrote:

@Boutique wrote:

Anybody have any current experiences with them?
I saw that they now have a job that I used to do for a merchandising company (LMS) and am considering doing their jobs again.
I can't recall what their pay schedule was like, is it decent? As in not 60 days or some such nonsense?

I've done a LOT of work for them over the years and still do. There are pros and cons.

Pros:
Good communication via both email and telephone (one of the few companies where you can actually reach somebody on the phone)
Consistent pay schedule (paid via direct deposit on the 20th-25th for jobs that were submitted and approved* the previous calendar month)
Lots of pre-staffing opportunities

Cons:
High rate of staff turnover (as soon as you form a good rapport with somebody, they're gone)
No self-assigning
No scheduling/field support "after hours" (they're closed on the weekends, and they've apparently gone back to a 3pm cutoff for Fridays)
Pre-staffing opportunities are usually lowballed when it comes to pay (put on the job board at a higher rate)
*QC can sometimes take a week or more, so shops submitted towards the end of the month may not be included in the following month's direct deposit

The biggest thing with them is to make sure your shops show up in the GoSpotCheck app once the first day of the project hits, especially if you're planning on completing them on the weekend. Don't assume they'll be there - check.

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

I just finished one of these yesterday , I had no idea what I was getting into. Tried to follow directions completely by setting the hooks in the display first, then I found out the problem with the rings. The hooks were set for merchandise not in the bag. The jewelry all dumped in the bag so you didnt no what you were pulling out tell you got it unwrapped.I wont even go there with unwrapping all those individual pieces with the bags so tightly wrapped. Had to adjust the peg hooks quite a few times to fit what i had to make it not to close together. Plannagram was hard to work with. If you did it in four hours you did good. Not sure how long it took me but longer than that. I was a Jewelry manager for 10 years and have worked many Jewelry displays this was definitely not enough pay for the lenght of time it took to make it right.

Sorry y'all got burned on the jewelry assignments. The one closest to me was at a truck stop, and that just made me think the display would be messy or one that hadn't been worked in a while, so I passed.

I carry scissors and a box cutter with me when I do merchandising gigs. (Fiskars makes foldable scissors that sell for around $5 - I keep them in my purse, and they've been a lifesaver for way more than work.)

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

I have ended my relationship with CI.

Way too many assignments with super low time estimates, and they won't pay extra when a 30-minute project winds up being over 2.5 hours.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

Hi all - speaking only to the jewelry store project...this one is all over the place as we had some new stores that we were told would be set-up somewhat prior to us arriving and were not, we had some that were, and we had some other stores that received new seasonal items we weren't told would be at the store yet. Needless to say it's almost been a case-by-case basis on what you're all finding when you arrive.

Please accept my apologies. I'm going to meet personally with that project team this week and we're going to review some of those recent visits and make it right with those who really hung in there to complete the job with the big display set-ups that took longer than expected. Give me a day or two to compile that info, or if you want you can email me personally and we can look into it and we should be in touch with many of you on that in the coming days.

As always, if you ever have any questions or concerns you can email me at dprice@customerimpactinfo.com and I'll do my best too answer/provide as much context as I can.

Daniel Price
Chief Operating Officer
Customer Impact, LLC
dprice@customerimpactinfo.com

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