If you’ve signed up to be a mystery shopper and have completed a couple of shops, you can probably tell there isn’t much skill or luck involved in getting the best job around – mystery shopping! Shop providers are pretty open about accepting new mystery shoppers into their ranks, provided you’ve shown a general interest in shopping and have basic skills mastered, like reading and writing.
It also doesn’t take too long to figure out that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other shoppers just like you around the country. You like mystery shopping and you want to be taken seriously as a professional mystery shopper. So what can you do to set yourself apart from the rest and stand out as a professional?
Get Certified. The Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MPSA) offers both Silver and Gold level certification courses. At one time, you had to travel to a city where the Gold Certification training was taking place, but the MPSA now offers this training on a DVD so you can take the course at home.
Is it really worth getting certified? You will hear different things on the message boards, but providers will tell you that certified shoppers take their jobs more seriously, are less likely to miss a shop, typically have better reporting skills, and overall have a higher shopper rating. And because of this, in many cases providers will give assignments to certified shoppers over non-certified shoppers, especially for the higher paying and more critical assignments.
While there is cost involved to get certified, keep in mind that you can write the cost off on your taxes as a business expense.
Build Relationships. Like so many other businesses, mystery shopping is very much a relationship business. For the most part you work alone as a mystery shopper. You locate jobs online, go out to the store and perform the shop, and come home and file the paperwork all without really interacting with anyone except the sales associate at the store in most cases. So who are you supposed to build a relationship with?
On all shops except for the self-assign shops, the scheduler is the person who doles out the jobs. If the scheduler knows you through past shops you’ve completed and likes your work, you are more likely to get assigned a shop over someone she has never heard of. So does it pay to get friendly with your scheduler? Absolutely!!
Keep in mind that relationships build slowly over time. When the scheduler contacts you about your report or to ask you to do a shop nobody else has signed up for, be polite and conversational, but at the same time keep it professional. When you speak to that scheduler again or if you exchange emails later on, try to casually remind her that you’ve spoken previously and had a good rapport. Even a comment as simple as “Oh, it’s so good to hear from you again. I hope you’ve been well,” will go a long way.
And of course you always want to do your best work on each shop. You don’t want the scheduler to remember your name as someone NOT to work with!
Experience Counts. As you’re starting out with mystery shopping, keep in mind that experience and shopper rating play a big part in mystery shopping. It may be easy to get signed up with companies as a shopper, but the jobs are doled out to the experienced shoppers over the inexperienced on a regular basis.
So where does that leave the inexperienced shopper? First, as a new shopper, don’t be as picky about which assignment you will do. It only takes a few shops to get established as a good shopper with a company. So take that shop everybody else is passing over. Sure, it may only pay $5 and may have an 80-question report to fill out, but think of that shop as a stepping stone to your ability to get the better shops.
Also keep in mind that doing one grunt assignment at Company A doesn’t give you experience with Company B. So you may have to do several grunt assignments for each provider you’ve signed up with before you start getting some clout as a good shopper. After you’ve got a few assignments completed nicely, you will soon start seeing the benefits and will be selected for some of the better shops you request.
If you want to take your job as a mystery shopper a step forward and see this as being more than just a hobby, show that you take your job seriously by getting professional certifications, establish and nurture professional relationships, and build your experience.
I am interested in being a mystery shopper.
I couldn’t agree more about having a good rapport with the scheduler. I’ve only been shopping since the end of May and have two schedulers that e-mail me directy for assignments in my area. This has come about because I have bailed them out when other shoppers backed out at the last minute. They remember you if you help them.
Same here Spanky. I started shopping the 1st of June doing some “bale outs” for the companies. Yes they do remember you. Just recently I’ve been doing some really fun shops assigned to me for helping them. I’ve gotten bonus monies on some small shops I have done that were being passed over by more seasoned shoppers. And the “narrative” is the most important part of the shop. Do well on the “narrative” and you’ve pretty much gotten in the system. Word gets around. I’ve made it a major “objective” to do great write ups even if it’s just for a “coffee shop” or a $5 shop.
Absolutely! Rapport with the scheduler is a major plus! I found out that there is a town nearby that the have trouble covering so I did shops there for them when I was going to visit. Now I let them know what day or days I will go and they reschedule shops to fit with my plans!.. even to getting me restaurant shops so I don’t have to pay for food on the trip and gas shops or travel allowances!
I have been shopping for three years and am looking for other shoppers in Chicago and the nearby suburbs to start a group for mutual help and support….email me at michaelbu@aol.com….there is strength in numbers and we all need help from time to time……..Michael
In regards to the 80~question, $5~shop, I think you omitted the 7~essays of narrative that is typically included with such shops!!
And I can appreciate building rapport with schedulers, but how does one repair a relationship gone bad for a missed shop, and/or a shop done without a report filed??
I missed a couple of $1.75 telephone shops for a company, and I’ve been removed from their shopper list, in spite of the fact that I’ve completed several fast food shops, and a couple of retail shops.
To Michael, re: strength in numbers, you may want to join the forum started by Jacob Jans … http://www.mysteryshopforum.com/
Thank you~~~
rapport with schedulers is important, however doing that 5 dollar job, which costs you more than that in gas, then the time..just isnt worth it…we shoppers are underpaid and as long as there are people willing to take shops that pay garbage, rapport isn’t going to count for anything because there will always be someone willing to pick up the 5 dollar jobs..we need to band together and demand more pay…
If you’re an experienced shopper those $5 jobs may be garbage, but for someone starting out they’re important. I recently did 4 jobs together. Two were $5, but they happened to be on the route between the fist and last. The total distance I drove was 3 miles. I agree, we all wish the pay were more, but this was an extra $10 for shops that were relatively easy to do.
I have been shopping for nearly a year now. I found right away that I had a nack for mystery shopping. I get constant calls from schedulers asking me to take shops, which is great, but my schedule is always super busy.
I too was once taken off of a shoppers list. I went to their website and emailed them through their “contact me” email address stating that I had just realized that I had been removed from their website. I explained to them that I was an established shopper with one of their “brother” companies and asked what I could do to be placed back on their list. Two days later, I received an email from them with my username and new password and a list of available shops in my area. I have been working steadily for them ever since. My advice is, write to them, re-express you interest in their company and hope for the best. Good luck!
I no longer do $5 or even $10 shops. The cost of gas is too much to spend my time and money on these inexpensive shops. By the time I drive there, do the shop, write up the 9 page report I am making less than .50 an hour. That’s dumb. I did the $5.00 and $10 shops for over a year and I had a bundle of them so it paid to do them. I went on vacation ( after scheduling with the company) and I was taken off all my shops. That’s about $400.00 a month I lost for a two and a half week vacation. So. I am going to do the MSPA and try to get the really good shops.