As the saying goes, time is money. In today’s economy, many of us are working two jobs, trying to make as much extra money as we can. We may be saving for a rainy day, paying off credit card, or simply trying to make ends meet. Regardless of our motivation, we all want to make more money!
One of the benefits of mystery shopping is that you can make more money simply by taking on more assignments. Yet our income is constrained by the amount of time we are willing and able to devote to mystery shopping. So the easiest way to make more money with mystery shopping is by becoming a more efficient mystery shopping, freeing up your time to work on more assignments. There are a few things you can do to ensure you are being the most efficient mystery shopper you can be:
What Did That Say? Each assignment you complete as a mystery shopper has firm requirements. These requirements were designed to meet the needs of the retailer who contracted with your provider. If you don’t meet the requirements of the assignment, the retailer’s needs were not met. So it boils down to the fact that as a mystery shopper, you must adhere to the strict requirements of each assignment. If you fail to follow the instructions to the letter, your report may be rejected. What that means to you is that you’ve just worked on an assignment you won’t get paid for. To ensure you get paid on each assignment, follow the assignment requirements.
So before you head off to do a site visit, be sure you have read through the guidelines and clearly understand each and every requirement. It’s also advisable to read through the report, as some questions noted in the report will not be itemized in the requirements. Some requirements are as nitpicky as noting which stores were next to the store you visited or how many store clerks were behind the counter at the time you entered the store. These are things you likely may not even pay attention to unless you know beforehand to look for them, and the only way to know what to look for is by reading the requirements!
Keeping Details Straight. If you don’t already keep a notepad and pen in your car or purse, be sure to pick these items up and have them on hand. With a notepad on hand, you can easily keep track of the mileage of each store visit, the start and end times of your shop, associate names, and other small details of the assignment that you may forget on your drive back home. Then when the time comes to complete your report, you can quickly refer back to your “cheat sheet” for names, times, and other details rather than have to sit and try to remember the small details. This is especially helpful if you complete two or three assignments in one day!
It’s A Date! Whether you’re up with the new technology and use a PDA or other techie gadget to keep track of your assignments, or you prefer the old-fashioned method of penciling your assignments in on a calendar, be sure you write your assignments down somewhere along with your other personal obligations. When you have all of your commitments and obligations written down in one place, you will be sure to avoid the unfortunate occurrence of double-booking. Since time is money, you will also be able to best plan your day to maximize the number of assignments you can handle when you have one location to refer back to for your schedule.
You will free up your time by following these basic steps, giving you more time to complete other assignments and make more money!
Well said, and I try to adhere to every suggestion. The calendar is especially helpful, planning an itinerary that avoids back~tracking, and minimizes down~time, scheduling fill~in jobs on the route to be traveled. Thank you for the reminder.
I know a woman who has done mystery shopping for a number of years, and taught a class which helped me get started. She’s signed up with dozens (if not hundreds) of companies. Each day she works, she takes one section of our city, and does many shops in that one section. This really saves on travel time. The next day, she will do shops in another section of the city. She’s highly organized and makes pretty good money for the time spent. She also doesn’t waste her time on the low-paying shops. My goal is to become as productive and efficient as this person, and hopefully make the great $$$ she does.
Right now I am at the stage of signing up w/ several compnaies and it just seems like the paperwk is so time consuming.
opps forgot to slow down and proof read…see happens so easily, thank godness that was a report I was submitting lol