Mystery Shopping Success Secrets - Lesson 6

How can you become a successful mystery shopper? Find out in this article, and the free secret shopper course available at http://www.IdeaLady.com/

Welcome to Part 6 of ‘Mystery Shopping Success Secrets.’
Yesterday, you learned how to gather information on a shop
without blowing your cover. Today, we’re going to talk about
how to capture that information in great reports.

Cathy Stucker
http://www.MysteryShoppersManual.com/

Success Secret #6
Writing Great Reports

Once you’ve done the shop, the next step is to complete your
report. Don’t be surprised if it takes longer than you expected
to do your first reports. Like most things, it will get easier
with experience.

The time required to complete your report may range from a few
minutes for a simple check-off form with a few comments, to hours
for an extensive narrative. Although your fee is not usually
expressed as an hourly rate, companies consider the relative ease
or difficulty of completing the report, and the time that may be
required, when setting fees.

Before writing your report, gather anything you need: forms to
complete, log-in information if the forms are online, notes or
tapes you made during the shop, the instructions and/or sample
reports, receipts or other documents, etc.

Do it Now!
The report should be written immediately after completing the
shop, while your memories are strong.

What to Include
Some companies will provide a sample report to illustrate how
the report should be completed, the number of comments to include
and the level of detail to include in the comments. If you receive
a sample, follow the format as closely as possible but don’t
copy the words exactly. While some clients love having lots of
comments, others want very few. The sample will give you an idea
of what they expect.

All of the information you provide should be as objective as
possible. You are reporting what happened, not writing a review.
Don’t say the food was bad, say why. Was it cooked improperly?
Cold? Stale? Not what you ordered? Be specific. Don’t say that
the food was poorly prepared because you don’t happen to like
the flavor.

Don’t say the wait was ‘too long’, say you waited 10 minutes
before you reached the cashier. Saying the manager was helpful
isn’t very clear. Saying that you saw him carry trays for a mother
dining with three small children tells exactly what happened.

Use names or descriptions of employees. The client wants to know
who is doing a great job, and who is doing a not-so-great job.
Telling him is your job.

Answer each question on the form. Add comments to back up both
positive and negative ratings. Make sure that your answers are
consistent with your comments. If you answer a question that,
yes, the salesperson served you promptly, but in your comments
say that you had to wait five minutes while he finished a
personal call, that doesn’t add up!

Remember that you’re giving an objective picture of what you
saw, and you’re not trying to find things wrong. Don’t look for
excuses to give a poor rating. Be honest and fair. One tissue
on the rest room floor doesn’t mean that the rest room wasn’t
clean. (C’mon, you know right away when a rest room isn’t clean,
don’t you?) Of course, if the instructions for the shop say that
any flaw is reason for a ‘no’ answer, follow the instructions.

Keep your comments objective, and focused on what you observed.
Don’t tell them what they should do, tell them what you saw. For
example, don’t say that the floor “needed to be mopped." Say that
the floor was dirty, especially the baseboards and in the corners,
or that there was a puddle of standing water about 12’ wide.
Instead of “trash needed to be emptied," say that the trash can was
overflowing onto the floor if that’s what you saw.

Some companies will appreciate it if you go beyond the questions
you are required to answer in a form or narrative report, and
mention anything notable. Did you see an employee go out of his
way to help a customer? Was the sneeze guard missing from the
salad bar? Was a loose tile causing a safety hazard? Provide any
observations that you might want to know about if you owned that
business.

Your reports must be organized and easy to follow. Put comments
in the correct locations. You may be asked to number your
comments to correspond to the questions on the form. Whatever
the instructions, make sure you follow them.

Before submitting your report, check it over to make sure it is
complete and correct. Look for unanswered questions, data entry
errors, misspelled words, missing or inconsistent comments, or
anything else that will cause the mystery shopping company to
call you. If your report is incomplete, your fee may be reduced
or withheld. A pattern of poor reports means you won’t receive
future assignments. Make your reports the best they can be.

You’ll get lots more tips to make mystery shopping easier in
‘The Mystery Shopper’s Manual.’ This is the only book for mystery
shoppers endorsed by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association.
For information or to order, go to http://www.IdeaLady.com/msm.htm

Tomorrow’s Secret:
Get Started Smart with Your Action Plan

Mystery Shopping Success Secrets
A free ecourse from Cathy Stucker
Author of “The Mystery Shopper’s Manual”
Copyright Cathy Stucker


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