Mystery Shopping Success Secrets - Lesson 4

You can make more money by expanding your horizons to some occupations related to mystery shopping. Get insider secrets in this article, and the free secret shopper course available at http://www.IdeaLady.com/

Welcome to Part 4 of ‘Secrets of Mystery Shopping Success.’ Yesterday, you learned how to make yourself the shopper companies love so you can get more assignments. Today, we’ll talk about how to get more work by expanding your horizons to some related occupations.

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

Success Strategy #4
Other Jobs for Mystery Shoppers

There are several other jobs that may appeal to mystery shoppers. Once you contract with mystery shopping companies, you may be offered opportunities to do other kinds of work for them. ‘The Mystery Shopper’s Manual’ includes information about several companies that hire contractors for these types of jobs as well as mystery shopping.

Telephone Surveys
As a mystery shopper, you may perform mystery shops by telephone—that is, making a call to a catalog order desk or a customer service department, or calling a restaurant before your visit. Telephone surveys are different. A survey involves calling your client’s customers or prospective customers and asking questions. This is not telemarketing, and telephone surveyers aren’t selling anything.

Telephone surveys are often conducted with a client’s customers, to get their opinions about the company. When you perform a telephone survey, the questions you ask will be based on the client’s information needs. You will be given a list of questions to ask, and the names and phone numbers of the people you are to call. Telephone survey work may be available at call centers, or you may be able to get work which you can do from your own home.

Focus Groups
Focus groups are groups of people (anywhere from two or three people to more than 100) who answer questions or discuss issues relating to the client’s business. Usually, group participants don’t know who the client is. They are told only that someone wants their opinions about (for example) shopping for children’s clothes. The group might include people who are current customers of the client, those who do business with their competitors, or a mixture. Focus groups are also used to gauge public opinion on political and social issues and many other purposes.

When a large group is used, members of the focus group may each fill out a questionnaire and there may be little or no discussion. I have been a participant in focus groups for local radio stations where there are 100 or more participants. Each person is given a form with a number scale, and the market researchers play a few seconds from each of 600 songs. Participants give their opinions on the songs by circling the corresponding number on the form.

Many focus groups have six to twelve participants, and the members of the group talk about a issue. The discussion is usually recorded on video or audio tape, but the taping is done discreetly so it does not inhibit discussion.

Participants in focus groups are usually paid a fee ranging from $10 or $20 to $100 or more. Many people enjoy being a part of a focus group not only because of the money, but because they like having their opinions heard.

If you would like to be a participant in focus groups, contact some market research companies in your area and ask if you might qualify for any focus groups. Start by checking with companies located in your local shopping mall. Some companies will accept participants this way, others take a position of ‘don’t call us,we’ll call you.” Watch Help Wanted ads in your local newspaper. There are sometimes ads under General or Part Time headings for people to participate in market research studies and focus groups.

Mock Juries
These are also called shadow juries and by other names. Law firms use mock juries to test how the actual jury in a trial might respond to certain information. By getting a group of people with characteristics similar to the actual jury, they can judge how a trial is proceeding, or how to introduce certain facts of the case. The mock jury may meet one or two days (often over a weekend), or they may meet every day of an ongoing trial. Pay is often $100 - $250 per day (or more) plus meals and some expenses. Certainly more than you get for being a real juror!

Watch your local newspaper’s help wanted ads in the General or Part Time classifications for opportunities to participate in a mock jury.

Merchandising
Some companies that hire mystery shoppers also hire merchandisers, and you may get both types of assignments from them.

What is merchandising? When you get one of these assignments, you will typically be working for a manufacturer rather than the retailer. It may involve going to a store and checking inventory to see if stock is low and the store needs to place an order for more of the manufacturer’s goods. You may be asked to deliver an order and put it on the shelves. Sometimes you will set up a display and stock it. Or, just check a display and make sure it is neat and organized.

You may be asked to verify how merchandise is priced or how it is displayed, including signage and what other products are nearby. Unlike when you are mystery shopping, you will identify yourself to store personnel and let them know why you are there. You may need to get a manager’s signature to authorize an order, or to verify that you were in the store.

Merchandisers are often paid by the hour, but may be paid by the job. Some jobs will include a reimbursement for mileage. If you are offered an assignment as a merchandiser, you will be told what you are to do and how much you will be paid. Just as with the mystery shopping assignments, you are free to accept or reject any of these jobs.

Pricing Audits
When performing pricing audits you enter a business and note the prices for certain items. This might involve going in to a fast food restaurant and getting prices for several menu items, or doing a detailed survey of prices in a grocery store.

These audits are usually done on behalf of a competitor of the business you are auditing so, as with mystery shopping, you don’t announce your presence and gather your information discreetly.

Market Research
Many of the companies which do mystery shopping also do other types of market research, so you may be offered opportunities to conduct surveys as a market researcher or to get paid for giving your opinions by participating in market research studies.

This might include interviewing people over the phone or in person (such as those folks with the clipboards at your local mall), doing price comparisons, participating in taste tests or product trials, etc.

You may be asked to conduct exit interviews. This usually involves standing outside a business and asking questions of customers as they leave. You conduct these interviews with the knowledge of the manager—nothing mysterious here. Pay can be by the hour or by the completed survey.

On the Internet there are sites which recruit participants in market research studies or to complete surveys, etc. Some pay in cash, while others award “points” which can be redeemed for merchandise. Before spending a lot of time filling out surveys, make sure you know exactly what you receive in return.

If you are interested in experiences other than mystery shopping, you will discover many opportunities to increase your income and expand your horizons with these and other jobs.

This strategy is taken from the pages of ‘The Mystery Shopper’s Manual.’ This is the only book for mystery shoppers endorsed by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. The strategies and tips in the book will help you become the successful shopper you want to be. Order The Mystery Shopper’s Manual here.

Tomorrow’s Strategy:
Insider Tips for Doing Your Shops

Secrets of Mystery Shopping Success
A free ecourse from Cathy Stucker and IdeaLady.com
Copyright 2003 Cathy Stucker


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