Getting A Mystery Shopping Job
Mystery shopping is an evaluation tool used by stores, restaurants, banks and other businesses to gauge the quality of service they provide. Information noted by the mystery shopper would be given back to the management to determine training needs, areas of improvement for facilities, employees and services.
Mystery shopping is a growing business encouraged by the increasing number of retail establishments. Realizing the importance of quality customer service, more and more companies are using mystery shoppers to know if their businesses are meeting the needs of their customers. Comments from anonymous buyers are also a way to get information on the effectiveness of their staff training and development programs, and identify key areas where additional sales training may be needed.
What You Need To Become A Mystery Shopper
Nearly all mystery shopping companies rely on the Internet to conduct the various aspects of their business from hiring to the assigning of shops to the submission of reports. So if you’re ready to become a mystery shopper, it’s time to hit the web.
The next step is finding yourself a mystery shopping company. To find mystery shopping companies you can use the various internet search engines such as google, yahoo or msn. Spend so time looking around trying to find trustworthy companies.
Once you’ve identified the companies that you’d like to shop for, you’ll need to fill out an application with each one. As mentioned previously, this is usually handled on the website. While the application will vary some from company to company, most will require you to submit basic contact information, your Social Security Number, and often information about why you want to mystery shop and what experience, if any, you have in the industry.
After you’ve applied to and been accepted by mystery shopping companies, you can begin to accept available shops in your area. All companies maintain an assignment board that you can check for shops, and many will even e-mail you when shops are available near you. Check regularly because shops tend to go quickly—particularly the best one.
Growing Your Mystery Shopping Business Over Time
Now that you have started as a novice mystery shopper, you need to improve on certain areas to develop your skills and therefore gain more assignments and be more reliable and competitive. Mystery shopping is not a new business, so if you want to be on top of it and to stay on the top, you must posses what companies look for in a mystery shopper.
Good communication skills and sociability are key qualities a mystery shopper needs to have. You will not be a passive customer who will simply sit down and observe. In many instances, you will need to interact with the customer service people, and ask the questions to get the information that the client wants. Having this skill under your belt would ensure the company that they are getting much information from you as a mystery shopper.
Competent writing skills are crucial for mystery shoppers. You must be able to express in words what you have observed succinctly and clearly. Mystery shopping companies are not looking for Pulitzer Prize potentials, but people who are able to articulate in words the observations made.
You also need to have basic computer skills, as instructions and communications with the company are done online. Some companies will let you fill up an online form, while others will send you a document that you need to fill out and email back to them.
Just keep in mind that you should do the job the best way you can and doing it not only for the freebies you get from the shop/company. If you perform well you add another successful experience to your achievements as a mystery shopper. Being a reliable and dependable mystery shopper more and more companies would prefer you to do their mystery shopping for them.
