Mystery Shoppers in the News

Mystery shopping is a prospering business and more and more companies are relying on the shoppers’ anonymous feedback to determine how they can improve customer service.

In an article titled “Spies like us; Mystery shoppers keep eye on customer service” (The Washington Times, July 2004) we can learn that mystery shopping has become a “critical marketing tool” used by companies to develop customer loyalty:

“Consumers have more choices than ever before. The smart companies realize they can compete by creating an optimized customer experience.

More companies are relying on the shoppers’ anonymous feedback to determine how they can improve customer service, which plays an important role in business transactions.

‘If the customer has had a bad experience, they’re going to go somewhere else,’ said Jeff Marr, vice president of Walker Information, which provides research on customer loyalty.
‘When it comes to retailing, you’re only as good as your last interaction.’

The mystery shopping industry has grown over the past decade as more companies – from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies – have tried to focus more heavily on customer service, officials say. Companies such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, Home Depot, Kinko’s and Giant Food are just a handful of the companies that use mystery shoppers.

The industry has expanded from typical service-oriented clients – such as restaurants, retailers and hotels – to industries like banks, insurance companies, car dealerships, funeral homes and apartment buildings.

“This is a critical marketing tool,” said Jeff Hall, who is chief executive of a mystery shopping company in Michigan. “Companies need to connect with their customers – not just with a fake smile.”

“Mystery shopping is nothing more than receiving feedback from anonymous customers,” said Paige Hall, president and chief executive officer of a mystery shopping company in Atlanta.

It is estimated that between 600,000 to 700,000 active mystery shoppers – also known as secret shoppers – are in the United States.

~~ Would you take part in this growing trend? ~~

In this same article we read the story of Max Jakeman, a secret shopper working at it in his spare time. His story can be yours:

“Max Jakeman is an undercover agent – for a pizza chain. He also has spied on fast-food chains, upscale restaurants, movie theaters, bowling alleys and golf courses.

The Alexandria resident is one of the thousands of mystery shoppers who get paid to give feedback on their overall customer experience…

Mr. Jakeman, who is in the Army, mystery shops between three and four times a week, usually on weekends and evenings. He calls his answering machine at home and leaves notes about his experience so he doesn’t forget details before he has to write the report.

Mr. Jakeman thinks his job helps make a difference.

“I’m a consumer and I’ve been places where I’ve been treated badly,” Mr. Jakeman said. “With mystery shopping you feel like you’re making an impact.”

The shoppers get paid different amounts for their work, depending on the industry and degree of difficulty. For instance, grocery stores pay $10 to $25, movie theaters pay $10 to $50 and florists pay $45 to $100 per assignment.

Mr. Jakeman brings home $300 to $400 a month in cash, in addition to about $1,000 in perks including free movies, free oil changes, free pizza and free rounds of golf.”

Industry experts say “a full-time mystery shopper who works 40 hours a week can make about $40,000 a year.”

Wow… This is for real and you can be part of it if you want.

The Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal (see the former issue of the Get Paid Coach) and other newspapers publish articles on mystery shopping because it’s a growing business and hundred of thousands of people make top dollars to shop and have fun.

Would you like to bring home $300 to $400 a month in cash, in addition to about $1,000 in perks just for shopping between three to four times a week like Max Jakeman?

Would you prefer to work at it full time and make $40,000 a year?

Mystery shoppers are needed all the time and there are jobs all over the US and Canada but also in Australia and UK.

The best way to go is to subscribe to a professional resource for secret shopper jobs. You will get a step-by-step guide on how to get started successfully (a must for new shoppers) AND you’ll have access to an extensive database of shopping jobs in your country and in your state.

Sam Parker

http://www.articlesbase.com/shopping-articles/mystery-shopping-learn-how-it-can-work-for-you-752118.html

Mystery shopping is now more than an amateurish recruitment of secret shoppers to check on consumer service. Mystery shopping has become a legitimate market research tool for evaluating staff performance and developing more effective customer service policies to attract more consumers and realize higher revenues. Organizations such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the Consumer, the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA), and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) have also paid substantial attention to the growing niche of mystery shopping companies, and have tried to somehow guide the ethical conduct of firms on the market for mystery shopping services.

As with other successful business projects, providing mystery shopping services has been emulated by scam artists and pyramid structures. In fact, some mystery shopping scams have succeeded in casting a shadow over the legitimacy of the bona fide mystery shopping companies. Mystery shopping, however, is a legitimate way to recruit secret shoppers whose feedback and staged customer experiences can provide valuable insights to team managers and business entrepreneurs how to develop and improve the quality of service on their premises.

Mystery shopping jobs also allows secret shoppers to earn some extra cash and various perks – freebies, free trials, or free services. Some may try to outstretch the benefits of mystery shopping to mystery shoppers to extensive limits by implying that mystery shopping can bring you millions or can change your lifestyle dramatically. Whereas this is not true, mystery shopping can surely provide some extra cash, extra free services or even purchases and services you otherwise wouldn’t afford at all or on a regular basis. For instance, my latest gas station mystery shopping experience allowed me to refill my tank three times in a week – something that I ordinary do over a period of three weeks. By taking on this mystery shopping assignment, I managed to travel to my parents’, who live hundreds of miles away, two times practically for free, and spend some happy moments together – something that usually happens once or twice a year. Therefore, mystery shopping can give people some flexibility and extra resources to do something that can either provide more comfort in their lifestyle, or can simply ensure some more happy moments and entertainment.

Potential mystery shoppers have to be forewarned of the lurking mystery shopper scams out there. But in the same time, mystery shopping should be embraced as an activity that makes real impact in the world of customer service. Various companies – small, medium and large businesses rely on mystery shoppers’ feedback to evaluate the true advantages of their customer service and to better attune their services to the needs of their customers. Mystery shopping is a powerful market research mechanism and brings meaningful results to businesses that employ it. Therefore, mystery shopping is a responsible, yet entertaining, occupation that helps both businesses and secret customers share in the benefits of improved customer service, innovated products and better consumer environment.

Mike Smith

http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/the-abc-of-mystery-shopping-be-prepared-before-you-venture-into-mystery-shopping-121147.html