Mystery Shopping Tips – Don’t Blow Your Cover!

One of the many important mystery shopping tips for any shop contract for a customer service representative is to come up with a believable story that will set the stage for them to sell you on their product or service. Companies want to know how well their associates are performing, but to be fair mystery shoppers should be engaged and present a real-life situation.

Mystery Shopper

This means being involved in the customer service interaction, asking questions, presenting concerns, and coming across as genuinely interested.

To create a plausible story, try these mystery shopping tips:

  1. Be believable:  Whatever mystery shopper story you conjure up should probably be something that’s either happened to you before or is happening to you now. Once, I signed up for a shop near the airport, but I had just started seeing a pilot, so I pretended he wanted me to move closer to the airport. That way when I was asked what airline he worked for, I wasn’t caught off guard.
  2. Be involved: Ask questions that are appropriate to the sale. You might ask about reviews by others, what type of warranty or guarantees are offered, etc.
  3. Be real: Prospects want to feel like they are making a good buying decision. So they drill down to what is important to them. Some ask about the area or if it’s a safe place to live. You can easily work these into the conversation when you tie back into your personal situation – like saying there are a lot of break-ins where you live now or how the last TV you bought was broken in less than six months. People who really are looking to buy will ask questions that indicate they care.
  4. Be particular: Don’t just roll over and play “sold”. Real customers don’t give in right away on big purchase decisions, so neither should a mystery shopper.  Everyone has something special they want their new phone to do, or some particular feature or layout design they want in a new apartment home. Don’t be afraid to ask for it.
  5. Be hesitant: It’s important to see how a professional tries to overcome any obstacles that creep up. So, if you’re not feeling it 100% when the salesperson makes their presentation (and remember as a mystery shopper you shouldn’t be), say so. You wish it came in black, you’d rather have a first floor, you think the location is too far away from your job, or something else. If they are really good, they’ll have a positive they can counter any negative with, even if they can’t really fix your gripe. For the sales agent, it’s all about selling the pros and downplaying any cons!

Feel free to check out our other mystery shopping tips, too.

Mystery Shopping Tips

An experienced mystery shopper could win an Oscar, but even beginners can hone their mystery shopping skills starting with their very first mystery shop contract. When you’re convincing, it allows the person you are shopping to be just as convincing in their attempt to sell you.  Come back for additional mystery shopping tips in the future.

 

Mystery Shopping the Maintenance Man

When the leasing office is busy, there may be times that the office team cannot handle all the guest traffic. In fact, they may not even realize a maintenance person had stepped in to help a customer until after the prospect has come and gone. Yes, when a customer wanders into the office only to find that everyone is out on tour and only one of the maintenance associates happens to have stopped into the office, guess what might happen.

Continue reading “Mystery Shopping the Maintenance Man”

Is Your Perception the Only Reality?

While the mainstay of any mystery shop is the factual, objective feedback provided by Yes/No questions on a report, sometimes mystery shoppers are asked about their customer experience. If that is the case, then they should lend their opinion and perspective to the mystery shop.

Reality vs. PerceptionThis graphic pretty much sums up what the mystery shopper’s perspective might be in contrast to that of the person being mystery shopped. Always remember, each of us has our own point of view. That’s why it’s important on any mystery shop contract you conduct to only give your opinion when you are asked for it. Otherwise, your job is to be objective in your report and only give the facts.

 

7 Mystery Shopping Tips

How to Enhance Your Recall During and After Your Shop

7 mystery shopping tips

One of the biggest challenges we face as shoppers is remembering all of the details for our reports and recounting them accurately and objectively.   The mystery shopping tips provided here are from actual mystery shoppers, and should help enhance your experiences.

I must admit, I was a little overwhelmed after my first on-site mystery shop.   I opened the report, and my stomach was in knots.  I remember thinking, “How can I possibly remember everything, and how can I submit a report if I DON’T remember everything exactly as it was?”  I said to myself, “This is like filling out a Police report!”  The Who, What, Where, When, and How of mystery shopping can be intimidating.

Mystery Shopping

Well, the truth is, you probably cannot, and will not, remember every single detail, no matter what you do.   But, do not lose heart.  You can stack the deck in your favor by practicing a few simple techniques.  Your mind is a wonderful, amazing thing.  You’ll remember more than you think you will, even if you do not take specific steps to enhance your memory.   Here are some tips I use to maximize my potential for remembering more and for getting to a place where it becomes completely natural, almost second nature.  What we say in our mystery shopping reports matters, especially to the employee who is being evaluated.  Taking a few moments to increase your ability to remember can make a big difference in the quality of your mystery shopping reports.

Here are a few things that I have found help me, and I hope they will be useful for you too!

 

Mystery shopping tip #1

  • When I arrive on-site, I never just hop out of the car.  Always check the time and make a note of it before leaving the car.  You may think you will remember, but you may not.  Don’t take a chance – get into the habit of checking the time and writing it down every time you arrive on-site for a shop.  (Subsequently, when you return to the car after the shop, get into the routine of checking the time again and writing it down before starting your car.  You will thank yourself later when you are doing your mystery shopping report!

 

Mystery shopping tip #2

  • Repeat a few things to yourself silently while you are there.  I make a note of, and repeat to myself, the employee’s hair and eye color, and I actually say to myself, silently of course, “Blonde and blue,” or, “Bald and brown.”  You get the idea.  You will be surprised at how well this simple technique works and how it can help you to remember the details about the employee’s appearance.  Again, you think you will never forget but can find yourself straining to remember just a few hours later (especially if you go directly from one shop to another).

 

Mystery shopping tip #3

  • Once I have made a point to remember what color the consultant’s eyes and hair are, and what they are wearing, I look for a name tag.  Have you ever left a shop and realized that you did not notice, or do not remember this?  Get into the habit of looking for it, and soon you will be doing it without even thinking about it!

 

Mystery shopping tip #4

  • I look around and make a mental note about my surroundings.  I actually say to myself, “Dark wood desk, blue walls, and brown patterned carpet.”  This sounds simplistic, but there is something about the act of looking at these things and describing them to yourself briefly and silently, or making a “mental note” as a conscious act, that goes a long way toward helping your brain to “do its thing”.   So often, we see, but don’t REALLY SEE what is right in front of us!

 

Mystery shopping tip #5

  • I try to LISTEN attentively, pay attention to what they say, what questions they ask, how they interact with me as a customer.  Again, LISTEN, AND MAKE MENTAL NOTES ABOUT WHAT IS SAID.  It is possible to get caught up in the shop and realize when you leave that you did not make a conscious effort to notice important components of the shop.  If you just pay attention, listen, and make mental notes to last until you can pull over and actually make written notes, your mystery shopping reports will be more detailed, complete, and accurate.

 

Mystery shopping tip #6

  • Give every employee the best opportunity to succeed and to shine during your shop.  Don’t do or say anything to discourage them.  The employee’s success depends on you to remember when they do something right and to report it.  Give them your full attention and you will decrease the likelihood of forgetting something important.

 

Mystery shopping tip #7

  • After getting in the car, jotting down the time, and leaving the location, find a place to pull over out of sight to make notes about the employee’s appearance and any other details you can remember. You can use shorthand as long as you know you can read it later! Any notes you make right after the tour will be extremely helpful to you later when you are completing your mystery shopping report.

 

See other mystery shopping tips from the pros at Ellis partners in Mystery shopping since 1984.

Finally, relax and have fun!  Mystery shopping provides you with an opportunity to meet new people and to experience things you might not otherwise!  Give it your full attention and allow the employee to do their best.

 

Sandra S-