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.