There are several strategies that you can use to make your apartment mystery shopping experience easier to report and get accepted.
Recorded shops
Did you know that recorded shops, whether it is over the phone or at the property, offer you help when you are completing your report? Once the call and/or visit are recorded, listening to that recording can help you complete your report accurately, without having the stress of remembering what happened with the shop. Conducting recorded apartment mystery shops is a way to ease your stress of having to remember and in some cases, provides additional proof that you completed your shop. Tips for recorded shops:
- Start your audio or video recording before leaving your car
- State the property name and/or shop number as well as the date and time
- Remember to not shut the recording off until you have reached your car again
- For video (camera) recordings, make sure you have a good angle for the camera
- Try it out at home before going to see what the angle is recording and if you can hear the audio as well
- Try a sitting and standing position to help evaluate if it is a good angle
- Do not constantly touch the camera- once it is angled appropriately, leave it
Back up documentation
Back up documentation is another way you can reduce the stress of getting your report accepted. Back up documentation would be floor plans, pictures of the property sign and/or of the apartment or amenities, pictures of the “We will return sign” that are date and time stamped for multiple times you were waiting, business cards, fee sheets or any other documentation where the leasing professional has written their name or made handwritten notes on.
- Do remember that photos of staff members and/or residents are not acceptable back up documentation
- Also, if you are completing a non-recorded shop, an audio recording is also not considered acceptable as the recording can not be sent with the report
- Go ahead an upload your back up documents prior to filling out the report so you don’t forget to include them
Avoiding distractions
Another way to make your apartment mystery shopping experience easier is to avoid as many distractions as possible. Try to make calls is a quiet environment without loud talking, loud TV or radio, etc. Also, try to complete the shop without taking additional people with you. Other distractions can include squeezing in a bunch of shops with back-to-back times may make you feel anxious and then less focused on the shop you should currently be engaged with. When completing the report, again, listen to the audio to help you complete the report, if it is a recorded shop. If it is a non-recorded shop, try to complete the report the same day you visited so you can best remember what happened.
These strategies are intended to help reduce the stress of shop completion and increase your accuracy.