Author: lford

In a perfect world, there are no deadlines or requests for work extensions, but until the mystery shopping utopia world comes to fruition, shoppers will, on occasion, need to request an extension to finalize a shop.

Life in the workplace does not always go as plan, and occasionally you have to request an extension date to complete a mystery shopping job. Most customer service representatives will accommodate at least one extension to complete a job if you have a valid reason. Most mystery shopping companies want a fast turn around time on their shops and also want their jobs done within the same month that they were released from their website or representative.

However, unavoidable situations can occur and valid reasons for an extension can range from inability to contact the targeted employee, a minor emergency, or miscommunication between the shopper or customer service representative. If you want your customer service representatives to always think of you when assigning shops, then completing your assignments on time and submitting an error-free report will associate your work as a positive shopper who gets their work done.

But if a situation occurs, and it will, ensure when you request an extension, carefully, and politely explain your reasons for a short extension to complete an assignment to your customer service representative. Most of the time, you should not have a problem obtaining an extension to complete your assignment. If you do not get an extension granted, do not become discouraged or upset with your customer service representative. Make sure you keep your communication friendly with your representative at all times and just move forward in requesting new jobs to keep you busy.

According to the latest statistics by Global Workplace Analytics, Telecommuting, or working at home, instead of driving to the office, has grown 103% by 2005 and in 2014 increased by 6.5%.

With technology increasing, this opportunity to work at home has become more favorable for companies to invest in Telecommuting friendly programs toward their workers working at home instead of commuting to the office. Fortune 1000 companies are continually revamping their office environment to accommodate telecommuting due to more mobile and technological devices designed to work home.

As a mystery shopper, Telecommuting has always been utilized and with the latest growing trend to expand this work environment, this has allowed more companies to utilize mystery shoppers to perform more jobs. No longer are mystery shopping programs relegated to the bottom of the office list for innovative work options. Telecommuting has impacted mystery shopping and has caused the pay to increase for shoppers since a vast network of work options are now available for employees who work at home.

The positive aspect of Telecommuting allows the stay at home parent who still must attend to her children or the student who needs to return to college, but must still work part-time to earn a decent wage, benefits both of them. Telecommuting with mystery shopping jobs offers flexibility and assists those who are between finding full-time jobs or those who want additional work before or after their regular work hours.

With laptops, I-Pad, and voice activated options, you can complete your mystery shopping report comfortably at the nearest coffee house, or other cafes, restaurants, or even at your friend’s house, since most places offer Wi-Fi connections. Telecommuting has expanded the options for mystery shopping and no longer is solely work performed only at home, but can be completed at any location that has an Internet connection. So socialize and have fun while you earn extra money with mystery shopping.

It is a new year and many have the goal of being the best.  Some want to be the best at everything,  so why not aim to be the best mystery shopper as well.

In order for you to do this, there are five core principles you must follow in order to be a great mystery shopper.

Know the Shop Details
It is extremely important to read through all of your accepted shop details prior to the shop. It would also be a smart idea to check for updates on the day of the shop.Knowing the details of the shop will allow you to be more comfortable in your role while completing the shop.If it is your first shop or first few, it will feel a bit awkward yet trust you will get used to this process. Remember that many of the shops are actual places that you would shop or frequent in real life.

Complete the Shop on Time
There is nothing worse than completely a shop late. This causes issues not only for the mystery shopping company yet any deadlines the company who hired the mystery shopping company has set to incorporate improvements.Remember to mark your calendar once you apply for and accept a shop.Now, if an emergency arises, this is out of your control, just be sure to let your mystery shopping company know ASAP so that they can find someone to cover your spot and keep the deadline.

Submit a Thoughtful and Detailed Report
This is core of a great mystery shopper.

Stay a Secret/Mystery
You have been a customer most of your life. This is nothing new.As a child, you along with your parents were the customer of a daycare or school. As an adult, you are the customer of grocery stores, movie theatres, malls, apartment complexes, and many more businesses.The only difference is that you are paying closer attention to their customer service process or whatever you are assigned to assess to provide feedback to the company.Focus on the fact that you get to provide invaluable insight to a company that actually wants to improve their customer service rather than if you can remember all of the small details.Remember to follow the first core, which is to review and know the shop details. This will allow you to know exactly what you do and do not need to focus on to complete the shop.

Accept More Mystery Shops
The more mystery shops you accept, the more the mystery company will get to know you and your ability to complete successful shops.

Overall, if you follow these 5 core principles, you will be an in demand mystery shopper.

You have started off of the year strong. You have probably completed a couple of mystery shops and gotten really excited.

Now you see yourself slowing down because you are getting busy with life things. The kids are back in school, the weather has been crazy, and you have projects piling up at work. To say the least, time is slim.

Here are a couple of ways you may be able to keep up  your mystery shopping momentum

Decide How Many Shops You Want to Complete
Take some time to decide how many mystery shops you can complete each week or month. That is all. This number may change from month to month yet you will know early on how many shops you can truly complete.

Sign up for automatic notification
Many mystery shopping companies have an email list. Make sure you are on the list so that you can be notifications.
This way you do not have to remember to check the mystery shopping company’s website to see what shops they have available.

What’s better is that many of the mystery shopping companies will include the shops in your area in the actual e-mail.

Mark Your Calendar
Once you see a shop that you want. Apply for it. After you apply for the shop and receive your acceptance for the shop then put the date on your calendar immediately.

This will ensure you do not complete the shop late or worse, completely forget about it.

If you are a techie person, add the mystery shop date to your Google calendar, outlook calendar or cellphone calendar.

These are two easy, set it and forget it ways to keep your mystery shopping momentum. We make time for whatever we truly want to do.

It is bound to happen; you run into that difficult target shopper who refuses to provide the information needed to complete your shop or maybe even the mystery shopper website representatives seem to provide conflicting information. Remember to always double check.  Conflicts and misunderstandings routinely happen in business communication and performing mystery shopping jobs are no exception.

When faced with a target mystery shopping employee who will not answer or ask certain questions, ensure you first give them the opportunity to complete their presentation. If the mystery shopper employee still refuses to ask a question, then most employers do not mind shoppers to give them prompts to address your question.

If you encounter a target employee or website administrator that states different information then what was provided by the shopper website, then just ask about the differing statement to the target employee in a subtle way. For example, if they say they have no vacancies and then remain silent, ask if you can visit their grounds or if they have any pictures of sample apartments to show. If the information still differs from the requirements given, always double check with the website representative about the information given before you spend more time to complete this shop. The shop requirements could be erroneous and you do not want to spend more than a few minutes in resolving this problem.

If you perform a job based on the argument that, “But she or he said this”, or, “The representative said this” information, and you input this information into the final submission form, you could lose the entire job. It is always better to double check with the website administrator before spending more time on your shop.