Did you know that an Ellis Mystery Shop is not complete when you submit your report? The leasing professionals you shop are scored on their telephone presentation, their onsite presentation, and any follow up contacts they make after your visit. These contacts (or lack of them) have a great impact on the score the community and the leasing agent receive for that shop. What are some things you can do to ensure the follow up score is fair and accurate?
- Don’t ever decline to give your contact information or say that you prefer not to be contacted. It is generally required that a community follow up with you. If you are asked if you have a preferred method of contact, just say that any method is fine with you. Don’t give the impression that you do not wish to hear back from anyone after the shop.
- Always provide valid contact information. We understand you may sometimes vary your name or phone number between shops to avoid becoming known as a shopper, but the contact information you give must always be valid. If you have used your own phone number for numerous shops, perhaps you could use a relative’s phone number or a work number to receive contact. You can set up additional free email addresses at yahoo or gmail. Just be sure you remember how to log in to the account so you can check for any emails from the community.
- Check your spam folder for any missed emails. Check your phone for any missed calls or voice mails from the property. Remember that the caller id may not show up exactly as the name of the community. If you see a missed call or find a voice mail from a community you have shopped, please award credit for the contact.
- If you speak with a leasing professional in a follow-up call, do not say that you have already leased elsewhere. Just say that you are still looking. You don’t want to shut down any further contacts that could impact her score.
- Please report any follow-up contacts that you receive at the bottom of your shopper dashboard. Scroll to the bottom of your shopper home page and you will see any shops awaiting follow up reporting. Click on the exclamation mark next to the name of the shop. You will enter a “yes” or “no” for each of the three types of follow up individually – phone, email, and mail. You won’t be able to enter a “no” for any of the three types of follow up until it has been 5 days after the visit, but that will not cause your report to be considered late.
- If you receive a late follow up after your report has been finalized, please email followup@gracehill.com the type and date of the contact. We will be happy to add that to your report.
The last few points on a shopping report that are awarded for follow up contacts often make a huge difference in the score of a mystery shopping report.
Welcome to shopping with EPMS! If you’re new, let’s learn all the things you can find and do with your login. If you’ve been shopping for a while, maybe you will discover something you didn’t know before. In either case, your EPMS profile account is an excellent resource to you with invaluable tools and information. 
It does not matter whether you are a new mystery shopper or you have been doing this for years; you can grow your skills at any level of your mystery shopping career. To be the best at anything, you need to focus and grow your skill set. This takes time and dedication, yet it does not have to take all of your time. If you are strategic and plan accordingly, you can get a lot done in a small amount of time.
Becoming a successful mystery shopper is simple, yet you must focus on three basic keys to make this happen.