Shopping Services

There are numerous associations dedicated to the employment and support of Secret Shoppers or Mystery Shoppers. These associations provide resources and assistance to people who want to enter or are already a part of the industry, and provide services to thousands of business setups and clients. Most of the big ones like MSPA (Mystery Shopper Providers Association) have extended their membership worldwide and are growing bigger everyday.

The MSPA (www.mysteryshop.org) is one of the biggest professional trade associations and sources that involve the recruitment of Secret Shoppers. It has more than 150 member companies around the world, which includes marketing research and merchandising companies, private investigation firms, training organizations and companies that specialize in providing mystery shopping services.

The National Shopping Service (www.nationalshoppingservice.com) has been an association of Mystery Shopping Providers since 1972. It is also the provider of a set of audit, feedback and inspection services, market research and analytics. NSS has employed more than 200,000 Secret Shoppers Worldwide.

The IMSA or International Mystery Shopper Association (www.imsa.org) aims to extend its Secret Shopping activities worldwide, both for local and international projects. The IMSA is the largest network of individually recruited and trained Secret Shoppers, and has over 500,000 shoppers making 1,000,000 visits a year.

Beginning in the 1980s, Bare Associates International (www.baiservices.com) has now more than 112,000 certified Secret Shoppers worldwide. BAI has its international office in Antwerp, Belgium. It has over 4500 financial, hotel, retail, health & fitness, golf course, residential, automotive and restaurant clients around the world. The corporate office of BAI is located at Fairfax, VA.

These are some of the largest Secret Shopper Associations with membership of more than 100 companies. Other big associations include National Center for Professional Mystery Shoppers and Merchandisers, QualityWorks Associates, Pinkerton Field Research Services, National Shopping Service Network, LLC etc.

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Mystery shopping is a secret way to test the performance of your employees. Many businesspersons assume that the success of an organization depends on advertising and marketing or on creating a brand name. However, brand awareness or popularity is not the end of the story. It not only attracts potential customers but also provides what a business enterprise needs to convert potential customers into regular customers. The next step is to retain these customers. In order to retain a customer, you would need to offer them quality services consistently. The experience of a client at your store will decide his level of satisfaction. A business should pay attention to the customer’s experience. Every business aims at earning the loyalty of customers. Nothing can beat mouth to mouth publicity of a product or service that too by loyal customers. Mystery shopping can be of great help when a business enterprise sells products. You can check the quality of service offered by the staff to your clients. This technique checks the satisfaction level of your customers. It is said that, happy and satisfied customers will remain loyal and bring in more customers. Indeed, this method of testing your employees is the best since it is done secretly. Here are some benefits of shopping mystery.

Benefits

Before we discuss the benefits of this technique, let us understand how mystery shopping works. When a business enterprise decides to check the performance of their business, they will hire the services of a mystery shop company. A trained mystery shopper will visit your retail outlet or your office as a regular customer. He will behave like a regular client and ask for various services or products. He will observe the behavior of the staff and check qualities like pro-activeness, willingness to help, alertness, approachability etc. He will make note of the behavior and the treatment. He will also observe other customers and how they are being treated. All this is done in a discreet manner. After the personal visit, the mystery shopper will prepare a detailed report about his experience. It will include suggestions and advice that can help you improve your business. Here are some benefits of mystery shopping.

Customer treatment – Once you know how the staff treats your customers, you can impart them training to handle the customers efficiently. Remember that the customer carries his experience after leaving the shop or store. A happy customer will spread the word, which can earn you publicity.

Review the training imparted to staff – If you think that the existing training imparted to the employees is not up to the mark, you can redefine the training needs and train them better. The report submitted by mystery shopping will contain suggestions.

Identifying the mistake – Sometimes, everything seems to be perfect yet the business may not do well. At such times, it is important to identify where the business is going wrong. This technique will help you identify the mistake and correct the same. For instance, customers who wish to exchange the product may not be treated well and this may deter them from visiting again.

Most consumers have, at some point, been subjected to poor customer service. Unfortunately, some consumers have encountered discrimination during an apartment search, a banking transaction, or other regulated service industry. Frustrated or angry, they may vent to friend or family but rarely report the incident to senior management. Customer service that is less than excellent is a major concern to most companies and even the hint of discrimination will have senior managers scrambling to resolve the issue. Management in most companies prefers heading off potential problems rather than losing customers or facing lawsuits.

In an effort to prevent problems, mystery shopping companies are employed to send shoppers out to play the role of a consumer and assess specific services and behaviors. Pointing out problems encountered during this role play gives the company an opportunity to make adjustments. The mystery shopper plays a significant part in insuring that consumers receive appropriate service and proper treatment. Legitimate mystery shopping companies and professional shoppers definitely have a positive impact on consumers. Mystery shoppers are used throughout the world. The scope of these secret shoppers touches almost every industry and both online and brick and mortar stores. Shoppers are frequently found in the service sector; a few examples: banks, investment brokers, medical groups, new car dealers, new home sales, and yes, even the U. S. Post Office. Apartment communities, banks and investment brokers rely on shoppers to evaluate both customer service and compliance issues. The entertainment industry depends on shoppers to evaluate casinos, theme parks, hotels and restaurants.

Most companies have established guidelines and standards for employees to follow. Employees are required to meet specific goals and to treat consumers according to the guidelines. Many companies, banking, financial investment companies and the apartment industry, are also subject to state and federal rules and regulations. Evaluations conducted by experienced mystery shoppers result in reports that inform management about the level of customer service and whether standards have been met.

Reports provided by mystery shopping companies to the ultimate company client alert management of deficiencies or problems. The reports also inform management when standards have been met or exceeded by employees. These reports can then be used by management to provide additional training to employees or, if necessary, take corrective action. It also enables management to reward the employees that met or exceeded established standards. Many companies use the mystery shopper’s report as part of the employee reviews, merit increases and bonuses.

The report provided to the company is an important tool that enables the company to assess and insure excellent customer service. The company can also determine whether state and federal regulations have been followed and, as a result, the rights of consumers have been protected. Companies value customers and rely on the feedback from secret shoppers to improve customer service and strengthen the behaviors of employees that generate customer satisfaction. As a consumer, when you receive excellent customer service, the company probably has a mystery shopping program in place and shoppers visit on a regular basis to insure that real consumers feel valued and appreciated. The mystery shopping program results in profits for the company through customer retention and the consumer benefits by receiving stellar customer service.

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The best way to run a business would be to be there on hand and inspect daily interactions. In large businesses this is not possible. So, secret shopping agencies provide a very useful service. Their shoppers do what you would have liked to do. Instructions from clients are carefully incorporated and shoppers are instructed accordingly. Trained shoppers hired by legitimate secret shopping companies are capable of providing valuable feedback.

There are several legitimate secret shopper agencies that are set up to function like any other business. These companies have a huge database of secret shoppers. The use of their services helps businesses get a lot of real-time feedback. A lot of improvements are made in their style of functioning based no secret shopper feedback.

Legitimate secret shopping agencies take their services one step further by analyzing their data and using it to offer customized solutions. They do not offer just facts and figures but real solutions that work. Several tools for improvement are provided along with the feedback to the client. Legitimate secret shopper agencies train their personnel based on the anticipated problem areas and then try to pinpoint the source of the problems.

Legitimate secrets shopping companies accept applications from new applicants on a regular basis. They need a very wide database of shoppers as they cannot send the same people to the same place all the time. This kind of a job needs no previous experience. There is no obligation on a secret shopper to accept an assignment. Adequate training is provided to new recruits.

Several scams involving secret shopping agencies have been reported in the media. Legitimate secret shopping agencies provide a lot of information on how you should evaluate such companies. They tell you what to look out for and how to smell a scam. Enough information is provided for you to be able to tell a scam from the real one. Websites hosted by secret shopping companies provide a valuable mine of information that can be used to familiarize oneself with all that can go wrong in a scam scenario. Similar information that is oriented towards protecting unsuspecting secret shoppers from such scams is also provided.

Secret shopping is a concept that has become very popular as competition gets heated in all fields. Uncompromising quality is the only thing that keeps a business far ahead of its competitors. Secret shoppers’ services help in strengthening this particular aspect.

Talk is cheap the saying goes. But cell phone service can cost big dough, If you ask the right questions, And take smart suggestions, You can talk cheaper than you know.

There’s a mind-boggling amount of cell phone plans and services available these days. Cell phone ads promising bigger, bolder and better features blare at us every day. The question then becomes, “Which plan is right for me?”

I’ll give you tips on what to look for in a plan, what to ask your service provider and how to avoid common mistakes that new subscribers often make!

I. First, ask yourself “What do I want in a plan?”

Finding the right cellular plan is just a matter of deciding what, when, where and how you plan to use your phone:

- Will you be using it only for emergencies, or to chat with friends or family often?

- Will you make most of your calls during the day, evening, or on weekends?

- Will your calls be coming from your local area, or will you phone while traveling?

- What is your monthly budget for telephone services?

II. Getting the Most Minutes for your Money

Cell phone plans often come with a pre-allotted set of minutes each month. This may or may not match with a “minute” of time. It all depends on factors such as where you are when you make the call, calling a long-distance number and so on. When you use up your minutes, you face paying an overage fee or paying a higher amount for the extra minutes. With many plans, the minutes you don’t use do not automatically roll over to the next month. So if you only used 30 minutes out of your 90-minute monthly allotment, you don’t get to keep the 60 minutes you didn’t use that month. You simply start over at 90 again.

Some other important differences to note in cell phone plans (as versus traditional telephone service) that you’ll want to keep in mind when comparison shopping include:

- You may find your minutes used up for both incoming and outgoing calls

- Calling a toll-free number can cost you minutes

- The amount of time you’ve spent on a call rounds up. So if you spent 3 minutes and 5 seconds on a call, you may find you’ve used 4 minutes.

- The clock starts ticking on your minutes used when you press the “Call” or “Send” button, not the moment the other person picks up.

Most cellular service providers have a special phone number or web site address where you can login to check the number of minutes you have remaining each month. Keep in mind though, depending on how often the accounts or web site updates, the numbers may not always be current.

Long -Distance, Dropped Calls and Roaming – Oh My!

When choosing a wireless plan, keep in mind where you’ll be using your phone most often.

Some service providers have nationwide coverage, while others target a specific “home area”. If you make or receive a call outside this area, you’re “Roaming”, and your minutes may run out faster or you may face an extra charge. Know the boundaries of your calling area – or you could pay for long-distance and roaming on top of the minutes spent during the call! Do you have a set of numbers that you dial often (such as friends, family, doctors and so on)? Ask the wireless provider if the cell phone plan you’re interested in will work in those locations – without accruing long-distance or roaming charges.

What To Ask Your Service Provider

If you’ve got a handful of good plans you’re considering, these questions may help narrow down the field of choices:

- Can I use my minutes anytime? Can I use them during “peak times” or am I charged more during those hours? (Peak times usually occur on weekends). When do “peak hours” start and end?

- How much extra am I charged if I go over my monthly allotment of minutes?

- How much will I have to pay for long-distance and/or roaming? (Some nationwide carriers do not charge for these services unless you call out of the country)

- What is your cancellation policy? What happens if I cancel early? Will I have to pay a cancellation fee after my plan activates? If so, how much?

- Can I make any changes to my plan (such as increasing or decreasing the number of minutes) after I activate the service?

- What other features come with my plan? (Such as voice mail, caller ID, email) and if not included, how much would they cost to add to my service?

Remember, get all of these answers in writing to protect yourself from surprises and gotcha clauses.

If you have several plans you’d like to try out, ask the service provider if there is a grace period where you can cancel your service without charge. Chances are, many wireless providers will be eager and happy to help you compare plans. Just remember to read the fine print before you sign!

Mystery Shopping is fast becoming one of the most fun and financially rewarding businesses in America, UK, Australia, and many other countries. It is commonly used in the clothing retail and jewelry shopping outlets, automotive repair shops, restaurants and other large corporate businesses.

Mystery shopping is critical to any business owners operations to accurately evaluate customer service standards from an outsider’s perspective. Mystery shopping is one of the most flexible and beneficial tools for data collection that exists to evaluate your business and employees. Mystery shopping is a method of market research used by large companies for the most part, because in larger corporations identifying where levels of customer service is lacking can be more difficult.

Mystery shopping is a great way to make a little extra money as a mystery shopper, eat out at some different restaurants, and get some free items. A mystery shopper is someone hired by a company to honestly and anonymously evaluate the quality of service they receive. The mystery shopper poses as a legitimate customer for a business and rates the customer service standards by filling out a detailed report after the shopping experience. The demographic data and specific shopping experiences of any mystery shopper is only as accurate as the mystery shopper entered it, however with advances in technology it has enabled mystery shopping services to also record video footage of the shopping experience, for record purposes and to come back to it for whatever reason for verification.

Mystery shopping is not only a powerful tool to evaluate the customer service standards of your own business operations, but is used as a method of research to identify what your competitors are offering in terms of service or products.

Internet shopping is shaping up. However today, internet shopping is a really significant part of the retail sector. Internet shopping is the new shopping experience of the future. Of course the other major hurdle for internet shopping is shipping charges, sometimes they are to expensive. The growth rate for Internet shopping is growing. Secure internet shopping is secure using encryption and ssl techniques. Internet shopping is easier, safer, and more convenient than at any point in its history. Internet shopping is fast becoming one of the easiest ways to buy almost anything you want. Internet shopping is a way of shopping that allows shopping for required products without going to the store physically. The Internet is great because people are able to shop 24 hours a day without having to leave their home or work.

The Internet is changing the wholesale/retail landscape daily. In today’s market the shopping sector is taking about a tenth of all retail shopping sales in the US, and the percentage in other countries is not as high. One reason we use the internet is to buy merchandise at a discount to retail.

One of the biggest benefits of shopping online is the convenience and access to more products and information 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Note that blocking all cookies prevents some online services from working, so you must allow cookies on your browser. Nearly 40 percent of remote workers said they use their work computers for Internet shopping. Be a smart shopper and use common sense when online shopping and just go ahead and enjoy your Internet shopping experience today. The more people that shop online, the bigger their expectations. The supermarket industry now services many customers through online food shopping over the Internet. We understand that shopping online can feel risky and uncertain.

The following tips will help ensure a safe Internet shopping. If you follow this advice on safe Internet shopping, this should not be a problem. All purchases are made through safe and secure servers. It’s safe to say SSL is extremely sophisticated software and safe. Always know where your cards are and keep them in a safe place.

The phenomenal success of online retailers such as Amazon and Expedia is proof that internet shopping is practiced – and trusted – by millions. Of course the other major hurdle for internet shopping is shipping charges, sometimes shipping is much more than the product. Whether we love it or hate it, Internet shopping is convenient, provides a wide choice and competitive prices. Internet shopping is a big time-saver. As mentioned above, Internet shopping is very much like conventional in-home shopping from catalogs or mail orders. Despite the toughening competition, Internet shopping is likely to continue to grow.

There are thousands of individual firms, shopping malls, stores, restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, and other sales and customer oriented outfit out there. All of them competing for customer’s attention and patronage. All vying for top of mind recall in becoming the shoppers’ choice.

One of the strategies that became possible in order for these companies to stay in competition shape is to find out what is happening inside their establishments from a customer’s point of view.

This gave birth to the mystery shopper.

Mystery shoppers, sometimes referred to as a secret shopper or a spotter are people hired by companies to shop in their stores. After undergoing trainings that will focus mainly on things that are to be observed, mystery shoppers are assigned to serve three main purposes.

1. To evaluate and observe how the staff assigned in shops carry out assigned functions.

At the start of assignments, secret shoppers are briefed on matters that they are expected to “spot”. Mainly, the issues are derived from the concerns of the business owners that want to:

- Improve customer relationship.

- Improve servicing.

- Update owners and managers on the manner that functions and tasks are carried out according to plans.

- Courtesy and discipline of employees.

- Honesty and integrity.

- Observance to other issues of concern.

2. And to evaluate and observe the store’s operation.

Another task of the mystery shopper is to observe and evaluate the operation of the store that includes:

The cleanliness and orderliness of the account.

Ease of shopping and traffic management.

Visibility, availability and pricing issues.

Merchandising updates.

Mainly however, secret shoppers give this observation from a shopper’s vantage point.

3. Filing of reports.

Reports to be filed are often in the form of checklists that the secret shopper fills out.

The mystery shopper does all of these without inviting recognition. In fact, secret shoppers, before given assignments signs agreements where reports and everything written on it are not to be disclosed.

To become a mystery shopper, one need to apply and register with a mystery shopper company, which are commonly available online. Registration is free which comes with manuals and training needed.

Earning is also good for mystery shoppers.

Since different companies require different level of service, the companies pay different rates. For example, a simple assignment on a salon that would take a couple of hours (even minutes) could pay more or less $10 while a more complicated job like shopping would rate $25. For starters, some companies offer $5 per work but will increase, as the mystery shopper gets better at the work. For more the more experienced, a day of shopping would fetch about $100.

Conditions and requirements are also easy. But because reports are the main turf of mystery shoppers, the main issues for a mystery shopper not to make the grade is when reports are not submitted on time or are incomplete

Mystery shoppers, also enjoys perks that are usually not available to regular employees. Mystery shoppers are reimbursed on items that were shopped (usually upon presentation together with the reports), they dine, watch the latest movie, fix their cars, and have their hair done. All for free. Mystery shopping services also covers cruise liners, department store, fitness centers or health clubs, casino, service centers, salons, banks, homebuilders, amusement centers and parks, and more. The mystery shopper enjoys them all while getting paid.

With the increase in the number of applicants for Secret Shopping Jobs, numerous Companies have come up to provide employment opportunities and resources to Secret Shoppers. These Companies provide information and assistance to people who want to enter or are already a part of the industry, and many of them have extended their service internationally.

Service Intelligence, Inc. (www.serviceintelligence.com) is one of the largest Secret Shopper Companies and forerunners of retail industry related to customer care evaluation. It has offices in the United States, Canada and partners around the world. The company’s website features self-assigning of choice shops and submission of reports online.

ServiceCheck (Servicecheck.com) offers Secret shopping services to a number of industries which include fast food, gas stations, convenience stores, restaurant (casual & fine dining), and general retail. In 2003, ServiceCheck had performed 300,000 audits since the company had started.

Founded in 1993, Sensors Quality Management Inc or SQM (www.sqm.ca) provides evaluations relating to issues of quality, service, cleanliness and value. It has employed Secret shoppers in about 18 countries around the World. SQM main clients include airlines, hotels, restaurants, retailers and banks.

Mystique Shopper (www.mystiqueshopper.com)’s client base includes national Restaurant Chains, Car Dealerships, Hotels, Jewelry Stores, Casinos, Retail Clothing, Cellular Wireless Providers and Specialty Chains.

Check Mark, Inc. (www.checkmarkinc.com) is a national organization located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It has clients in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico which include industries such as Banking, Retail, Restaurant, Entertainment and Leisure.

Established in 1984, Ellis Property Management Services (EPMS) (www.epmsonline.com) provides executive-level management and marketing consulting services to the multifamily industry. It also serves both the apartment owner/investor and the property management company.

Shop’n Chek International (www.shopnchek.com) has been providing Secret Shopper Services for over 34 years. It is known for using innovative technologies such as Interactive Voice Response Surveys, also known as IVR customer surveys which can appear as both web surveys and telephone surveys.