Mystery Shopping – Fact or Fiction? Is It A Reality Or A Scam?

If you’re like most people, when you hear about mystery shopping, you think that it’s not real. Nobody actually gets paid to mystery shop, right?  Yes they do. Secret shopping is a legitimate business, but you’re half right. There are a lot of scams out there. You need to be sure you’ve got the real deal.

So just how does one secretly shop and why? The answer to that is that there are a lot of companies and businesses out there that want to know how they’re doing. They want to know what the customer experience is in their stores.  They want to know how certain things are handled, like complaints and returns. Is the customer being treated courteously and their complaint resolved to their satisfaction or their return handled in the proper manner?

Sometimes they just want to see if their marketing strategies are working or if they need to be updated or tweaked. This is a little harder for the secret shopper to do because it involves a fair evaluation of what appeals to them that brings them into the store and compels them to buy.

Some businesses will hire people to pose as customers to rate their customer service employees. These secret “customers” can be completely unbiased in their evaluation of your employees. Sometimes it can show an exemplary employee that has been taken for granted because they never speak up or demand anything. Or, on the other hand, it can show an employee that lacks the skills that are necessary to keep good customers.

One thing that is important to remember is that with mystery shopping it is imperative to respect confidentiality. Sometimes you can collect some sensitive data that needs to be protected.

One area of business that is prospering today is the travel industry. Hotels are big business today, for both business and pleasure travelers. So, that means they are very likely to hire secret shoppers to evaluate their chain of hotels. Now this gives new meaning to the phrase “It’s a dirty job but somebody’s got to do it.”  Meaning of course, we would all love to have an assignment like that. Most large hotel chains will go the extra mile to keep customers coming back and to gain new ones. That’s where the undercover shoppers come in. They will give you an idea of what new services you can provide for your guests that they can’t get elsewhere. Hotels are rated very differently from other businesses. An undercover shopper will note everything from check-in services to amenities provided to housekeeping services.

For those of us who love to shop, and most of us do, this can be a great career or part-time occupation. There are many legitimate companies hiring and finding one that suits your needs should be easy if you’re willing to do the research. Just make sure that the service you apply to is one that is affiliated with a national association.

A mystery shopper can evaluate many types of businesses, hotel chains, restaurants and retail outlets. Anyone looking to become a mystery shopper should research all reputable shopping service companies.  It is becoming a very lucrative occupation as competition between businesses soars.

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