This is a time-intensive occupation, this mystery shopping thing. I remember in the early days spending hours looking for jobs on a hundred or more job boards, trying to see what I could cobble together into a worthwhile route, then more time sending emails asking for bonuses, then getting on the mapping software and figuring…
Last month I wrote about tips for preparing for a mystery shopping video shoot. This month’s column gives tips for producing good video and audio once at the shoot. Something elementary but crucial to remember is to get your camera in place and make sure it is on before entering your shop location. If you…
Mercantile Systems Inc. (MSI) is a privately owned company, headquartered in Brentwood, CA. It was founded, in 1954, by Robert Cosgrove and focused totally on mystery shopping. Today, MSI also offers its clients a multitude of other services, such as compliance audits, sales improvement programs, training seminars, employee theft monitoring and management and much more….
Company Overview: Serving Rocky and Cascade mountain areas of the United States. The origins of this company are in a product and in-store demonstration company that started in Utah in the 1970s. That company serviced clients in the Rocky Mountain states. By the turn of the century, they had noticed an unmet demand for mystery…
A Closer Look has been a part of the mystery shopping industry since 1994. Based in Norcross, Georgia, their mission is “facilitating a renaissance in service by delivering outstanding feedback…” From the information I could find, this company only has assignments in the United States. They have shops in nearly all industries, including restaurants of…
Written by BBird0701 A few years ago, my husband got into woodworking. I blame myself. I had hobbies, he didn’t, and he wanted one. He took something he knew a lot about, canoe paddles, and decided he wanted to learn how to make them. After buying a few tools for his new hobby, and only…
With apologies to Charlton Heston… Thou shalt not be memorable. Being memorable, either in appearance or scenario, can restrict your shopping opportunities, especially if you are on a rotation at the same location. Thou shalt allow the target to lead. On mystery shops we have to give the target the opportunity to lead. We are…
Company Overview: A one client company? Although their website promotes service to multiple industries, Ardent is known to shoppers for serving one fast casual restaurant client. This MSPA member company is more than 20 years and headquartered in Colorado. Payment is made by direct deposit on the 20th of the month following the shop. Shops…
I’ll start off by admitting that, as a professional photographer, I am biased towards the versatility of cameras, be they point and shoot or DSLR. At the same time, I have used my phone when a discreet picture needs to be taken. Even so, there are times when I have found the versatility of a…
Editors note: This is a discussion of the Scheduler of the Year Contest recently hosted by Mystery Shop Forum. During the contest, dozens of schedulers and companies were recognized for their great work. I encourage you to read the nominations here. When I first saw the Mystery Shop Forum thread ‘Scheduler of the Year,’ I…
Written by Dspeakes It will be here before you know it. You’ll start getting those envelopes in the mail with “Important Tax Document Enclosed” printed on the outside. There will be ads for Turbo Tax on TV. There will be H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, and Liberty Tax shops and audits on the shop boards. And…