Company Overview: Service Excellence Group, aka Service X, is a, “customer experience measurement and solutions provider” based in St. Louis Missouri. In 1996, CEO Marci Bolshorn. “began a journey – a mission of personal importance – to share her passion for exceptional service delivery nationwide.” Today this company offers a variety of services including customer feedback, brand audits, consulting and mystery shopping. It serves a variety of industries with shops in much of the United States including Hawaii. Additionally, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were listed as options on it’s Sassie job board. Preferred shoppers for this company have have MSPA certification and IC Pro registration. Summit Scheduling Company is their choice for scheduling. Payments are processed using Paypal. They are processed on the 20th of each month for shops finalized and accepted by the client. Service X maintains a Facebook page and a Twitter account. Shoppers may visit their site here, http://www.
Personal Experience: I have performed not quite a dozen shops for this company, the last one about two years ago. At first I had to apply several times before being awarded my a shop. I find their shops detailed and feesoften higher than many comparable shops. Narratives are often more intensive than many although not excessively so. Shop instructions are clear and straightforward. Grading is a bit harder then many and they will point out more small issues with the reports than the norm. However, unlike another Sassie MSP known for being hard graders and giving poor feedback, this company both compliments good work and identifies flaws to encourage high performance. An example could be, “Grade: 10. Great report, thanks! Please leave a blank line between paragraphs.” Payments can be quick as some shops completed in the first half of the month are paid on the 20th or so while others similar shops are paid in the following month. I have had no issues with this company so I cannot comment on how responsive they are to problems. Although the fees are good, I would prefer the pay to be a bit higher. They keep their clients longer than some MSPs. Despite not having applied for a shop in some time, I regularly search their job board. I just haven’t found a good match lately.
What others have to say: Many shoppers like this company. They are called responsive and payments are sometimes very quick. One shopper reported pay for a shop conducted on the 14th of a month paid five days later on the 19th. They also confirm reports are more narrative heavy than some companies and the pay is sometimes low for the work performed. Shoppers report many applications before getting a first shop. Some shoppers have given up trying. The BBB rates this company A+ with no complaints but does not accredit them.
Overall: This is a company with a wide variety of clients over much of the country. They often have good fees but shops have more details and require more narrative than many. It may take many applications to get your fist shop. It is a good company to have for those who will work to get in and like to write detailed reports.