Printing Australia

Exchange your reporting skills for a free lunch or free oil change. Companies need to know how their employees are treating customers. If you have time for lunch and to fill out their customer report, you can get cash and lunch, too!

Companies, large and small, pay average consumers to mystery shop their restaurants, retail outlets, apartment complexes or timeshare presentations to gather information. In today's very competitive consumer market, customer service is what makes the difference between a business success or failure. Hundreds of senior citizens, folks in wheel chairs, young mothers, teens, home owners, or apartment dwellers go mystery shopping daily and get free items and cash. All consumers are eligible.

As a mystery shopper, the individual accepts an assignment to be a regular customer and report. The hiring company will detail any special requests or scenarios that you are to perform. For example, if you secret shop a luxury clothing establishment which specializes in footwear and handbags, your role might be to select a shoulder bag as a present. The business will want you to report how the staff member made suggestions and how he or she finalized the sale. The secret shopper could do a two-part shop and return the handbag to check on return policies, or the company would pay for the item and let the consumer keep it.

Your assignment might be to evaluate an eating establishment. If so, the shopper reports on how long it took to be seated, how clean the establishment was, how much time passed before the order was taken (the company may have certain menu items to be ordered), and how quickly did the food arrive? Was the entree attractive or the wrong temperature? Was the restroom clean and well stocked? Evaluator compensation might be the price of the meal for two. If the mystery shopper is to be seated in the bar, drink costs are included.

Mystery shoppers have no start-up costs and very little out-of-pocket. The secret shopper pays for the service and then turns in receipts for reimbursement. Sometimes the mystery shopper also receives additional cash for their opinion, especially if no merchandise is purchased. (Example, the secret shopper poses as a prospective apartment renter, takes a tour of the property, fills out a report and receives a check for $25.) The pay varies and is usually small, but the amount can add up, if a mystery shopper only shops in their neighborhood or secret shops for items they would normally purchase. A digital camera may be required for some mystery shopping, so be sure to check the qualifications of the job.

Try a few mystery shopper assignments. Just search for hiring companies on the Internet under "secret shopper" or "mystery shopper". Hiring companies will have you fill out an application. Follow their instructions and no fees are involved. Read all instructions on the website for training. Make sure you understand what is required and when the data needs to be turned in. No excuses are allowed, so make sure you can follow through. The secret shopper industry is well respected and wants to hire all types of shoppers. If you do a good job, assignment coordinators will be happy to schedule you for many jobs. Typically there are many more jobs than shoppers, so sign up with several companies to obtain the number of shops you want to perform.

The trick is to mystery shop in sets. Spend the morning shopping at 2, 3 or more shops, finish with a shopping lunch, and then head home to write them up. Don't be tempted to drive too far, as you will "eat" up your cash profit. Speaking of eating - many secret shoppers evaluate a couple of grocery stores per week and receive free groceries. (A way to have your cake, and eat it, too.)

Secret shopping can earn a bonus for the sales person who gives truly good service. Those staffers who provide somewhat less service will also be recognized. Management wants to know about the male clerk who advised one secret customer to send in her spouse to select the items, since his product was just too complex for her to understand. (Which way did that employee go?) Shop America for fun and profit!

< Prev		Next >