Secret Shopping

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Secret Shopping

Contents at a Glance

So You Want to be a Mystery Shopper?
Secret Shopping
New Amazon Spotlight

Secret Shopping Service Avenues
New Amazon Voting (Plexo)
New RSS: Add Your Own Feed

more...

New Table of Contents

So You Want to be a Mystery Shopper?
Secret Shopping
New Amazon Spotlight
Secret Shopping Service Avenues
New Amazon Voting (Plexo)
New RSS: Add Your Own Feed
New Lijit
Qualities to Become a Secret Shopper
Blog Posts from Google
Blog Posts from Google
New Links Voting (Plexo)

So You Want to be a Mystery Shopper?

Mystery Shopper

In economic times today, having multiple income streams is an important safety feature for your financial security. It is often difficult to come up with a second job that will fit into your schedule and lifestyle. Being a mystery shopper can meet those objectives.

The economy is tightening. The unemployment numbers are rising. Plus more and more people are seeking alternative income streams. What can you do to make your resume stand out from the thousands that are being submitted to be a mystery shopper ?

The first recommendation is to do your research and learn about this income opportunity. There are many websites, books and even professional organizations that offer trade shows and conferences on the opportunities and the cautions of this growing service sector. During your research phase learn the industry language.

One of the best resume writing tips is to frame your skills and experiences in the language of the industry. For instance report writing is often used in the industry. It is important to include how your writing experience qualifies you to write reports.

Your application should follow what ever format is asked for by the hiring company. If they ask for a cover letter and a resume you should submit both of those documents. If they are requesting a telephone call then you should call them. However, if all they request is a resume you should include that cover letter with it and you should follow-up a phone call with a cover letter and resume.

Since filling out surveys and writing reports are an important part of being a mystery shopper it is critical that all your written communication with your potential employer is one accurate, two easy to read, three grammatically correct, and fourth concise and to the point. If you believe that you need to brush up on your writing skills there are many business and report writing courses available on the web and through local adult education opportunities.

One other important skill that you will want to brush up on is your listening skills. In many of the surveys and reports that you will be asked to supply, your employer will want you to listen for certain phrases or questions. Research shows that 45 percent of every individuals communication time is spent listening. With the other 55 percent is divided between talking, seeing, reading and writing. So working on becoming an active and better listener is a skill worth improving for both this job opportunity and for life.

Here is an easy listening exercise to use. Every time you are listening be aware of when your mind wanders and gently bring it back to 100 percent attention on the speaker. With enough practice you will find that the length of your attention span will grow and you will become a better listener.

Another resume tip that will help you to be selected as a mystery shopper is to include three character references. References should be past employers and leaders of the community or of groups and organizations that have a reputation for being ethical and honest. This line of work requires these attributes in all the employees who represent their companies. For the ease of your potential employers be sure to include the references day time phone number. Also before sending anyones name out as your reference be sure to ask that person if they are willing to be your reference. A few companies have policies against being references for past employees.

Good luck on your mystery shopper job search and happy shopping.

Here's my favorite link:

Secret Shopping

Secret Shopping Service Avenues

Secret Shopping

Though primarily a secret shopping service is all about evaluating frontline staff performance and client satisfaction there are many other profiles in which one can work. One can be paid to survey markets for any new product that a business comes out with. The job will involve studying people by their demography, their lifestyles and their social class. It also involves identifying the existence of any competing products in the market and the advantages of the new product over its contemporaries. This work involves visiting new places. Sometimes people need to travel out of their cities, states, and nations.

One can render a secret shopping service even by being on the other side of the court. One can take part in surveys as consumers and take part in interviews and fill up consumer forms to voice opinion about products. People get paid for bringing in more and more people to take part in these surveys. Nowadays there are online survey communities where one can join on a regular basis to give opinion about the products or consumer related issues and get paid for them. Apart from attractive commissions one can get attractive perks also for taking part in such surveys. This is because the consumer opinion is of very high importance to the manufacturer of a product.

These days even the healthcare industry is hiring secret shopping service to assess the level of satisfaction of the patients who are admitted in hospitals and also visit them for consultation purposes. The agents appointed by the hospital administration are expected to assess the behavior of the healthcare staff towards the patients, visit the drug stores and the laboratories to see if any kind of fraudulent activities are going on. These agents also pose as patients and assess the commitment of the doctors towards their profession, how long they spend with the patients and if they are engaging any fraudulent activities. Unfortunately, these days, many physicians are advising expensive surgeries even to patients who don't need them to make money. It can be very dangerous for the patient.

Secret shopping service also includes visiting restaurants as guests. One needs to lodge and dine at the assigned restaurant and report about the hospitality meted out by the hotel staff and the quality of food. Sometimes in order to assess the quality of food being served, these agents join as trainee cooks. They observe if the chefs out there are cooking strictly according to the guidelines given to them by the hotel authorities and if they are keeping the kitchen neat and hygienic. They also assess if the ingredients of the prescribed grade are being used and if any chef is misusing any of the resources supplied.

Nowadays secret shopping service is being used to read e-mails that are sent by different business houses, fill out forms, to do online transactions and also to play games. Working at entertainment venues can be real fun. One needs to visit recreational parks and see if they are being well maintained and adequate safety measures are being taken for children. One gets to visit movie halls too, where one needs to see if they are being maintained neatly and hygienically, to observe the number of tickets being sold at the original price and the number of tickets being sold at much higher prices by creating an artificial scarcity for them.

Secret Shopping

Secret Shopping

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

New Table of Contents

So You Want to be a Mystery Shopper?

Mystery Shopper

Here's my favorite link:

Secret Shopping Service Avenues

Secret Shopping

New Amazon Voting (Plexo)

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New RSS: Add Your Own Feed

Qualities to Become a Secret Shopper

Blog Posts from Google

Mystery Shopoing Blog

Blog Posts from Google

Mystery Shopoing Blog

New Links Voting (Plexo)

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