» Online Secret Shopping
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Shopping Around OnlineBy joel on April 23, 2012 | 2 Comments
Who doesn’t enjoy shopping around for the best deals? Everyone does. Even those people that don’t like to go in and out of stores. Many people now do all their shopping online vs going into stores. There are some self storage locations that haven’t had phone calls or walk ins as much as they used to. That is because people go online and see what they have to offer and go to the facility that they feel is best for them. That is not always fair, but that is just how it is. So knowing this, what do many locations do in order to combat this shopping online phenomenon?
If a customer can go online and get all the prices they need for self storage they don’t need to go into the location. Well that is not always the case. The reason for this is because most facilities do their best to make the customer’s experience great. They will roll out the red carpet, give you brand name coffee, free internet, and so on. These facilities will never get the chance to wow their customers if they never come in. So some companies have walk in rates, or they do not put their prices online at all. That could backfire because a customer could just overlook them because their prices are not online.
When a facility does not put their prices online, they are taking a big risk so they will make their website look as enticing as possible to draw people in. Hopefully it works. If it doesn’t then they will not get the business they are looking for because people are shopping around.
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Online Secret Shopping – Tread With CareBy admin on April 13, 2009 | 3 Comments
Today, you do not have to go very far to find a good site for online secret shopping . A number of established and reputed shopping services have taken advantage of cyberspace and have set up websites. Naturally, this is an astute business move because it automatically widens their potential target audience. In many ways, this is convenient for both the service provider and potential clients. But there are a number of things you need to be wary of, when looking for shopping services online.
Fraud And Scam
Unfortunately, the internet has also made it easier to create frauds and scams in cyberspace – online shopping is no exception. It does not take much time or money to set up a site that claims to offer the best hidden shopping rates. In many cases, freelance shoppers and evaluators often find themselves as victim of different kinds of scams because of these sites. But potential clients looking to hire a service are also at risk. It is important to know what to look for, in a good hidden shopping website.
The first thing to remember about online secret shopping and shopping in general is that most services do not advertise. Even well-established companies with a good reputation would not advertise their services in paper or radio. If you do come across a site that does this, its probably an operation that is out to cheat freelance shoppers. As a business, it might be a good idea to steer clear of these kinds of services. It is also imperative that you check out the contact information that is given on the website. Ideally, the shopping service should have phone numbers and a physical address that is within the country. It is also a good idea to call the numbers and see if you get a response or if you are put through to an answering service. If the site only offers an email id, it is probably not very reliable.
More Than A Website
Naturally, online secret shopping needs to extend beyond the website. It can be helpful to think of a shopping service website in terms of a storefront- while a good one can pique your interest, you should not commit to anything based on the site alone. It is important to do a little background check. A good way to do this is to simply ask around, preferably to people who are in the same business niche as you are. Apart from that, you can look through different online forums and message boards as well. People will be more than happy to share their user experiences and consumer feedback regarding different shopping services.
Apart from that, it is important to look for customer referrals with sites for online anonymous shopping. If the shopping services client list is populated with businesses that have stayed with them for a number of years, which is a good sign. If the clients do not stay for long, it shows that the quality of service may not be good. It is also important to meet with customer service representatives in person to discuss your needs and how the assignment will be handled. Make sure you are comfortable working with them. They should be able to answer your queries clearly. You should also be able to get in contact with them easily if you have any questions about the assignment. While a snazzy website might look attractive, there are definitely other factors to consider with online shopping.
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Agent 86Another posting on the light sideKay Johnson blog editor and phone smart rep takes a swing at secret shopping:I love intrigue! That is why our Secret Shop and Evaluations programs are so appealing. We get to have a really good time play-acting with store managers and staff. First, we invent a persona. I use the names of people that I remember from high school. (Pretty good considering that in my case high school is ancient history) We need to make up a list of things to store, a little story, and find mailing address and telephone numbers for cover.We sneak up on them gently acting out the part of a storage”newbie” and with our innocent voices and slightly confused aspect find out just how the store employees “sell” the facility.On the other side of the coin, we listen in on the mystery shop call that others have made and evaluate the call as our own calls are evaluated for quality control. We are gentle souls so our comments are designed to help without scolding. We are pleased to offer these additional training tools for our store managers. It is fun and a diversion from our regular duties in the call center. There is a definite plus for us as well, as we listen for what the store employees could have done, we also are mentally critiquing our own performance and when we go back to taking calls we are more aware of the importance of our training and what we may have been missing in our own customer contacts. They are terrific training tools for you and for us. If you would like to hear your employees working with potential clients and then a professional evaluation of their calls just get a secret shop message to Sarah or Natalie in our secret shopping business. They are in the building, through the secret tunnel and under the cone of silence.Secret tunnel? Cone of Silence? Well, after all, it is Phone Smart!86 over and out!
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