Secret Shopper Unmasked

Being a secret shopper has its perks, for sure. You have the opportunity to eat out a lot, and be paid for it. You also may get the chance to purchase items that you would not ordinarily get to shop for, such as an expensive, hi-tech cell phone that can connect to the Internet, wash your car and pet the dog all at the same time. Ok, so maybe it will not actually pet the dog, but you get what I am saying. The job is never boring, by any means, and each assignment is completely different from the others.

If you want to be a successful secret shopper , however, there are some things that you just do not do if you want to keep your assignment running flawlessly. For instance, walking into a retail store, trying with all your might to be casual and nonchalant will do no good if you are trying to disguise yourself by wearing a wig or some uncharacteristic hat, looking all shifty eyed and nervous. If you do not look normal, absolutely blending in with the other customers, an employee can tell that you are a secret shopper from the moment that you walk through the door.

Your powers of observation must be subtle and generally not noticed. If you are making notes in your notebook while browsing through garment racks, you will be spotted, and your mission will have failed. If you pull out a voice recorder and begin speaking into it mid shop, the game is over. If, on assignment at a fast food place, and you are asked to return the food to evaluate the level of customers service when the customer has a complaint, at least get back to your table and sit down for a moment and take a look at the food. If you turn around before you even get to the end of the counter, they will smell a rat. 

Any good secret shopper will tell you to practice, and to use your own name. You are not transforming into someone else, you are still you, and need not go incognito just to evaluate the quality of someones perfomance. Some people are simply too nervous and paranoid of being spotted. If there is fear or nervousness, then maybe being a secret shopper is not the best job for you.

Some people feel guilty about deceiving employees. These people have it all wrong, for you are not deceiving anyone, unless you go in trying to be someone that you are not and lie to them about your identity. Just as a patron does not walk into a store and tell the clerk that his name is JJ and he repairs broken washing machines for a living, so you, too, have every right to keep what you do to yourself. Most employees could not care less about what you do for a living, unless of course it directly affects them. In your case, it may, but they need not be told that, either.

When your job is to evaluate and record information, then that is what you do. And you are doing it to better the standards of the company, thereby giving the employees a better place to work. You are doing them a favor when you look at it from that perspective. So, relax, be natural, have fun, and please take off the scarf and dark sunglasses before you enter the establishment.

Self Storage in Fairfield

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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