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Thinking of Becoming a Secret Shopper? |
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Written by Jennie Clapham
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008 01:54 |
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Secret Shopping began back in the 1940's when it was used as a mechanism to measure employee integrity and although the processes have changed out of all recognition over the years, the basic principles still remain the same today.
by JennieClapham
Secret Shopping began back in the 1940's when it was used as a mechanism to measure employee integrity and although the processes have changed out of all recognition over the years, the basic principles still remain the same today.
Many of the biggest companies in the world now use secret shopper or mystery shopper programs and this means that each day there are more and more opportunities for people like you and me to earn good money. Secret shopping companies normally pay a fixed rate per assignment depending on the complexity of the job but it is possible to earn anything up to $40 per hour although this rate would normally only be achieved by more experienced shoppers. A range between $10 to $40 would be the norm.
Secret shoppers are just ordinary people doing what might seem to be an extraordinary job. You have to act just like you were a regular customer, whether it is in a department store, a hotel, a restaurant, or even on a weekend away...yes, you will even get the chance to take a vacation at someone else's expense. What you then have to do is to provide an accurate and unbiased report to the secret shopping company detailing the good and the bad things about the service you have received.
One of the important things you will need to be able to demonstrate is the ability to provide a great deal of detail about your shopping experience. You will need to remember things such as the color of the employee's hair, what sort of clothes they were wearing and much more. You will need to be able to communicate all that happened during that shop including all of the details that you have observed. This is done through writing up a report. Some reports are in a question and answer format that you will need to go through. Others are more paragraph form in which you will need to provide details. In all forms, you will need to have skills that will allow for detailed, concise, grammatically correct and spelling error free writing.
It is really easy to become a secret shopper. The first step is to find a reputable secret shopping agency to work for, you will find many on the internet. Once signed up, you will then be allocated assignments in line with the preferences you will have stated on your application. Your earnings can range from $8 to $10 for a fairly basic assignment, like buying a hamburger, up to $20, $50 or even $100 for extremely complex jobs.
It is important that you have the ability to be able to write up a detailed and objective account of you shopping experience. The more time you spend on this activity, particularly in the early days, the more interesting and better paid assignments will follow. Agencies put great store in having a reliable shopper and if you start to build a name for yourself as reliable, thorough and flexible the greater will be your shopping opportunites in the long term.
One question often asked is "Do I need any special tools to be a secret shopper" and the answer is quite simple - No. I'll qualify that, if you consider an internet connection to be a tool, then yes you do although these days, most homes will have access to the internet and I guess that if your reading this report...then you're already connected. A few other items may help but are not essential, a stop watch, digital camera, small tape recorder may all come in useful, but that's really up to you. While you can limit the jobs that you do to just what you have the tools to do, this will inevitably limit the number of secret shops you are able to do.
The tremendous benefits to be realised from secret shopping are now being recognised by Companies all around the world. They recognise that for them it is a great way to improve their customer service by using the services of a secret shopping agency. Most major companies including Hotels, Retail Chains and airlines now provide people like us to make a great second, or even first income.
Secret shopping is not a 'Get Rich Quick' scheme. It is however a rewarding and enjoyable way to make money, particularly if you are like many people in this world who actually enjoy the shopping experience. It is of course even better if you are able to do it at someone elses expense. Many people have proved that it is possible to make a full time income from secret shopping and even if you only want to work on a part time basis, you can still earn enough to pay for that extra special holiday or pay the car loan off and you even get to have fun while doing it!.
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