Four Traits of an Awesome Mystery Shopper

At BARE International, we’re always on the look out for great mystery evaluators. But what does it really involve and what do you need to be an exceptional secret shopper?

What do Mystery Shoppers do?

Being a mystery shopper involves the evaluation of one of our client’s businesses through in-person visits, telephone calls, web-based inquiries, or other means by serving as a typical customer/guest. In a nutshell, you’ll act as a real-life customer and give us feedback about the service provided and overall customer experience. Information may be gathered around knowledge of products and services, the location’s overall cleanliness and condition and product availability.

Mystery shopping isn’t for everyone, as an evaluator for BARE, we’ll rate your work on each project as it comes in on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, against the expectations of the client and BARE. Evaluators who consistently produce high quality work are in the highest demand and will be chosen to participate in projects more frequently than evaluators whose work receives average or below average ratings. Think you have what it takes? See if you possess these four traits that make a mystery shopper an awesome one…

1. Curiosity

Modern consumer society has many challenges, and improving customer services with mystery shopping is our chance to make a difference.  It goes without saying a great mystery shopper needs to dig deep to get the information required by us and our clients. Do you read the manuals, product descriptions and ingredients? Do you ask sales people questions? This is the curiosity we are looking for. Yes you will have specific directions to follow and aspects to report on, but always wanting to dig a little deeper and find out more is the attitude we’re looking for.

2. Eye for detail

This goes hand-in-hand with curiosity. While you have your investigation hat on, it’s important not to oversee the bigger picture and the task at hand. You’ll need to be clear and full of specifics when it comes to your feedback which is why its imperative to have an eye for detail… You need to notice if the customer service person was smiling, if the counter was clear of paperwork and other debris, and be cognizant of anything else the client was interested in. Take your time when you’re on an assignment unless otherwise instructed. The extra time will allow you to notice things you may have missed and do a more thorough job.

3. Communication Skills

Objective evaluation skills are needed at every assignment, no matter how big or small. While you are usually working solo, it’s important you know how to communicate the results you encounter and document everything in a clear and helpful manner.  Memory skills are also key here! You need to act as a normal customer, therefore walking around with a pen and notepad isn’t always an option. Taking mental notes and short breaks to document your findings will be of great help when it comes to communicating your findings.

4. Reliability

The ability to perform and submit assignments promptly is a must. A good mystery shopper arrives when they say they will, does what is needed of them and spends the correct amount of time doing it. A GREAT mystery shopper is proactive, uses intuition, integrity, accuracy and honesty.

It goes without saying that when you sign up for an assignment you’re expected to commit to it. However, if you encounter an emergency, contact your project manager and follow these steps.

Now you know what it takes to be an awesome mystery evaluator, are you eager to join our force of more than 500,000 evaluators worldwide? Click here to find out more and sign up today!