Mystery shoppers seek professionalism in field

Mystery shoppers now can be certified after a workshop and a test.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
CHICAGO -- Placing an order at a fast-food restaurant last year, Barb Bullock noticed that the cashier didn't greet her or offer a drink to wash down her sandwich.
But the Warrenville, Ill., resident was no ordinary diner that day.
She was a mystery shopper, empowered to dole out $25 for a simple hello or a selling upgrade. "Inside of your head, you're rooting for them," said Bullock, who eventually unmasked herself to the server. "But how can someone sell you a sandwich and not offer you a drink? I told him, 'Better luck next time.'"
Bullock and other mystery shoppers provide a reality check to businesses wanting to stay in the public's good graces, whether it is a day-care center or a department store. And just as businesses that use their services want to improve, the mystery shopping industry is trying to polish its image.
Institutionalizing
Bullock was among 60 attendees at a Mystery Shopping Providers Association certification workshop in Chicago in late June.
The Dallas-based trade group formed in 1998 and has grown from 75 member companies to 150 today. It began certifying shoppers in 2002 as a way to improve professionalism. This weekend, the group is holding its first convention for mystery shoppers in Orlando, Fla.
The term "mystery shopping" was coined in the 1940s. But the June 26 workshop revealed that cell phones, personal digital assistants and high-tech watches are the best things to happen to the industry since white gloves.
"I've actually brought a laptop" to a restaurant table, one mystery shopper said during a brainstorming session on surreptitious ways to take notes. "I switch to a Power Point presentation or Excel when the server comes" to hide the notes.
New tools of the trade, however, weren't the only topic of discussion.
Philosophical questions were debated, too.
If tissues are scattered in the middle of a restaurant bathroom, does that make it a dirty bathroom? A messy bathroom, perhaps, but not a dirty one, was the consensus.
It's time well spent in the eyes of mystery shopping clients such as Home Depot Inc. and McDonald's Corp.
The fast-food chain's manual for mystery shoppers, for example, is 19 pages long. And the evaluation form has a checklist of 32 items, ranging from how long it takes to get food after ordering to whether the landscaping is neat.
Low-paying job
Compensation for shopping varies widely, but it's safe to say that people should keep their day job or have a spouse who works.
Donna Geuder started mystery shopping after she was laid off in 2002 from her job as a data manager at WorldCom Inc.
"It can be fun, but if you take too many jobs it can be like real work," the Lockport, Ill., resident said. "I've done six or seven jobs in a day, and that can get a little heavy."
Her shopping jobs typically pay $7 to $25 apiece. "The one day I did eight jobs, it was $120," Geuder said. "I've made $2,000 in a month but that was busting tail."
Geuder, who has a master's in business administration, also works part time as a demonstrator at Costco Wholesale Corp.
Payment might come in the form of a free meal at the restaurant being shopped.
Or, in lieu of a fee, the mystery-shopping firm might simply cover the $30 cost to join a warehouse club as part of a secret mission. Or it might take $125 off of eyeglasses at a targeted optical shop. In the upper strata, a complicated trip to a resort might cover the cost of the stay as well as a $300 fee.
Higher standards
Despite the minimal pay, mystery shopping isn't a no-brainer. Reliability, trustworthiness, a willingness to role-play, solid writing skills and attention to detail are necessary traits.
For example, after visiting a steakhouse, a comment like "the steak was lousy" just won't cut it in a report.
Acceptable would be: "I ordered the steak medium rare. But when it was served, it had only a thin line of pink in the middle."
To date, about 1,500 shoppers have received gold certification from the shoppers' trade group. It requires attending a workshop and taking a test online.
Companies doing the hiring realize that certified shoppers are less likely to "flake" -- or not complete a job.
"Among new shoppers, as many as 60 percent to 80 percent don't complete the job," said Cathy Stucker, author of "The Mystery Shopper's Manual."
"Among gold shoppers, however, the flake rate is close to zero," she said.
To become a mystery shopper, a good place to start is the Web site for the Mystery Shopping Providers Association at mysteryshop.org. It offers a free listing of member companies. Most firms allow applications to be submitted at no cost to the shopper.