See why you should consider becoming a mystery shopper

Mystery shopping is becoming more and more prevalent as retailers, financial services organisations and hospitality providers want to know what their teams are doing when they're not around to supervise or assess. The use of mystery shopping in many economies grows as multi-site operations take over High Streets, shopping malls and out of town shopping centres. Multi-site operators will want each site to offer a similarly high standard of service, so every customer knows what to expect on every visit. The operations want to be able to provide the same level of customer experience in their outlets whether they be in London or Birmingham, Portsmouth or Glasgow, and for multinational companies from Madrid to New York. And there are several different steps that one of these companies can take to facilitate this similarity of customer experience. Staff training is the same throughout the company to ensure that everyone gets the same resources to be inducted, initially trained and improve themselves. And this is where a level of communication comes in. The companies need to communicate their requirements to the team. And some of these requirements come through really well in the way they are mystery shopped.

The management teams are also trained to deliver training. By this, I mean that they can communicate the ideals of the company and ensure that all their teams understand what is expected of them. From this base level of understanding, the idea is that the distinct standards of service I mentioned above are carried out to the best of people's ability.

But people are human, ideals can sometimes get lost in the everyday buzz of work and not everybody has the same training, personal standards, motivation or understanding, and this is where mystery shopping can help out. It gives a framework for managers and their teams to set out their work day. A good mystery shopping programme should work hand-in-hand with the training and supervision that a company offers to reinforce the standards that they have - it leaves those on the customer-facing front line in no doubt about what is expected of them. In turn, it should leave the customers in no doubt about what the company stands for and what they can expect - no matter where in the country (or indeed where in the world) they visit and spend their money.

So, as large organisations develop a mystery shopping programme, they need mystery shoppers to help to fulfill this. And this is where you can come in, help and earn money. Mystery shopping is fun, exciting, rewarding and is valuable. This blog will help to make it all of these things and more for you. I will add background to the process, as above, and give you knowledge, practical advice, hints and tips to make your time as a mystery shopper as interesting and rewarding as possible. With the benefit of the background knowledge, you can alter your responses to the situation and be comfortable that you understand the impact and importance of the mystery shop work that you carry out.

I will help you to make a success of it and any successful mystery shopper will add value for the company, the mystery shop provider and for themselves. It is probable that you will make reasonable money for yourself by mystery shopping. It is possible that you can make yourself a living from mystery shopping, if you are dedicated and when you get yourself up to speed and established. You will need to register with a number of mystery shopping companies. It is a self-employed position, where you carry out assignments on behalf of mystery shopping company and then deal with your own tax assessments, and we will look at that in one of the chapters. All in all, I want you to share the passion I have for doing this. It's a passion for improvement and a passion for making money. Just about all of us shop for things that you could just as easily mystery shop for, even if it's for groceries, days out or for a meal. Mystery shoppers are needed for supermarkets, for attractions or days out and for restaurants or cafés.

Check out my book for more information-