The 8 most common questions mystery shop companies ask

When  it comes to mystery shopping the forewarned is forearmed. You want to know what is expected of you when you walk through the door and start role playing the scenario you have been asked to carry out. Wherever it is that you need to carry out your mystery shop, the same questions come up time and time again. Here are the 8 most common questions mystery shop companies ask. Think about these whenever you go out shopping or mystery shopping and you will train yourself to be a top mystery shopper and earn good money-

Give the name and description of the person who served you
They want to know who they are measuring, who to reward and who perhaps needs a little extra training and support. It is vital that you know who it is you are reporting on when it comes to a mystery shop.

How many staff present?
How many customers present?
These to work together and gives the company a great idea of how busy the shop was and if they had the right staffing profile to match. It can explain delays in service if they were understaffed. This helps build the initial picture for the mystery shop.

As you browsed, were you approached?
This is a great measure of how proactive the team were on that day. The customer that is approached will have their inquiry answered and will be more likely to buy. That means more sales for the business - a key measure.

How long did you have to wait to be served?
The key service measure is waiting time at the tills. Customers leave behind their purchases, walk out and may not come back again if this time is too long. Every company wants to know that this is not happening from their mystery shops.

Could anything have been done to improve your visit?
I really like this question on a mystery shop because it goes above and beyond the simple yes/no or information collecting of other questions. It gives you a chance to add some detail and make the shop come alive.

Was the location clean?
This is another essential element to attracting and retaining customers so they really want to know what is going on here. Different mystery shopping companies have different standards here so some might just want a yes/no while others will want detail of why you feel that way.

Were you up-sold anything else?
The up-sell has become a major force in retail and hospitality over the years. By just getting each customer to buy one more thing companies can make millions of extra income. This is big business and it is much easier to sell more to your existing customers than it is to generate new ones. Mystery shop companies love to know how people have performed here.

Once you know the regular questions that mystery shop companies will ask then you can start to practice in your head whenever you go out shopping. The better you become at remembering these questions and gathering this information then the easier and more enjoyable you will find mystery shopping.

If you are interested in mystery shopping and want to find out more then my book is a great place to start. It will help you go through the process of becoming a mystery shopper step by step.