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You get to attend the workshop, go through all sorts of training, demonstrations and meet some very great people and then you are given a quiz of sorts to pass. Some may require those late night visits. Chapter 4: Getting Started: Tools for Mystery Shopping Congratulations on making it this far in developing your mystery shopping business.
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Chapter 9: Staying Under Cover Successfully

You are a mystery shopper. Get itmystery. That means that if in fact your identification is blown, your job is done, over and a waste. It is necessary for you to insure that you always stay under cover when it comes to mystery shopping. Just slipping up a bit can cause you to be found out and therefore lose your mystery shop, possibly for good.

Dont worry. Just because it is possible for you to be found out does not mean it is probable. Most of the time, you wont be as long as you do your job 100% accurately. To help you to learn to stay under cover, we have some great tips to always use on any mystery shop that you venture into and do.


Tips for Successfully Staying Hidden

1. Do not take anyone with you on your mystery shop. They do not have a stake in this shop and therefore, they could easily blow your cover for you. If you do take someone with you, make sure to either keep them in the dark to keep them from doing anything out of the ordinary.

2. Act normally. Pretend as if you are really interested in purchasing that car or that you really are interested in finding the right size shoe. Play the role. Yes, you do need a bit of acting talent here, but it can be quite beneficial to just act as normally as you would for any other type of thing you were doing.

3. Keep your cool. If someone should say to you, Are you a mystery shopper, learn how to react. For example, you should say something like, Whats that? or No, but I have heard they make good money. Do you know how I can become one? Lead them off into a different direction. Dont every look worried or anxious!

4. Never take anything with you that could give you away such as your paperwork, a noticeable timer or stopwatch, or anything that has to do with mystery shopping. If you need to use these things, make sure that you always keep them out of sight.

5. Not sure how to remember everything? Use your cell phones record button to remember details of a conversation while holding it in your hand, unnoticeably. Use your checkbook register as a piece of paper to jot down any notes you may have. Use your cell phones picture abilities instead of a large digital camera assuming the resolution is good enough.

6. Ask questions that would normally be asked. If you do not have specific questions about the product from the mystery shopping company, make sure that you ask something that makes sense. Not sure? Take the time to learn about what you are going to be talking about so that you can have your questions figured out ahead of time.

7. Role playing means taking the time to insure that you have your story worked out. This is especially helpful if and when you are going to be working with a full scenario. Make sure you have something to say when asked. Better yet, use your own situation with those in your family to insure you can keep your story straight.

8. If you have shopped a location recently, try to skip it the next round at least. Some mystery shopping companies will make sure of this. This way, you are not easily identified and found out.

9. Look normal too. That is, you do not want anyone that is going to see you to remember you. Do not wear anything that is going to really stand out. You want to look normal in any way possible. That goes for your actions too. Make sure that you act as normally, but stay low profile.


Im Caught!

If you do find yourself in a situation where you are revealed as the mystery shopper, you will want to talk to your scheduler right away and discuss what has happened. You may still be able to complete the shop depending on how you handled it and when they caught you. Nevertheless, you do not want to just pass it off as nothing happened. This can cause more damage to your profile than it is worth.

Keep In Mind

Remember that those that are working in the establishment already know that they are being watched. While most people do not look out for the mystery shopper but treat all guests the same way, they may be interested in learning that you are. Therefore, keep those tips in mind and just act as you normally would. This will allow for you to have no problems throughout your shop with staying under cover.