When you search through job listings for various positions in a variety of industries, you may see phrases that indicate that compensation is commensurate with experience or that a signing bonus may be provided to those with more experience. The fact is that experience matters in many fields, and employers recognize value in experience. As a mystery shopper, you may not think that there is much room to advance in your position or to earn more income beyond a certain level. However, this is not necessarily true. In fact, there are three key ways that experience can benefit you financially in the mystery shopping world.
Mystery Shopper Rating
With most mystery shopping providers that keep track of your shopper rating, you are graded on a scale of one to ten for each assignment that you complete. You generally will start out at a five, which is a neutral rating that gives you access to plenty of assignments. If your score drops below this, you may have access to only a minimal number of assignments. If your score increases, you may notice that you are offered select assignments that others with a five rating are not offered. The fact is that you have to have proven experience as a mystery shopper to enjoy a higher rating, and this can indeed help you to locate more lucrative assignments.
Top Mystery Shopping Providers
Of course, with experience comes increased knowledge of how the mystery shopping world works. Experienced mystery shoppers know that certain providers are easier to work with and offer higher rates on assignments while others may waste their time with unnecessary repair requests and low-paying assignments. While you can skirt around experience and search online forums for some information that experienced mystery shoppers may share with you, the fact is that experience in this area can help you to make your efforts more financially rewarding.
Coveted Assignments
Regardless of your shopper rating or which providers you work with, the fact is that as you gain more experience as a mystery shopper, you will also gain recognition from your providers. When providers have urgent or special needs, they will not think about the new mystery shoppers whose names they don’t even know. Instead, they will think about those experienced mystery shoppers who they have been working with for many long months or even years. These may be highly coveted assignments that never even reach the job boards, and you are hand-selected for them because of your incredible level of experience in the field.
In some cases, you can cheat the system, so to speak. For example, you can do your very best on each assignment and increase your rating by earning nines or tens on all of your assignments, and you can read mystery shopping forum posts for tips on the top providers to work with. However, for most mystery shoppers, experience in each of these areas may indeed prove to be rewarding for you and can help you to increase your income over time.