When you are new to mystery shopping, you often take the first assignments you can get. Even later as you are a more experienced mystery shopper, if you live in an area that is highly competitive for mystery shopping assignments with many mystery shoppers servicing the area, you may feel as though you have to take the assignments you can get your hands on. While you may not feel as though you have much choice in your assignments, the fact is that you really do. Here are some ways you can get your hands on those better mystery shopping assignments that you really want to do:
Defining “Better.” You should know that every mystery shopper has a certain preference of assignment types they want to work on. Some truly love doing shoe store assignments because they just love shoes, and there is no better way to get your hands on shoes on a dime than by using your expense reimbursement to buy them! Other people find it enjoyable to tour new homes, drink coffee at coffee shops, and more, and there are assignments available that allow you to work on whatever consumer-based activities you enjoy doing. So first, figure out what it is that you actually enjoy doing.
Finding Providers. The providers you are currently working with may or may not offer those assignments that you prefer doing. Even if they do, they certainly don’t have a monopoly on those assignments. For instance, there are tons of shoe stores, tons of new home builders, and more. Your providers likely just work with one or two companies that need mystery shoppers at their retail sites, and other providers likely offer more of these assignments that you like doing. If you want to do more of these assignments you like doing, you will want to look for some of the other providers that offer these assignments. You can get some tips and pointers from online forums where mystery shoppers exchange ideas and tips.
Speed is Key. Once you have more preferred assignments to choose from by signing up to work with more of these providers who offer the assignments you like doing, you will be offered more opportunities. What you do with those opportunities, though, is often dependent on how fast you can request the assignments. You will absolutely want to check your email often so you can be the first one notified of new assignments, and when you get those notifications, you will want to log on to the job boards and request the assignments right away.
As you can see, getting the assignments you really want to be working on is possible and it is entirely doable when you take proactive steps to both increase your opportunities for working on these assignments and be the “early bird” on the job boards, too. You will find that mystery shopping, as enjoyable and fun as it is any day with any assignment, is even better when you are working on assignments that you truly only doing!