For mystery shoppers, the age-old question of, “Which companies are the best to work for?” continues on today. If you’ve found yourself on the quest to answer this question, you may not be surprised to find out that the answer to this question varies for every mystery shopper. For some mystery shoppers, their “best” company may be the one that offers the highest paying assignments, while for other mystery shoppers, the answer may lie in a company that offers many assignments in their particular area. And still for others, the best company may be one that pays fast and is easy to work with. In an ideal world, mystery shoppers would find all of these qualities in just one company. Even then, however, the “best company” would vary by mystery shopper’s location, which types of assignments that mystery shopper enjoys working on, and so on.
The result – your quest for finding which companies are the best to work for is a personal mission that only you can go accomplish. With several hundred mystery shopping companies to choose from, it can seem overwhelming to begin the task at hand. Here are some helpful hints for finding the top companies for you!
Working In Your Neck Of The Woods. Many mystery shopping companies specialize assignments in a particular state or region, while others work with specific brands on a national scale. First and foremost, you want to try to find a mystery shopping company that offers a variety of assignments in your way. After all, it does little good to work with a company that has hundreds of jobs in the Northeast US when you are located in the Southwest. You can get helpful hints about the companies that offer assignments in your area through the online mystery shopping forums.
What’s Your Preference? Once you’ve narrowed down your list to companies that offer work in your area, then focus on mystery shopping companies that offer the types of jobs you like to do. This can be as general as “retail clothing assignments” or as specific as offering assignments at a specific grocery store or coffee shop chain that you already frequent. While mystery shoppers aren’t permitted to discuss which clients a certain company works with, many mystery shoppers can give you helpful hints on the online forums that will steer you in the right direction.
The Two Ps: Paperwork and Pay. After you have worked with just a couple of companies, you will soon learn that some companies are lighter on the reporting and lighter on the pay, while others are heavier on the reporting and more generous on pay. The doozy comes when you accept a job that has a huge report and very little pay to compensate for your time and efforts. After you’ve narrowed down your search for the top companies for you, do some research with your fellow mystery shoppers online to see what their experiences have been with a certain company or two. Keep in mind that what may be peanuts on the pay scale and may seem like copious amounts of paperwork for some, may be acceptable for you. If you think you may have found the jackpot in terms of the top companies, don’t hesitate to try out a few assignments and develop your own opinions about the companies in question.
With a little bit of legwork and some time and effort trying out a few new companies, you may soon have a new favorite company or two to work with!