» Secret Shopping

While listening to some secret shops this morning, I noticed that some managers decide not to tell the caller about the amenities of their facility. By telling the amenities of your facility, the caller is gaining an understanding of where their money is going. There are many different amenities that can be spoken of, but one amenity I did not take too seriously at first was an on-site manager. This can mean so many things to different people and when explained right, you can see the importance. In addition, I realized that the role of the on-site manager could not be the easiest position to have. I also believe they are under appreciated.

When I hear some mangers state that they live on site to ensure that all is well on the property, I think to myself, wow. Many times, those managers that live on site work six days a week and then walk down the hallway or around to the back of the facility to their living quarters. Some managers show tremendous passion around this stating to callers that they are available most hours of the night to take care of any issue that might arise on the property. If someone attempts to break in or an alarm goes off for some strange reason, it is not as if they can ignore it, they have to respond. When the alarm goes of at my retail store, I have to drive 15 minutes to see what is going on. In that time, a lot could be stolen. If something rough does happen that night and it takes all night to take care of it, they still have to get up the next morning, go into the office and take care of all types of customers.

I applaud the person who is able to live on the self storage property and take on that responsibility. The facility as a whole is their living space. It is as the entrance way is their front yard and all of the storage units are separate rooms in their house. They have to keep it up just as most of us have to keep up their homes. I want to call out all of those managers who live on their properties and take ownership of how it looks and how it runs. I cannot be the easiest job to have and it takes a particular type of person to be able to work those hours, and then possibly be on call throughout the night. For those in the storage world, we appreciate your passion and your desire to see self-storage thrive.

Joel Little, Experienced Manager of retail and life.

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog, a blog about the secret shopping and mystery shopping industry.

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We had a new restaurant open up in town some months ago, buffet style.  Oh, how we like buffets, they are great.  If there is something that you put on your plate and you don’t like it, you can always get something else without any hassle.  If you didn’t get enough on your first plate, you can go back for seconds, thirds and fourths if you have that big of an appetite. 

When this restaurant opened, we tried it out.  If I were secret shopping this restaurant, they would have received some not so good comments.  When we walked in, it was pleasing to the eye.  It was set up nicely and had nice scenery.  The food was pretty decent too, not the best, but there were some great dishes out there. 

On a Mystery Shop Evaluation, they would have failed at the customer service portion of the evaluation.  My husband and I were quite shocked when we just finished our meal; the waitress came over and asked us if we were done, as if to say she had someone else who needed the table.  When we told her yes with hesitance because we had never had that happen before, she left and came back.  With check in hand she announced her question, which came across in statement form:  You pay now.  It would probably be a good idea for that company to seek a secret shopping business to help them with their customer service skills. Many different businesses use secret shopping like; movie theatres, retail services, wine storage and more.

Written by Robin Turner, Call Center Manager

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Everywhere you look, another company has come up with their version of the perfect mystery shop.  I’m sure you’re familiar with all of the possible chances you have at winning some sort of monetary prize for offering your opinion of the company.  It’s their version of having quality secret shopping completed on their employees by their customers.  For example, you’ll notice an advertisement on the back of many receipts with an 800 number that you can call to answer a so called short survey, which they never are, regarding your visit to their establishment. 

Do they truly research the answers that they receive?  Better yet, we all want to know, is there ever a winner chosen and if so, why don’t they advertise who won? It’s a never ending offer that is becoming more and more popular. Have you noticed a difference in the service that you receive? 

As far as the results of the surveys, are they honest answers?  Or is someone simply answering any which way just to try to win a prize? I’ve always believed that you should have a dependable resource evaluating employees so you get true results. 

With our Quality Assurance Department, you can count on consistent evaluations and a team of dedicated employees to work with.  Don’t let someone who doesn’t have the expertise evaluate your self storage team when you can choose a company that’s available when you need them and willing to work with you.  A company you can trust in, and get in touch with, when you need to.  When choosing PhoneSmart for all of your mystery shopping needs, you’re sure to win.

Written by Robin Turner

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Recently one of our secret shopping evaluators had a store manager say, I didn’t know you could shop me on Saturday’s and then, I didn’t know you could shop me on our truck rental number. The lesson to learn here is that we are secret shopping your property because we were asked to do so. We will try and shop you until we reach the appropriate site or person. We will not try and catch you or try to put you in a bad sales situation. We will give you the opportunity to get us to reserve a self storage unit. If you answer the phone and treat every single call as if you are being secret shopped, you won’t have to worry when you really are being shopped. Give every person that calls the same friendly, helpful and respectful attention. We have posted many blogs about the Rule of Thirds and how not everyone calling your self storage site is going to rent. So, if you provide the same great service, 1/3 should rent, 1/3 could go either way, 1/3 won’t be ready. Think of how many more storage units, automobile storage or wine storage you could rent if you could get 2/3 of every call about storage.

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS executive and business blog writer.

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Storage available at 9 N 004 Rt 59, Elgin, IL 60120

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Do you read storage, secret shopping or property management blogs on a regular basis? If so, you are probably interested in the self storage, mystery shopping or property management industries. These are fun businesses to learn, and many people are getting involved. Not only can you own your own self storage business, but you can also get involved by simply renting a unit. Either way, there are many benefits that you may be able to realize as you get more involved with the industry.

The nice thing about a self storage, secret shopping or property management blog is that you will learn a lot. But what exactly should you be looking for? The answer to this question depends a lot on how you are involved with the self storage industry. For instance, do you simply rent a unit? If so, you will be more interested in a blog that offers details from a consumer point of view. But on the other side of things, maybe you are a self storage business owner. If this is the case, you will want to find blogs that touch on the management and mystery shopping side of things.

There is a lot of good information online, and if you search, you will be able to learn a lot about the self storage, secret shopping or property management industry. The blogs that are available give details on everything from renting a unit to running an entire self storage business. This should make it easy for you to find a blog regardless of how you are involved. And once you find a good one, the information will continue to roll in!

Written by guest blogger.

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SHAKE IT UP BABY NOW, when you see or hear this phrase you automatically want to say the next line to the famous song by Chubby Checker, and say, Twist and Shout! 

When conducting a mystery shop in the self storage industry you do want to shake it up, per se, among the shoppers that call the stores.  Although some names are hard to remember, most people remember voices.  As a mystery shopping provider, you want to keep this in mind as you want to alternate the voice of the shopper that calls the client.  If you are retailer or in the self storage industry that conducts mystery shopping then you must remember to shake it up!  Rotating different shoppers throughout different clients will keep the shopped employees on their toes. Those shopped will not be as familiar with a particular shopper’s voice. 

Shaking things up also benefits the mystery shopper so that they have a chance to see different clients and the products that are offered.  The mystery shopper will benefit in the self storage industry by viewing different units types and sizes that the various self storage facilities have.  So don’t be afraid to shake things up and rotate!!

Written by: Angela Perry, business blog writer.

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog. We offer sales training and quality assurance to the self storage industry.

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You’ve seen the ads on TV and in the magazines advertising for secret shoppers or mystery shoppers and phrases like, keep what you buy, get paid to shop, shop for a paycheck.  Unfortunately many of these ads are scams to get you to give this company information that they will turn around and sell or check scams that involve depositing checks and sending others. Lots of homework should be done before ever answering an ad like these. Remember, anyone can place an ad if they can pay for it.
 
The Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) is a group dedicated to keeping mystery shopping in the main stream without negative connotations. They provide certifications, job postings, seminars and more to help the community of mystery shoppers. We here at PhoneSmart belong to the MSPA and receive several emails a month from certified secret shoppers who are looking for extra jobs. Since we currently focus on the telephone shop we have not had a use so far in hiring outside in person secret shoppers. This is not to say we haven’t done our own in person shops.

Like anything that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Read the fine print and trust your gut feeling.

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS executive and business blog writer.

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Before you hire someone you should do some secret shopping of your own. Applications normally include such items as references, past jobs, etc. These items should be used to determine whether or not a candidate should be hired. Depending on the job and the duties that the person will be involved in, checking the references is a must. When you call a job reference there are some basic questions you should ask, with one of them being would you hire this person again? This allows the past employer to say volumes about the past employee without getting into too much detail and possibly legal trouble. Jobs that require the handling of monies, credit cards, alcohol, children, personal information about clients and driving commercial vehicles are some reasons to be careful about background checks. Many states have web sites that contain public information that can be helpful when an application is received.

It may take a little bit more time in the hiring process but in the long run you will save yourself some peace of mind and possibly some legal fees also. If everything checks out on paper don’t disregard your gut feeling. If something seems wrong, think about interviewing a few more people till you find the right fit.

Written by Natalie Thomas, Secret Shopping Professional and business blog writer.

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I have written a few mystery or secret shop blogs from the aspect of a shopper.  I have put myself in the position of the person who is being shopped and this is how I feel about being shopped.

It is nice to know I’m being shopped while the shop is being conducted because then I am able to turn up the juice and be on my p’s and q’s with the customer.  Unfortunately, it is not easy to tell when I am being a shopped. Therefore, with customers I am as professional as I can be and always greet them with a smile, whether it is in person or over the phone. My voice is upbeat and filled with eagerness to help the customer. I do not make my customers feel as though they are disturbing me.  I treat each caller of mine as if they were going to spend a million dollars with the company that I am representing.  I am patient and calm and make them feel as though they are the most important person, and at that time they are.  Also, with all of my customers I am friendly and helpful at all times. With each customer I always try to offer assistance or a solution even if it is something that I can not solve immediately.  I try to offer a solution of some sort.  This way the customer will feel as though I have done or made a suggestion to help them. 

Although it may not be in my area of expertise, I still try to accommodate to the customers needs by making a suggestion or even helping the customer to the best of my ability.  At the end of each call, I remind the customer of my name and that I am here to assist them in any way. Before giving my name to the caller I do make certain that the customer does not have any other questions or if I can further my assistance to them.  By doing these simple things while I am with a customer I am sure to pass any and all mystery shop evaluation with flying colors!!  This should be done with each and every customer. 

Written by Angela Perry

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog. We go behind the scenes of the secret shopping industry.

PhoneSmart is your offsite sales force and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

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Recently I wrote a secret shop blog about why I would prefer to conduct a mystery or secret shop in person instead of over the phone. Well let me play devil’s advocate for the moment, perhaps conducing a secret or mystery shop in person is not the most effective way to conduct a mystery or secret shop. 

Making a secret or mystery shop by phone instead of in person can eliminate body language that can be read such as swaggering back and forth or rolling of the eyes.  These type of body language suggestions may signal if the shopper is bored or tired which could lead to frustration for the person being shopped.  Believe it or not one can hear a smile through the phone by the tone of ones voice or the emphasis on certain words or phrases that are being used.  It is easy to listen to whether a person is uninterested in assisting you by the phrases that they may use. Also, conducing a secret or mystery shop over the phone can ease the tension among the shopper and the person being shopped as eye contact is not being made. 

Whether a secret or mystery shop is conducted in person or over the phone it is important to be professional at all times as you may be shopped at any time.

Written by Angela Perry

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog and inside view mystery shopping industry.

PhoneSmart is your offsite sales force and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

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