Mystery Shopping Basics

internet marketing

Great Mystery Shopping Companies

Finding the right companies to work for as a secret shopper can be a daunting task. Unless you spend some time reviewing them, working for them or unless you learn from experienced mystery shoppers, it can be like a shot in the dark. After all, there are over 400 mystery shopping companies out there.

I have done the first two tasks listed above: I have spent many hours researching mystery shopping companies and I have completed more secret shopping assignments then I can remember. I thought I would take some time to refer you to ten of my favorite companies. Below is the list. I have provided the URL for each company and a brief reason why I like each one. I hope this helps!

Service Intelligence (http://www.secretshopnet.com/index.html) - This is a BIG mystery shopping company that always seems to have shops listed. They have a great interactive website, which makes browsing for jobs easy. Their site also allows you to assign shops to yourself and all reports are filled in online. One other great thing is the fact that they just recently increased the pay for many of the assignments they offer.

Palm Scheduling Services (http://www.palmschedulingservices.com) - This company is not actually a secret shopping company. They are a premier scheduling company that works with secret shopping companies by scheduling assignments with mystery shoppers. They are GREAT and have more assignments listed across the country. I started working with Palm my first week of being a mystery shopper.

Shop 'N Check (http://www.shopnchek.com) - These guys have a great interactive website that allows shoppers to find and report assignments quickly. Maneuvering through the site might take some time getting used to, but once you do, it’s no problem. I also like their comprehensive online help and their email help has always been responsive.

DSG Associates, Inc. (http://www.dsgai.com/index.html) - I did quite a few assignments through DSG when I first started. They seem to do a lot of fast food shops, which are easy to do and don’t require a lot of work on the reporting end. They also allow shoppers to call in for shops and they also will call on occasion when they have assignments that need to get done. They do have other assignments besides fast food. Check them out – they are a solid company.

Infotel (http://www.quantumsystem.net) - I have done some good restaurant shops with Infotel. The assignments were easy to do and reporting my findings was relatively painless. The pay for the shops I did was reimbursement only, but it was a great way to get a good lunch or dinner for only the cost of a little work. By the way, they just recently upgraded their website, so it is very interactive and easy to use.

Cirrus Marketing Consultants (http://www.sassieshop.com/2cirrus/) - This company is one of the many companies that uses the Sassie system, which is an online service for mystery shopping companies. Cirrus gives shoppers full internet functionality, from searching for jobs to reporting jobs. It is also a self-assigning company, so mystery shoppers can assign assignments to themselves. I have done many apartment shops with Cirrus.

Bare Associates International (http://www.sassieshop.com/2bareusa) - This is another secret shopping company that uses the Sassie system. Again, secret shoppers do everything online, including assigning shops to themselves. Bare Associates offers a wide rage of assignments across the country. Most of the mystery shops I have done for this company have been bank shops.

Ellis Property Management Services (EPMS) (http://www.epmsonline.com) - If you like to do apartment assignments (or if you are interested in them), this is a GREAT company to check out. They assign thousands of mystery shops each year. I have done more shops for EPMS then I can remember. They have a great website that gives secret shoppers the ability to self-assign shops. The only downside is that you have to print out the report, fill it in by hand and then fax it back to them. Some of their reports are long, but the report you are required to fill out is different for each apartment company you are shopping. Don’t get me wrong, I really like this company! They also have great customer service.

CTCSS (http://www.ctcss.com/) - This is another scheduling company, that works like Palm Scheduling Services above. I have done several hotel / motel assignments for them. They have an online reporting service and they pay fairly quickly. However, because they are a scheduling company, the time and method of payment will differ depending on which mystery shopping company you work for. They do not allow self-assigning and I don’t think they list assignments on their site. However, I have never had a problem with CTCSS and recommend them.

RoperNOP (http://www.cybershoppersonline.com/) - This is another mystery shopping company that has a website which allows mystery shoppers to view shops, self-assign them and report online. I have done quite a few retail-type shops with them and really like their reporting system. Another I really like about their system is that it allows you to pick the date you want to do the shop (from a list of several dates) and you can change this date if you need to. Many companies do not give you this type of flexibility.

These are not all of the great secret shopping companies out there – there are many more, but these are 10 great companies I have worked for many times. I actually could have listed more than 10, but I wanted to keep this short and sweet. I hope this list helps you locate some assignments. Now get out there and shop! (:

Yours in success,

Jennifer Callahan

info@mysteryshoppingsecrets.net

Back To Article List Back To Main Page

Get top-quality hosting: 2 domains, 6 email accounts, 100 MB disk space and 2 GB bandwidth all for $4.99 per month! http://www.valleydesignservices.com