Well, At Least The Neighbors Are Quiet (Mystery Shopper Anecdote)

If you do apartment mystery shops for any length of time, you get paid very well, but you also can get a little bored with "the drill". All it takes is one shop to bring back the amusement.

I went over to the on-site portion of an apartment shop in an area of my neighborhood that I really never looked at in detail before. For the phone portion of the shop, I stressed that a very quiet, view location was very important to me. When I arrived at the apartment complex, the leasing agent was pleasant and led me to the vacant unit for rent. As we were about to walk through the door, she told me that she was very pleased that this unit became available as it was one of the quietest with the loveliest view in the whole development.

We stepped inside and she let me look around the place. I did my usual "of course I'm very interested in renting" walk around as she pointed out features and benefits. As she led me to the window, my leasing agent said "see, just as I told you, quiet and a lovely view". I played along and followed her to the window and prepared to be "amazed". But the surprise was on me. I was amazed. I saw lots of incredibly manicured grass, flowers and rows of headstones. Oh my goodness, this apartment overlooks a cemetery! Hey, I thought to myself, didn't the builder of this place see the movie Poltergeist?

I struggled to get my composure and then commented as calmly as I possibly could "gee, this apartment overlooks a cemetery, isn't that kind of spooky?" Without missing a beat, the leasing agent said "well at least the neighbors are quiet and you really just see mostly greenery and flowers". I'm thinking headstones, what about the headstones? As if she was reading my mind, she added, "the digging goes on much further back out of view in the newer section". Oh, I thought, sure, that makes all the difference!

I was now bucking for an Oscar as I gave my most sincere, "well, you're right it is quiet, I guess this place could work", and let her finish her presentation. In doing the shop report I actually gave the leasing agent very high marks because she certainly did a masterful job of overcoming objections. I could just see the people at the mystery shopping company and the client reading my report! I'll bet they weren't bored anymore as they went through their pile of shopper reports either!

Want to share a mystery shopping anecdote as a "guest coach" with full credit to you? E-mail me at mysteryshoppercoach@cox.net.

Have a great day and happy shopping!

Taking the mystery out of professional mystery shopping--Melanie Jordan http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com

Copyright 2005 Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing