Required Experience To Be A Mystery Shopper (Ask The Coach)

Question:

What kind of experience do I need to be a mystery shopper? Does previous work experience or education help me in any way?

Answer From Coach Melanie:

You don't need any specific experience to be a mystery shopper. Since so much of it is on-line based, it is important to be good with e-mail and working with attachments, and have basic word processing and spreadsheet skills (data entry, not spreadsheet creation). You should also have good communication skills--both writing (although you don't have to be at the level of winning a Pulitzer), and the ability to carry on a conversation with employees of businesses you will be interacting with in doing your assignments. Personal qualities like being observant, reliable and having a good imagination are also very important to being a top mystery shopper.

That said, an initial plus (until you get actual mystery shopping experience) would be any prior work experience or education in retail, financial services or apartment leasing (since many shops fall into these industries), customer service or the field of market research. But if you don't have any prior "credits" in these areas, don't worry. It won't keep you from being a mystery shopper if you present yourself the right way.

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