For Confero’s 40th anniversary, we asked mystery shoppers to share what experience has taught them—and what they wish they had known when they started.
Their answers were practical, candid and sometimes emphatic.
So we’ll let the experienced shoppers tell you themselves.
Earlier this month, experienced mystery shoppers shared some of the lessons their assignments have taught them. This time, we asked what they would want other shoppers—especially those just getting started—to know.
What Experienced Mystery Shoppers Want New Mystery Shoppers to Know
“Start small by choosing one shop to focus on. Gradually add in more shops as you become more proficient with completing them.”
— Nicholle from DFW
“Always, ALWAYS read the guidelines and the report, even if you’ve done the shop 100 times before. Sometimes things change, and that could be the difference between an accepted or rejected report.”
— Rachel from MA
“Read, read and RE-READ!”
— TexasTea from Houston
“Review the questionnaire before attempting the shop. The guidelines tell you what to do, but reviewing the questionnaire shows exactly what you will need to observe.”
— L. Nguyen from AZ
There is a lot of experience packed into those few sentences.
Start small. Read the client requirements. Review the questionnaire. Know what you need to observe before you begin.
It is easy to get excited when you first see several mystery shopping opportunities you want to try. But you don’t need to do everything at once.
Get comfortable with the process.
Learn how long an assignment really takes you—not just the time at the location, but preparing beforehand and completing the report afterward.
And Rachel’s “100 times” advice matters. Familiarity can make anyone skim. But client requirements can change. Something you remember from the last assignment may not be what the client needs this time.
Yes, You Can Ask Questions
Rachel had another piece of advice for newer shoppers:
“It’s okay to ask questions. Schedulers want you to succeed and would rather you ask than have your shop rejected.”
— Rachel from MA
You aren’t expected to know everything on your first assignment.
Or your tenth.
Different assignments ask shoppers to notice different things. If something in the client requirements isn’t clear, asking before the assignment is a whole lot easier than discovering afterward that you misunderstood something you can no longer go back and observe.
Questions are part of learning the process.
So is getting comfortable being the mystery shopper.
Murphy from North Carolina put that simply:
“Don’t be nervous if you have to interact, ask questions or take a photo. People don’t care. Just act natural.”
— Murphy, NC
Remember, you know you’re a mystery shopper. They don’t.
They may assume you’re late to pick up your child. Or you’re shopping for your mom. Or running an errand for a neighbor or friend. Your nerves may not betray you nearly as much as you think they do.
Much of mystery shopping can be a little like improv acting—so go with it.
Need to ask where something is? “I’m not sure where you keep this. I’m running an errand for my mom.”
That’s it. You don’t need to make it complicated.
The more assignments you complete, the more ordinary these interactions become.
Find a System That Works for You
Once you get comfortable with individual assignments, you can start figuring out how mystery shopping best fits your life.
Experienced shoppers develop systems because they have learned what makes their own work easier.
Eric from Utah told us:
“One habit that has helped me become a more successful mystery shopper is preparation. I reread the guidelines over and over before completing a shop so I know exactly what I need to look for.”
— Eric from Utah
He also told us about using notes on his phone, recording names and times, taking extra photographs and documenting details while they are still fresh.
Carol from North Carolina uses calendars and keeps information she refers to frequently accessible. She also pointed to one of the benefits that attracted many people to mystery shopping in the first place:
“What I love most about being a mystery shopper is the freedom to choose the types of projects I find most appealing. Choosing dates that work around my schedule helps me have a decent work-life balance.”
— Carol from NC
There isn’t one perfect system.
Maybe you keep a calendar. Maybe you plan several assignments in the same area. Maybe you have a routine for checking client requirements before you leave home. Maybe you know exactly where receipts go so one doesn’t disappear into the black hole at the bottom of your purse or car.
Find what works for you.
Mystery shoppers are independent contractors. As you gain experience, think about your mystery shopping efforts as your own fledgling small business.
Which opportunities make sense for you?
How much time will they actually require?
What expenses will you have?
Can you combine assignments efficiently?
What types of assignments do you enjoy and do well?
And how much can you realistically accept and still do a good job?
The goal isn’t to grab every opportunity you see. The goal is to make your time and effort work for you.
Experienced Mystery Shoppers Remember Being New
Something else came through in the responses we received.
Experienced mystery shoppers are willing to help newer mystery shoppers.
That may surprise some people. Why would a veteran mystery shopper be eager to help someone new get started?
The truth is, there is a lot of gig opportunity out there—and good customer experience research needs new shoppers, too.
The same assignments shouldn’t simply be completed by the same people over and over. New eyes bring fresh perspectives. Different shoppers notice different things, and that helps businesses get a fuller picture of what their customers may experience.
There is room for experienced shoppers and newcomers alike. And the better work mystery shoppers collectively provide, the more useful the research can be for businesses.
Businesses that see value in customer experience research have reason to keep using it. Businesses that improve because of what they learn demonstrate why the research matters in the first place.
Better mystery shopping helps create better research. Better research helps businesses improve. And when businesses see the value, that can mean more opportunities for shoppers.
They remember learning how to do this, too.
Someone had a first assignment before they had a hundredth.
Someone had to figure out how to remember a name and a time while carrying on a normal conversation.
Someone discovered that a receipt can become surprisingly important after you’ve already left the parking lot.
Someone learned the hard way that “I’ll remember that when I write the report later” isn’t always a foolproof system.
That accumulated experience is worth sharing.
And after 40 years working together, Confero has a remarkable community of shoppers with plenty of it.
Forty Years—and Plenty Still to Learn
Mystery shopping has changed enormously since Confero began in 1986.
Technology has changed. Reporting has changed. The types of assignments available have changed. Shoppers now carry tools in their pockets that weren’t imaginable when some longtime mystery shoppers began.
But people still learn from people.
That is one reason we wanted to hear from shoppers during Confero’s 40th anniversary celebration—not simply about what they enjoy, but about what experience has taught them.
Their advice is remarkably straightforward:
Start small.
Read the client requirements every time.
Know what you need to observe.
Ask questions.
Act naturally.
Get organized.
Find what works for you.
Then keep learning.
Forty years gives all of us plenty of history to look back on. But Confero and its mystery shoppers are still living it, still learning and still growing together.
And maybe that’s one of the nicest things an experienced mystery shopper can offer someone just starting out:
I was new once, too. Here’s what I’ve learned.
