Secret Service

“No big deal. We all have our ups and downs. No need to whine. Our present and past are tied into the decisions we make. Get over it. Get over it and change the thought process that got you in a bad situation in the first place. Do things a lot differently. Change your thought process”~apw~

I, spy

I was once a spy🕵️….I believe that got your attention. Let me explain. Let’s go back a few years. I signed up as a secret shopper and snooped around in retail establishments on assignment. I did terrible in the end. I suddenly felt uncomfortable. It felt burdensome. Even though I can’t tell you the details on these assignments, usually I do a review on employees and areas in these stores and reported them. I don’t believe that employees got fired from these assessments( unless they did something crazy) but I believe that training is put in place to further address the lack in customer service or other issues that store might have. Listen, these establishments need customers. They need customers and their recurring business and will do their best to keep them.

The money trail ended

So I did this obviously for the money. I was getting paid for each assignment. I used to travel to places where these assignments were available. It was frustrating at times since the assignments you really wanted were already taken. Then it was up to you to take something else that day or come back another day. This took the excitement out of me sometimes. This felt like a job. I was done with this just after a short stint.

Building a network

I got started from a referral (I don’t remember who that person or entity that I received that referral). I signed up. Was skeptical at first but I decided to try this out. I believed that I had some extra time on my hands. It was warm outdoors and I finished my regular job by 3-4pm. Weekends were out the question since I already had a part time weekend job. So I was super busy at the moment. And super tired at times.

These were my early days working online. I wanted to build a structure. Referrals were coming in easy and at a steady interval. I turned down many other ventures but being a secret shopper seemed exciting at the time.

Who’s that?

“Who knows?…Before then, I had no idea who secret shoppers were. I heard rumors when I was involve in retail part time as a Protective Service employee. I heard in the stores, “secret shoppers are coming in soon. Be on the alert” or “he/she is a secret shopper”. I figured it out quickly what was going on but I had no clue that these people did exist. How did they know secret shoppers would be coming to the store? To this day, I do not know. Maybe they were tipped off. Or maybe those shoppers stood out. At the time that ranked as high as store owners, outside store executives or investors coming to visit the stores. Everyone’s on high alert. In this case...Spy alert.

Customer Service

I may not be involved in secret shopping anymore but I take the time to do a survey in detail once in a while on a store visit. I just don’t have the time or energy to physically go on assignments.

Customer service is #1 in my arsenal. Niceness is contagious. It may make a person’s life better. It may brighten up someone’s day by showing great customer service skills. And I always wish to get the same in return.

To this day, each time I visit a store, I look forward to the individual attention that is or not given. I don’t expect grovelling or extra niceness but I do need a welcome or a smile at times. No one can be happy all the time, but a job is a job. One needs to do the job well and get over the grievances they may have….you may be the first person that customer sees as they walk into your place of work….”No big deal. We all have our ups and downs. No need to whine. Our present and past are tied into the decisions we make. Get over it. Get over it and change the thought process that got you in a bad situation in the first place. Do things a lot differently. Change your thought process”

And perhaps smile more.

And always give us some good customer service. You never know when these secret shoppers will be waiting and watching.

Ps. I hope I didn’t look too predictable on those assignments😀

Have a great day and weekend everyone