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Secret
Shopping And Self Storage
We have all seen the bumper stickers or heard
the phrase, born to shop. Well die hard shoppers
can now find a career in secret shopping.
Thats right; shop and get paid. Unfortunately,
secret shopper can't always keep the products
they buy during their secret shopping expedition.
However, all die hard shoppers know it is
not what you come home with; rather, it is
the shopping experience that gives off the
rush. Everyone wants that perfect job where
they can do what they love. A career in secret
shopping may be what many compulsive shoppers
have been waiting for.
Secret shopping programs have been used by
the world's largest self storage businesses
for decades. The concept is simple. A secret
shopper calls a self storage manager posing
as a normal person interested in a self storage
unit. The secret shopper asks the same questions
and inquiries as any normal customer; only
the secret shopper is evaluating the self
storage managers sales performance. The inquiries
are always different. |
A secret shopper may ask
about boat storage, car storage, shoe storage,
RV storage, and relocation storage. Knowledge
about self storage and selling value over
price are just couple of sales techniques
being measured by the secret shopper. Others
are determining the correct storage unit size
for the customer's storage needs. The secret
shopper also may put the self storage property
manager in a difficult situation to test his
or her problem solving abilities. Overall,
the self storage property manager is evaluated
on the quality of service the secret shopper
had received or how well they were treated.
Secret shopping calls also may appear as bogus
calls, or shock calls. During a shock call,
a secret shopper may ask for something else
other than self storage (boxes, packing supplies,
storage bins, and office hours). The self
storage manager is graded on a pass or fail
basis. If the self storage property manager
asks the caller if they also need storage,
they pass. If not, they fail.
The better secret shopping services in the
self storage industry offer instant feedback.
In secret shopping programs that offer instant
feedback the secret shopper, or mystery shopper
metamorphically changes from customer to trainer.
At the end of the sales call, the secret shopper
reveals his or her true identity as highly
qualified sales representative and reviews
the self storage properties managers sales
approach. Together they go over what worked
and what didn't work in the sales call. The
benefit here is that the self storage manager
can use this instant feedback on his or her
very next sales call.
Some secret shopping companies will hire anyone
who wants to mystery shop or secret shop.
Secret shoppers can work either full or part
time and set their own hours. These secret
shopping companies promise big money whether
a potential secret shopper has experience
or not. Interested shoppers can sign up online
and get started with secret shopping within
24 hours.
However, in the self storage industry, secret
shopping is done professionally. Secret shoppers
are highly trained sales representatives qualified
to offer their own feedback. They are employed
by the secret shopping company, as opposed
to being independent contractors. Self storage
businesses that use this type of secret shopping
are ensured that they are receiving the best
secret shopping service. |
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