Greetings from Portland OR. Today is the first day of the "dry" season, and not a moment too soon....
Have any of you ever done a menu audit? How do you capture pictures of signs without being too obvious?
I had an assignment to take pictures of all food item menus and promotional signage in a gas station convenience store. Unfortunately all the signs were near the front of the store, and the cashier became hostile when she saw me taking pictures.
She told me I had no right to take these kinds of pictures without permission from corporate, and implied that I could even be 'casing' the store for a future robbery.
It was a very uncomfortable situation.
For another shop I did, the instructions said to give a back story to explain why you are taking pictures - such as gathering information for a BnB owner or someone else who cannot be there in person. We were told to never reveal that we are secret shoppers; even if directly asked.
Unfortunately theft is a big issue for many businesses nowadays, and I suspect it will get worse before it gets better.
Hi Kristin -
I've been doing this about 7 years, but never as a main source of income.
Until this year, it was extremely casual, but this year, I've decided to step up and treat it more like a serious business.
A few things I've found to help:
- self-assign shops that are geographically close to each other, so you can travel more efficiently
- consider registering with multiple mystery shopping sites. Each has strengths, weaknesses, pay and different types of assignments
- make sure you give yourself enough time to finish & submit your reports on time.