(longish) Pro tips from your friendly neighborhood editor...

[Chanlin]

I work a an editor for a company that does mystery shopping. Below are some pro-tips I've compiled as face book posts over the last year or so.

Editing Job: Pro-tip: If you've been contracted to take photos of a building it is usually a good idea to actually be able to see the building in the photo rather than taking the photo from across the street and having the majority of your subject be blocked by foliage and other foreground objects. Bonus points if the photo is taken from a google image search or google street view.

Editing Job Pro-tip: When writing professional reports, remember to consider context. For example: If you are evaluating a convenience store's coffee, there is no need to describe it like a fine wine. It is not full bodied with a rich aroma and a smooth frothy cream. It is perfectly ok to just write that the coffee tasted good.

Editing Job: Pro-tip: For professional reports that want you to list an item purchased it works better if you actually write out what you purchased. Cho Ch Bar can be assumed to be chocolate chip bar, but it doesn't really give any context beyond that. "Grocery" could literally be anything. Remember: specifics are better than generics.

Pro-tip: Sending professional communications absent any contextual info is the best way to solve whatever issue or thing you need to resolve. Never mind if the person you are contacting most likely works in the wrong department and has no idea what you are talking about because of the absence of said contextual information.

Editing Job: Pro-tip. When writing professional reports, consistency is just as important as accuracy.

Editing job: Pro-tip: We know you're writing about the day of the report. It is not necessary to begin or end every sentence with: "On the day of..."

Editing Job: Pro-tip: For an auto mechanic oil stains are practically a part of their uniform. Don't complain that their uniform was dirty because of this.

Editing job: Pro-tip: No matter how disused they may seem to be, it is probably a bad idea to stand on train tracks to take photos of something.

Editing Job: Pro-tip: Punctuation makes all the difference between a female who is 5'7" with long black hair and a female with 5'7" long black hair.

Editing job: Pro tip: Remember to proofread so you don't end up with gems such as, "The closing greeting was friendly and sincere."

Editing Job: Pro-tip: If the information isn't asked for in the questionnaire, not only do we not need to know, the client most likely doesn't care about it.

Editing Job: Pro-tip/Possible Princess Bride Moment: Virtually free of is not 100% free of...

Editing-job: Pro-tip: It literally takes 5 seconds to look at the screen of your digital camera to decide if the photo you just took was good or not. Hint: if your finger was covering the lens, take another photo.

Editing job: Pro-tip: If you only buy two dollars of gas (less than a gallon), the only person who is going to be surprised that they figured out your a mystery shopper is you.

Editing job pro-tip: Parenthesis and quotation marks serve very different purposes...

Editing Job: Pro-Tip: I'm fairly certain attaching your resume to a mystery shop is a faux pas of some kind.

And another editing-pro tip: Taking photos through a windshield of your car on a rainy day is probably not the best idea for good looking professional photos. Super special extra bonus points when your windshield has large visible cracks in it.

Editing job pro-tip: When taking photos for a mystery shop, it is generally advisable that your personal identifying information not be plainly visible in said photos.

Editing job pro-tip: When writing professional reports remember you are no longer in high school or college. There is no need to pad the word count. It's ok to write chips and not "promotional chip snack."

Editing job pro-tip: Despite how convenient they may be, chips and soda are not generally defined as fast food.

Editing job pro-tip: When writing about a store, make sure your auto correct doesn't change the name of the store to something completely wrong. Bonus points if it ends up as something that sounds vaguely pornographic.

Editing job: pro-tip: when describing people, it is generally not necessary to point out the absence of a mustache. Bonus points if the subject you are describing is female

Editing Job Pro Tip: Appealing and Appalling have different meanings. Yes, I am sure.

Editing Job: Pro Tip: Yes, non-slip and non-stick are two very different things...

Pro-tip: If you plan to dispute your pay at work the guy whose job title is Editor probably can't help you.

[Kit-Ginevra]

Editing job: Pro tip: Remember to proofread so you don't end up with gems such as, "The closing greeting was friendly and sincere."

Now that makes perfect sense to me...if it's visiting a shop and that is on my way out at the till,then I would probably refer to that as a closing greeting,especially if it's something like 'Thank you for shopping with us.Have a nice day...

Editing Job: Pro-tip: If the information isn't asked for in the questionnaire, not only do we not need to know, the client most likely doesn't care about it.

I'd disagree-if there's something that hasn't been mentioned in the list of questions,but has affected my experience-I'd mention it.

If there's a leak in the roof,or ants on the table,or the wallpaper is coming off in stripes,it might not have been mentioned,but it's pertinent to let them know.

Editing job pro-tip: Despite how convenient they may be, chips and soda are not generally defined as fast food.

Over here,they are!!

[Chanlin]

Yeah, the questionnaire one is pretty specific. Something like what you describe would generally be covered by: Was the store clean etc.

There are all sorts of little things clients look for on their reports and when you go from shopping at say S Mart and move over to Y Mart which are the same type of store but with different corporate offices the details they look for will be entirely different. Like one shopper we had would always insist that we absolutely had to inform the client if a store had hookahs for sale because hookahs personally offended them.

The closing greeting thing I guess makes sense out of context. On that specific report it asks for you to quote the greeting you received on entering the store or approaching the counter and the closing you received on walking away from the counter or on leaving the store.

[Chanlin]

Honestly, a large number of the problems we encounter are because of the way the clients insist things be worded or they get stuck on asking for information in a very specific way when consolidating the questions would be much more efficient.

Along the lines of: Was the product in the coolers neatly organized? is the actual question and then in the guidelines on how to answer the question there are bullet points: -note the temperature setting of the cooler, note the presence or absence of ice build up, note whether the product was fronted and faced, note how many and which products were completely out of stock. -- Understandably most people will do this particular survey for them maybe twice and then give up because the pay scale isn't worth the time it takes to complete the report and its really easy to forget to note something when the question doesn't actually ask the question they want answered.

Then on the flip side we have clients who have their survey reports down to a science and they gather over 100 data points with a 30 question survey that can be completed in 5 minutes once you know what they are specifically looking for.