5 Tips For Better Narratives
By Melanie Jordan

One of the questions I regularly get from mystery shoppers is "how do I improve my narratives"? Well, you want it, you got it (thanks Bryan Adams for a great song and record long ago).

1. In determining the length of a narrative, check the guidelines for the shop for any specific requirements. If there are none, a good rule of thumb is two-three sentences per major subsection -- i.e. greeting; transaction. Also explain any "no answers" if required, or you feel it is important, as well as anything else that is particularly striking--positive or negative.
2. To know what to emphasize, again look at the shop guidelines and the shop forms. But then put yourself in the role of the mystery shopping company's client. You did the shop and found out certain information. If you were the owner of the client company, what would you have hoped someone who just had the experience you did with one of his/her employees would say? Use that point-of-view to guide you.
3. Watch out for getting too emotional in your narratives. Sometimes shoppers will have unsettling experiences that affect them, and their emotions shows up in the report rather than their objective research findings. Remember, you are a researcher, and researchers report facts. Recently, one of my coaching clients had a bad experience during a restaurant shop and his distress clearly showed in the report I reviewed for him. His assessment was "Johnny my waiter was just awful". That doesn't cut it. You can say "I was disappointed in Johnny's service because he spilled my salad on my lap and didn't even apologize". See the difference?
4. Make sure you provide a detailed summary of your experience not a blow-by-blow description. I've read some narratives that go something like this. "Susie invited me to sit down. Susie then took out a guest card. Susie asked me my name. I answered." Besides putting everyone to sleep, that's not what was requested. To give the same information, you could say "Susie invited me to sit down, and immediately made note of my name on a guest card". Better, right?
5. Watch for errors which can lower the quality of your narrative. Common mistakes include: misspellings, horrible grammar, failure to use complete sentences, lack of synonyms and starting off every sentence in the same way (i.e. "he said", or "I"). Take a few seconds and read your report out loud to yourself. If you don't like it, chances are that the company you are working with won't either.

So no need to fear narratives, which are regularly part of some of the higher-paying service category shops. Use these 5 tips to turn in your best reports and watch more repeat requests for your services come your way.

Copyright 2002, Melanie R. Jordan E-Publishing

Besides being a mystery shopper and merchandiser, Melanie writes about, and provides personal coaching services on work-at-home lifestyles, health and fitness and e-publishing. She publishes a free monthly award-winning e-zine for mystery shoppers and merchandisers called "The Perfect Work-At-Home Job Update" (subscribe by e-mail to mscoach@aweber.com). Her books may be purchased 24/7 from her web site at http://www.mysteryshoppercoach.com where you'll also find FAQs, articles and back issues of her e-zine.