This one company is owned by two brothers. And, the only job either has ever had (one brother is in his thirties, the other in his forties) is secret shopping because they grew up with a father who's profession was secret shopping back in 1946, and this is how their father supported his family. 1946!!! Here we are 62 years later, and still, the industry is relatively unknown. Furthermore, if you follow along my future blogs you will discover how enormous the industry is beginning with today’s topic MSPA.

MSPA stands for Mystery Shopping Providers Association, and I like to think of them as the Better Business Bureau for the secret shopping industry. MSPA is the largest trade association dedicated to improving customer service through the means of anonymous sources. BTW…“mystery” shopping and “secret” shopping are the same thing and used interchangeably.

I have read there are about 400 mystery shopping companies, but MSPA only has about 150 of these 400 companies registered with them because they do their research on the company before the company can become a member. I can not go open up Magical Mary’s Mystery Shopping company and throw a link on their site….won’t happen.

MSPA networks over three continents…not countries…continents. There is MSPA North America, MSPA Asia/Pacific, and MSPA Europe. Additionally, they are now working to try and build MSPA South America. So, this should give an inkling just how large this industry has become since 1946.

So, here’s what MSPA means to us, the shoppers. First off, there's lots of FREE info for shoppers right there on their site. Now...MSPA recognizes that mystery shopping is a profession, not a hobby. Because of this, they work very hard to assist secret shopping companies with standardizing and educating shoppers, and they do this through two certification programs. These certification programs are NOT required to work in the industry, but are for both the shopper and company's benefit. MSPA only introduced the certification programs a few years back.

In 2002, MSPA organized the Shoppers Services Committee as a liaison between shoppers and member companies and introduced the Silver Certification program.  Because it is still in it’s infancy, if I were to look into the crystal ball, I would venture to say, at some point, MSPA certification could eventually become mandatory for new shoppers in the future. Of course, this is just a prediction.

For now, these two certification programs are voluntary, but there is a fee to get certified. If you read through MSPA’s info about the fee, this is what it says, and I am in TOTAL agreement with MSPA. I’m paraphrasing, but they adamantly say, as I say, “NEVER PAY TO WORK FOR A SECRET SHOPPING COMPANY!!!” Did everyone get that???? As for the fee in reference to the certifications, this fee is not to work for a secret shopping company but about getting educated. If you were to purchase a book at a book store about the industry, that is not paying to work for any company but is paying for information about secret shopping. And, Again…you do NOT have to have either of these certifications at this time.

Okay, now that everyone promises me they will never, ever, pay to work for a secret shopping company, here’s the scoop on the certifications for anyone thinking about getting certified....again, it's not required. I keep repeating this because I know, too many people think this industry is a scam because too many "bad" people have used secret shopping to prey on the innocent. Ask someone to pay for a golf lesson with Tiger Woods, and no one thinks anything of it. Ask someone to pay to learn the intensity of the secret shopping industry, and the first that comes to mind is, "scam." Follow along with my blogs, and you will see this industry is legit.

Silver Certificate - This certification program is conducted online and can be conducted from anywhere in the world by anyone who has online access. The current charge for Silver Certification is $15.00. Passing score is 80%, and if the shopper does not pass, they can retake the test in 30 days for another $15.00.

Gold Certification - In the past, the gold certification has been a one day "live" event scheduled in different cities around the country. This year, MSPA is making a few changes to their Gold Certification program. They will only being holding  "live" gold workshops in conjunction with their quarterly, regional, Shopper Educational Conferences, 2008. However; also this year, they have introduced a DVD to get gold certified from the comfort of your home...Kudos!!!! The cost for either one…the one day event or DVD is exactly the same. It is $99.00. The DVD does have a shipping cost of $5.00. You have to be silver certified before you can become gold certified.

As you move through applications you will see a lot of companies ask for certification numbers, and now you will know what it means. Again, it is not mandatory, so these fields will be left blank if you are not certified.

Another thing that MSPA provides for shoppers is a list of available assignments with their member companies. About four months ago, I was writing a guide for the industry, and I looked at their site to gauge how many assignments were available just from this one resource. At that time, there were over 18,000 assignments listed for the US. Today, I noticed they changed their method of finding assignments to a search method which is a good thing because we, the shoppers, no longer have to look through 18,000 assignments for our area.

Now, I want to give a word of caution to avoid any discouragement about searching for assignments on MSPA. Because this is an additional resource for the secret shopping companies these assignments are sometimes already filled. But, I still highly recommend using the contact information and inquiring about the assignment because it could very well be an in-road to a new company for new shoppers in the beginning.

The last thing I want to talk about that MSPA offer shoppers is their forums. Secret shopping is an isolated type job…everyone works on their own…For all I know, my next door neighbor could be a secret shopper...lol. Because of this, the forums are a way to interact with other shoppers around the world with like-minds. But, using the forums comes with a warning from me.  Sometimes, the forums can be the equivalent of company gossip. The bottom line about the forums is: it's not all bad, it's not all good, but use common sense when in them, and use the forums as a form of checks and balances.

Overall, MSPA is a liaison between shoppers and companies , and MSPA is here for everyone’s benefit.