Routing a day of secret shopping is easy when there’s only a few locations. But, once shoppers start having multiple stops, the routing can be cumbersome.

Most are familiar with sites that offer driving directions. These are okay for a few stops, but for many stops in the same day, I have found they don’t work so good. I have often shopped over 50 shops in one day, and have found no online direction finders that work for me in this situation. They offer directions but not routing, or if they do offer routing, it’s limited. So I use Microsoft Streets and Maps. In seven years of secret shopping, I have only purchased the software twice….version 2003, then I updated in 2006. The cost is about $60.00 for the GPS version, and about $30.00 for the version without GPS. It’s one of the few things I ever invested in for secret shopping, and it was worth every single penny.

The beauty of MS Streets and Maps is I can enter every location for the day, and it will route me the shortest distance with exact directions. I enter all the routing in one shot and it saves time. GPS systems are great if I know the order of the addresses to route the shortest distance, but if not, I will probably find myself zig-zagging across town(s) which will eat up time quickly.

Here’s how to route a day using MS Streets and Maps

1.) Once open, click on “route” from the menu

2.) Click on “Route Planner” from the pull down menu

3.) On the left top side where it reads, “Type place or address” type in the starting point…most often this will be a home address

4.) Once the starting place has been entered, click on “Add to Route”

5.) Next, type in each location’s address in the “type place or address” box, then click on “add to route” ...addresses can be entered in any order

6.) Once all shopping locations are entered, enter the address where you would like to finish your day ( I.e., home, kids’ school, husband’s job, etc.) And, again “add to route”

7.) After all addresses are entered, click on “optimize” located at the bottom left of the screen. The software will know route all addresses in the shortest distance from the beginning location to the ending location…very cool feature

8.) After the software has completed optimizing, click on “get directions,” and the software will get the directions.

9.) Print the directions.

Some “hints” about MS Streets and Maps:

• If the software does not locate an address, check to see if the address is correct. If the address was entered correctly, it could be a newer than the software address. In which case, try using an address very close to the same address rather than exact….I.E., If the address is 180 N Main St. …try 160 N Main Street. The difference between the two will be so close it should not affect the routing.

• Pay special attention to directional addresses (N, S, E, W) If a N is entered and it should have been an S, shoppers will find themselves on the wrong side of town. Be sure to check and make sure MS S&M also picked up the right direction. Back to 180 N Main St, if the software does not find N Main, it could offer S Main as alternative. And if alternate address is entered, again, it will be on the wrong side of town.

• When reading directions, they are verbatim which at first can be confusing. For example, a direction might read the following: From the 5 North, “Exit Main Street right ¼ mile”. The ¼ mile refers to the off ramp…not to turn right on Main St.

Though it will take a little time to learn the software...it's worth learning.

I found these versions of MS Streets and maps at Amazon.com Click on any of the links for further info.