The (Un) Secret Shopper

Hello (certifiable muy loco en la cabeza out-of-your-mind-to-be-out-shopping) shoppers…

…and welcome to the wide, wide WIDE world…

of Thanksgiving, day 3.

Before the tryptophan wears off, let your pleasantly sedated ears take in today’s Unsecret Shopper Radio Show.

The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show for Saturday November 27, 2010 

(Left click to listen, right click to download, don’t click to not hear)

Today’s show is a “Best of” (I’m out doing some secret shopping for next week’s Thursday review) featuring encore interviews with Virginia Wiggins from Git N’ Go, Geoff Greenwood from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and John Cullen from Executive Resources. You’ll also hear a singing tribute to Thanksgiving (sung by others better suited to do so) and some analysis of this very busy shopping holiday, sprinkled in.

For all the things we are thankful for, let us remember to include the men and women who have to work this weekend, in the stores where we’ll be shopping. Is there a more thankless job than retail, especially this time of year?

For those of you – in area restaurants and malls and grocery stores and convenience stores - who are working so dog-gone hard to take care of us…

Thanks ahead of time for joining me here on Monday – tryptophan-free.

Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, professional secret shopper, marketing strategist and host of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show, Saturday mornings 8-9am, on 1350, KRNT.       

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Facebook page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Twitter page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s blog    

Click to email Jonnie (jonnie@theunsecretshopper.com)    

Phone: 515-480-4190

Hello shoppers…

and welcome to the day, 46 years ago, when my mother looked forward to welcoming her baby daughter into the world. 

Fortunately Mom was sedated, and missed my entrance. 

You don’t have to miss The Unsecret Secret Shopper Radio Show, even though it’s over, cause it’s also magically below this sentence.

The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show for Saturday November 20th, 2010 

(Left click to listen, right click to download, don’t click to not hear)

Besides hearing me blabbering on about the connection between a happy birthday and happy customer service (preceded by a meandering overview of my Secret Shopper review of Olive Garden), you’ll also hear more coherent opining about the importance of glad-handling patrons from Bob Tursi, owner of Latin King Restaurant, and John Hamburger (yes that’s the dude’s name) President of Franchise Times Magazine.

Hope you enjoy the show, the moments after it and the whole weekend long.

Our birthday day is a beautiful thing. It’s the one day we are showered with gifts and good wishes for something we had nothing to do with. We just showed up.

Being loved for no reason in the world, other than that we are? How sweet it is.

Thank you, all of you, for making me feel so loved today.

Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, professional secret shopper, marketing strategist and host of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show, Saturday mornings 8-9am, on 1350, KRNT.       

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Facebook page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Twitter page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s blog    

Click to email Jonnie (jonnie@theunsecretshopper.com)    

Phone: 515-480-4190 

Hello shoppers…

…and welcome – especially those living along the heavy snow line from Denison to Storm Lake to Fort Dodge to Algona - to The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show.

The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show for Saturday November 13th, 2010 

 (Left-click to listen, right-click to download, don’t-click to not hear)

Today’s show features a blizzard of insight (from others) including Linda Harmeyer, a Des Moines social worker, who talks about customer service in the social services, and my Thursday Secret Shopper review of the DHS. Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at The University of California, talks about her book, The How of Happiness, and shares tips on how we can get ourselves to our happy place.

There’s also Unsecret Shopper reader feedback, a look at surgical shopping (not as painful as it sounds, although painful enough) and more (unwanted) retail reality, for the Post Office, and Des Moines real estate agents. 

The snow missed us in Central Iowa. That means we’ll be snow-free the rest of the year! YEAAAAA!

(Please join me in basking in the sunshine of optimism – at least till the next cold front. )

See you back here on Monday, with reader reaction.

Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, professional secret shopper, marketing strategist and host of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show, Saturday mornings 8-9am, on 1350, KRNT.       

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Facebook page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Twitter page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s blog    

Click to email Jonnie (jonnie@theunsecretshopper.com)    

Phone: 515-480-4190 

Hello shoppers…

…happy campers, happy jacks, shiny happy people, happy(est) girls in the whole USA, those who have forgotten their troubles and gotten happy, happy go luckiers, happy as a clam’ers and all dogs (who seem happy, no matter what) and welcome to a special  edition of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show.

The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show for Saturday November 6th, 2010 

(Left click to listen, right click to download, don’t click to not hear)

Today’s program takes a smiling look (how else?) at happy – how we got there if we’re there, and how to get there if we’re not.

We start out (you’ll need paper and pen) by taking The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, to see how we rate on the happy meter. You’ll also hear from Virginia Wiggins, a Des Moines woman who don’t need no stinkin test to know she’s happy – even though she has every reason not to be. You’ll also hear 10 scientifically proven ways to get happy. In the spaces between all of that, you’ll hear a lot of happy music that celebrates being that way. 

Hellen Keller said this:

“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.”

She figured it out. I suppose the rest of us can.

How can you be happy and enjoy the days between you and Monday (when I’d be very happy to see you back here)?

Try this.

(Click her for happy music accompaniment)

Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, professional secret shopper, marketing strategist and host of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show, Saturday mornings 8-9am, on 1350, KRNT.       

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Facebook page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Twitter page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s blog    

Click to email Jonnie (jonnie@theunsecretshopper.com)    

Phone: 515-480-4190 

Hello shoppers… 

Boo

 

…and welcome to the Trick or Treat edition of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show.

(Left-click to listen, right-click to download, don’t click to not hear)

Today’s show features some devilishly clever analysis of the Secret Shopper review of Des Moines area Walgreens, from last week (Part 1) (Part 2).

You’ll also hear some heavenly advice from Pastor Mike Housholder, from the Lutheran Church of Hope, about how to change the things we want to change (not including outfits).

Maria Valdovinos, Assistant Psychology Professor at Drake University, gives a different perspective on using the right “force” for change.

And Justene Allen, wellness coach and personal trainer from the YMCA, gives us tips on how to change our eating habits.

Here’s to a cheer-ily spooktacular Halloween; may your costumes be gaudy, your beggers be safe and your belly hurt from eating the leftover (dog) treats.



Now let’s see how effective this spell is at getting you to return here, on Monday…



"Abra-cat-dabra"

Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, professional secret shopper, marketing strategist and host of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show, Saturday mornings 8-9am, on 1350, KRNT.       

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Facebook page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Twitter page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s blog    

Click to email Jonnie (jonnie@theunsecretshopper.com)    

Phone: 515-480-4190

Hello shoppers…

…and hope you’re looking fabulous before you venture out on the town this weekend.

For the rest of us schleps who will spend the next 48 hours hunkered down in the basement eating Doritos, Slim Jims and Mountain Dew while we acclimate our systems to the stark bleakness and poor eating habits of winter, here’s a little somepin-somepin to kill an hour of it, in the form of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show:

The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show for Saturday October 23rd, 2010

(Left-click to hear it, right-click to download, don’t click to not hear.)

Today’s conversations include some surprising revelations from ”Sarah,” a current and local Walmart employee, who talks about – hang onto your cheap socks - being happy at work. I’ll also talk with John Cullen, a recruiter with Executive Resources in Des Moines, about what employees who aren’t quite as thrilled as Sarah, can do to find the gig that does trip their trigger. You’ll also hear an overview of my Secret Shopper trip back to Walmart on 73rd Street in Windsor Heights. (2nd Verse, same as the first?)

May the faces you see and the places you go this weekend, bring you the joy of seeing them for the very first time, even if you know ‘em all by heart.

See you back here (repeats and newbies) on Monday.

Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, professional secret shopper, marketing strategist and host of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show, Saturday mornings 8-9am, on 1350, KRNT.       

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Facebook page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Twitter page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s blog    

Click to email Jonnie (jonnie@theunsecretshopper.com)    

Phone: 515-480-4190

Hello shoppers…

"Welcome to The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show"

 

The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show for Saturday October 16th, 2010 

(Left-click to listen, right-click to download, don’t click to not hear)

Today we horse around with Peter Demos, casino consultant extraordinaire, about the state of customer service in the gaming industry. I’ll also remount the Thursday Secret Shopper review of Prairie Meadows, including some reader feedback from current and former PM employees. And we cross the finish line with tips on what for some seems unreachable: being happy at work.

We were born to be happy. As children we understand this without even once having to stop and pause in the middle of hopscotch and think about it. 

TODAY, in honor of that emotional truth, may your adult feet remember the concrete underneath them, as your kid tootsies once skipped and jumped and stumbled, and you laughed and laughed and laughed as if the skipping and jumping and stumbling and laughing would never end.

Tell your tootsies it never has to.

Would love to see your feet (and you) back here on Monday.

Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, professional secret shopper, marketing strategist and host of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show, Saturday mornings 8-9am, on 1350, KRNT.       

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Facebook page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Twitter page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s blog    

Click to email Jonnie (jonnie@theunsecretshopper.com)    

Phone: 515-480-4190

Hello shoppers…

 ”WANNA GET RICH DOING MYSTERY SHOPPING (SUCKER)?”

And so begins the rip-off you’ve probably seen, heard and smelled, ad stinkeum – one of the talking points of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show.

The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show for Saturday October 9th, 2010 

(Left click to listen, right click to download, don’t click to not hear)

I talk with Geoff Greenwood, former super-scam-sleuth for KCCI NewsChannel 8 and now in the same role (sorta) as spokesperson for the Iowa Attorney’s General’s office about how to tell a real secret shopping company (that would be The Buyosphere) from a real-as-an-animatronic-Santa-in-a-Menards-Christmas-display one. 

Speaking of which, you’ll also hear an overview of last week’s Secret Shopper review of Menards on SE 14th.

Speaking of which which, I’ll also recite and explain my all time list of the top things employees say to us shoppers that not only dampen our shopping mood, but incinerate it.

Speaking of the heat, apparently there’s a bit of Summer left, and aren’t we all so thankful that he/she decided to stay a bit longer before heading South in the trunk of your grandparent’s car (which will stop every 13 minutes for potty breaks – good luck with that, Sum!).

May the warmth of the sun on our faces this weekend remind us that the best customer service comes free of charge.

See you back here (fee-free) on Monday.

Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, professional secret shopper, marketing strategist and host of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show, Saturday mornings 8-9am, on 1350, KRNT.       

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Facebook page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Twitter page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s blog    

Click to email Jonnie (jonnie@theunsecretshopper.com)    

Phone: 515-480-4190

Hello shoppers…

… and welcome to the condensed audio version of the all over the road long-winded written version of The Unsecret Shopper.

The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show for Saturday October 2nd, 2010   

(Left click to listen, right click to download, don’t click to not hear)

Today’s show features a look back at Thursday’s Secret Shopper review of Des Moines area high schools. (Click here to read Part 1.) (Click here to read Part 2.) (Click here to read a great recipe for alfredo pizza.) 

You will also hear a conversation with Tony Aylsworth, one of four hard-working Assistant Principals at Ankeny High School, about the role he played in AHS’s Secret Shopper review, and the much more important role he plays in shaping the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people.  

Besides that kind o’ Principal, you’ll also hear reader reaction from other principals involved, in Reader Mailbag, a show segment title that took me three months to come up with.

Then it’s onto what I think is the best customer service movie ever made, and it ain’t Mall Rats.

We put a fork in the show by taking a look at a local business that’s getting a fork put into it – and how much customer service played a part.

Whether you’re putting a fork into delicious nachos served piping hot! at an Iowa, Iowa State, Drake or other college football game today, or just forking around with a rake and some leaves in your backyard, may you find smiles, greetings, engagement and thank yous aplenty.

You deserve them. We all do.

Catch you back here on Monday with The Morning Reaction. 

Meantime, happy shopping! Just like her!

Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, professional secret shopper, marketing strategist and host of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show, Saturday mornings 8-9am, on 1350, KRNT.       

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Facebook page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Twitter page    

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s blog    

Click to email Jonnie (jonnie@theunsecretshopper.com)    

Phone: 515-480-4190

Hello shoppers… 

"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace, as I have seen in one autumnal face." -John Dunne

The sight of Fall’s fading sun smiles at us; the sound of rustling leaves greets us; the smell of burning fireplace logs engages us; the taste of warm apple cider thanks us; and the feel of an occasional southerly breeze promises to follow up with us, as God shows all of us how great customer service is done.  

Welcome to Fall, and The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show – decidedly in that order. 

The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show for Saturday September 25th, 2010  

(Left click to listen, right click to download, don’t click to not hear) 

Today’s show includes a look back at the Younkers Secret Shopper review that was (on Thursday – click to read it).  You’ll also hear a conversation with David Sinnwell, CEO of Dahl’s Foods, on how great customer service has played a role in the company’s survival and thrive-al over its past nearly 80 years. (Click to read a Secret Shopper review of Dahl’s at 50th and EP True Parkway.)  I close out the program with seven quick tips on how to create your own mini-Buyosphere, right inside your company’s four walls. (Click to find out more about what the heck the Buyosphere is, let alone why you’d want to create it.)  

Fall (here since Wednesday) has been created for us to enjoy (until 12 weeks from 3 days from now).  

So let the leaves fall where they may; let us all get out and play; let Fall, our good friend, stay (awhile). Because Charles Schulz didn’t have it quite (W)right… 

It ain’t just the pumpkin that’s great.  

Click to listen and dance along with the Peanuts gang - you know you wanna!

Jonnie Wright is a customer service evaluator and trainer, professional secret shopper, marketing strategist and host of The Unsecret Shopper Radio Show, Saturday mornings 8-9am, on 1350, KRNT.        

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Facebook page     

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s Twitter page     

Click to be taken to Jonnie’s blog     

Click to email Jonnie (jonnie@theunsecretshopper.com)     

Phone: 515-480-4190