Going Undercover At Lowe’s

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This morning, I did some mystery shopping. Two different Lowe’s stores were on my list. Mystery shopping, by the way, is great because it gets a mother and her child out of the house and on a mission. Plus, it pays you to do it!

As I entered the first one, I was feeling a bit anxious. I had never done a job at a Lowe’s before and there seemed to be a lot of things I needed to remember.

Some of my assignments included, observing 2 customers checking out, asking for help in the locks department, and getting close to 6 different employees to see if they would greet me within 2 minutes

I found myself needing to put my spying and acting abilities to good use. (“Spy” was one of my favorite games as a child.)

I began “looking” at some bags of charcoal while observing one customer checkout, and tediously “studied” a bag of m&m’s in the cancy aisle while observing another.

It is an interesting process being a mystery shopper. Sometimes it is quite thrilling and at other times I feel quite nervous as though they are going to catch me and say something like, “Ah-hah! I’ve caught you!”

I find myself hovering in corners, quickly writing down someone’s name, hair color, and whether they wore glasses or not.

Today, I snuck up beside a man who was up on one of those machines that raises you up high. He was indeed way up at the top of one of the shelves stocking. I doubted that he would notice me as I quietly “looked” at patio lights below.

Sure enough within 30 seconds I heard a voice squeak down from above, “Can I help you find anything, ma’am?”

How did he know I was even there?

Needless to say, I found myself wanting to whistle while in both Lowe’s stores. And that is  pretty amazing for me. Most stores give me a deer in the headlights feeling.

Today, as I careened my son through the two stores secretivly writing on my many times folded up piece of paper (that I hid under my hand wrapped around the stroller handle, btw), I felt happy.

I kept getting greeted by many sincerely happy people. They smiled, even joked with me, and it wore off on me. I left both stores happier than when I arrived.

I realized I learned some things from shopping at Lowe’s today.

1. You can dictate (to a certain degree) how those around you will feel by how you feel. If you are cheerful, you spread cheer.

2. Lowe’s is doing something right. Their employees seem truly happy to be there and, therefore, are happy to serve. I was therefore a happy customer. I think more companies need to do what they are doing.

3. A smile can change the course of your whole day.

4. Having a big picture keeps you on track. I didn’t feel nearly as distracted as I normally do in stores. I had a mission that I needed to accomplish and it kept me moving and focused. Same with life.

5. I kind of like being a spy, and I don’t know what that means.

Question: What did you learn from your interesting day?