Have you recently been asked to re-authenticate yourself? The question is, did you do it, and was it painful?! This happens, as you probably already know, if you have been doing a survey and are redirected to the website and asked for some further profile information. It doesn’t hurt a bit, and in fact might well help you to get chosen for further survey invitations in future. Today alone I have been asked no less than four times for this re-authentication but I can’t quite figure out why….the survey panels who have asked me for this all seem related in some way but I can’t quite figure out the link either….Surveyhead, That’s-what-I-think.co.uk, and Onlycashsurveys….they are related, I know, I just don’t know in what way. I know they are American based and I know they have a fairly high threshold, there are also links with Buzzback and Mommytalksurveys (well do you have a mommy in this country?! Most people have a mummy, including Egyptians!). I know they convert your redemptions into good old GBP which is great right now as the exchange rate is very impressive, in our favour, not USA! £3.70 is worth £6.00 so get doing those surveys for them because right now, you can cash out much quicker than you think.

I had a few little lightbulb moments throughout the course of the last week or so since my last article, and I thought, yes, I would like to share this important information with fellow YSPers….so here goes….

I had a wonderful experience during last Monday evening, and that was a telephone survey run by a company called JOIN THE DOTS. They were incredibly professional, very easy to talk to and asked some very leading questions. And guess what, I was paid a £10 Amazon voucher the very next day for my participation, which was very generous. It brought up a very important question in my mind during and at the end of this survey, and that is what do you understand by the term “proactive customer services?” The gist of the survey (because I can’t really reveal too much due to confidentiality) was really “what can a company do for you personally in order to obtain and keep your business and go up in your estimation as an ethical and responsible company who you would recommend to your friends?” This, to me, opened a massive can of worms, and I must admit that although I was advised the survey would last 30 minutes, mine lasted for 45 simply because I got so enthusiastic about my subject, and wouldn’t shut up!! As George has so rightly pointed out in the past, the great thing about talking a lot is that you don’t have to worry about being answered back…that is the case online and on-forum but not so with telephone calls…although I have to admit the surveyor was a very good listener….just as well in my case!!

What does the term actually mean to you? I mean, let’s have an open discussion on the subject. Are you interested? What would you say is one of the main reasons a company keeps your business, or obtains it? What is it about any company that makes you choose them over any other company? In the case of financial services, I mentioned that a named advisor would be useful, and I also mentioned that a leaflet insert into my statement would be helpful, advising me of other products and special discounts I could find out more about. But what about promotions, competitions and such? Are they of interest to anyone? The general consensus seems to be no, to most people, but I just love them!! Today I received a letter and inside it were £20 worth of Scotmid Co-operative vouchers to say thank you for a letter I wrote to Jigsaw magazine, the mailing sent out bi-annually by them to members. I was delighted!! They have my business….and more….I am here recommending them to you!! They cost £1 to join and are worth every penny. What a generous gesture - £20 for a letter!! I am keen to continue as a customer with them. I can, off the top of my head, say the same about Boots, Standard Life, and HBOS and Tesco.com. Who do you love and why? Go on, tell us what you think!

Out of interest also this month, I have discovered that Opinium are thinking of branching out into mystery shopping and if anyone did a survey for them last week, at the end of it, you were asked if you would be interested in participating. What did you say, were you interested? Watch out for a very comprehensive list being posted soon by one of my fellow YSPers…..and give it a go!

Take care until next time.