New Applicants/General Information
- What is Mystery Shopping?
- What is the difference between a Research Participant and a SEC Brand Agent?
- How do I become a SEC Research Participant?
- How do I become a SEC Brand Agent?
- How secure is my personal information?
- How much and when does SEC pay for completed assignments?
- Why do I need to give my Social Security Number?
Selecting/Availability Of Evaluations
- What is the Eyes2Ears Gateway?
- What is the Brand Agent Gallery?
- What is a Certified Brand Agent (CBA) and why do I need to become one?
- What does Stand-By mean?
- How do I become a CBA?
- How do I self-assign work or go into Stand-By for an assignment?
- How many assignments can I receive a month?
Completing/Submitting Evaluations
- Do assignments have to be completed at a specific time?
- How are evaluation results submitted?
- How do I know if an assignment I submitted went through successfully?
- How do I retrieve my Assignment Sheet and all other documentation necessary to successfully complete and assignment?
- What happens if I cannot complete an assignment after accepting it?
Problems Using The Web Site
- What should I do if I receive an error when I try to submit an evaluation?
- What is the site not working properly with my computer?
- Can I use WebTV or a countertop “internet appliance”?
- What can’t I view or print any documentation?
Additional
- How do I contact SEC?
- Privacy Policy
New Applicants/General Information
What is Mystery Shopping?
Mystery Shopping is the practice of using research participants to anonymously evaluate customer service, operations, employee integrity, merchandising, and product quality.
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What is the difference between a Mystery Shopper and a SEC Brand Agent?
Research Participants also known as "mystery shoppers" are engaged by specialized market research organizations. As a Research Participant, your name is entered into SEC's proprietary database; however, a research participant is not certified; therefore, cannot navigate through the SEC website and is denied entry to the Eyes2Ears Gateway, a self-serve environment. A research participant will only be used if an SEC Project Liaison chooses to contact them for a particular assignment.
A SEC Brand Agent (BA) is Certified and thus has access to the inner workings of the SEC Website via the E2E Gateway. BA's are tested and certified to ensure they have a complete understanding of SEC policies and procedures and market research methodologies. A BA has access to a personal cyber briefcase and portfolio, in a self-serve, web enabled, environment. Only a BA has the ability to become a SEC Certified Business Analyst (CBA), the highest standard in the industry.
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How do I become a SEC Research Participant?
You must complete a registration form and an Independent Contractor Agreement. Both of these documents are located in the "Become Brand Agent" link. Once you have properly completed and submitted both documents, you will automatically be added to our electronic notification schema.
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How do I become a SEC Brand Agent?
You must register, submit an Independent Contractor Agreement, read a BA Certification Program and take a BA Certification Exam. The exam will examine your knowledge of SEC's policies and procedures, and market research methodologies. Upon successful completion of the exam, you will automatically be registered as a SEC BA and will have the ability to freely navigate through the Eyes2Ears Gateway. You can then take the necessary steps to become a CBA, the highest standard in the industry. The entire process is fast, easy and rewarding.
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How secure is my personal information?
Your personal information is very secure. SEC will never disclose your personal identifiable information to our clients or to any other interested parties, as per the "SEC Privacy Policy". Our clients will only be able to identify you by your Business Analyst ID number (BA ID). Clients do not have the ability to contact you without first going through SEC and without the presence and participation of an SEC Project Liaison. SEC has also implemented Secured Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology on our website, which prevents outside sources from intercepting your confidential information.
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Why do I need to give my Social Security Number?
In order to pay you as an Independent Contractor, we must have your Social Security Number on file. In the event that you make over $600 with SEC during the course of a fiscal year, we will send you and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a 1099 statement of your earnings for income tax purposes. Further information can be found in the Independent Contractor Agreement, which must be agreed to in order to register with SEC. Your Social Security Number is used for no other purpose than the aforementioned.
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How much and when does SEC pay for completed assignments?
You are paid an Independent Contractor at a specific invoice per assignment on or around the 20th of each month for assignments completed in the previous month. For example, assignments completed in June will be paid in July and assignments completed in July will be paid in August. Payment for each assignment depends on the specifications involved in completing the assignment. Payments may range from $10 to $50 or more per assignment. When you take into account the free products and services that are available on many assignments, the personal benefits rise substantially. Examples of free products and services include reimbursements for groceries, meals, gas, retail products, and much more.
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Selecting/Availability Of Evaluations
What is the Eyes2Ears Gateway?
On the home page click the orange "LOGIN" in the upper right hand area of the page. The Eyes2Ears Gateway is the point of entry or login to the SEC web application (Brand Agent Gallery for all SEC users). The name was derived from the objective to be "The EYES of the customer, The EARS of management." The E2E Gateway is a portal to the Brand Agent (BA) Gallery.
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What is the BA Gallery?
The BA Gallery is a complete self-serve environment that a Brand Agent is brought to after logging into the E2E Gateway section.
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What is a Certified Brand Agent (CBA) and why do I need to become one?
A Certified Brand Agent is a research participant who is tested and certified to ensure they have a complete understanding of a specific client engagement. CBA status, the highest standard in mystery shopping, is achieved by reading client work order specifications and taking a certification exam for a particular client. Without CBA status, a BA cannot assign himself/herself to any SEC engagement. Our website is designed specifically for professionally Certified SEC BA's.
In order to become a CBA, you must read client engagement guidelines, and then pass a certification exam for that particular client engagement. You must get all answers correct in order to pass the exam. All information on the exams is in the guidelines. If you fail the exam on your first attempt, you will have two more opportunities to re-take the exam. Once passing the exam, you will be CBA for that particular engagement, until the specifications change. As a first time CBA, you are only able to assign yourself one assignment. After the initial assignment is successfully completed, you will be able to self-assign additional work via our website.
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What does Stand-By mean?
Stand-By is functionality that allows for up to three CBA’s to be in “stand by” for an assignment that is already assigned to another Certified Business Analyst. In the event that the CBA who has the assignment cannot complete it, the Stand-By CBA’s will automatically be notified via email that the assignment is available and will be offered the opportunity to accept the assignment. In case a CBA has to cancel/reject an assignment for a particular reason, Stand-By ensures that there is more than enough coverage for a particular assignment.
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How do I become a CBA?
Please follow the steps that follow to become a SEC CBA:
Step 1: Go to www.serviceevaluation.com
Step 2: In the upper right hand area of the homepage click the orange "LOGIN", enter your Username and Password, in the section titled " Enter Eyes2Ears Gateway ".
Step 3: After entering this information, hit the "login" button.
Step 4: Select a state by clicking on the appropriate image on the map or from the pull down menu below the map.
Step 5: The cities and number of assignments available within each city will be displayed.
Step 6: To view the assignments within a given city or cities you must click on the box listed next to the city. All available assignments for that city or cities will appear.
Step 7: Click on the Assignment ID you wish to become client certified for.
Step 8: The assignment details will appear for the assignment. You will be prompted to print out and read the client guidelines, and then take the CBA exam.
Step 9: After passing the exam, depending on the assignment status, you will be able to either self-assign or place yourself in Stand-By for the assignment.
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How do I self-assign work or go into Stand-By for an assignment?
Please follow the steps that follow in order to self-assign or be placed in Stand-By for an assignment:
Step 1: Go to www.serviceevaluation.com
Step 2: In the upper right hand area of the homepage click the orange "LOGIN", enter your Username and Password, in the section titled " Enter Eyes2Ears Gateway ".
Step 3: After entering this information, hit the "login" button.
Step 4: Select a state by clicking on the appropriate image on the map or from the pull down menu below the map.
Step 5: The cities and number of assignments available within each city will be displayed.
Step 6: To view the assignments within a given city or cities you must click on the box listed next to the city. All available assignments for that city or cities will appear.
Step 7: Click on the Assignment ID you wish to self-assign or be placed in Stand-By for.
Step 8: Depending on the assignment status, you will automatically be assigned to or placed in Stand-By for the assignment.
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How many assignments can I receive a month?
In order to take on any assignments you first must be certified for that specific client. As a first time CBA, you can only receive one assignment. Until the first assignment is successfully completed, no other assignments can be taken. After you successfully complete an assignment, you can assign more work. The number of assignments you can receive depends upon the amount of work available in your area, and your CBA rating. The higher your CBA rating, the more assignments you will be able to receive.
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Completing/Submitting Evaluations
Do assignments have to be completed at a specific time?
Assignments can be completed at your convenience, as long as they are completed within the times and/or dates listed on your Assignment Sheet and on the Assignment Details page of our website.
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How are evaluation results submitted?
All SEC assignments are submitted online, unless otherwise noted in the client engagement guidelines. You must submit the evaluation within 24 hours of the assignment’s completion. The 24 hour deadline to submit the completed assignment does not apply if you complete the assignment on the due date, as the assignment must be submitted by 12:00 PM, EST of the following morning. If the assignment is not submitted by this time or if you have not contacted SEC regarding its completion, it will automatically go into rejection status. If you have a problem with submission, but have completed the assignment, please be sure to contact SEC to notify SEC of the assignments completion.
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How do I know if an assignment I submitted went through successfully?
After submitting your assignment, it will be removed from your Assignments in Progress immediately. If it was completed accurately, it will appear in your Completed Assignments, located in your Cyber Briefcase, within 72 business hours. It takes this amount of time to go into Complete status because SEC needs to verify/review your evaluation. If it does not appear in your Completed Assignments after 72 hours of submission, you need to email your SEC contact or
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to ensure there are no issues with your report.
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How do I retrieve my Assignment Sheet and all other documentation necessary to complete an assignment successfully?
All documentation needed to complete this assignment successfully can be obtained from your Cyber Briefcase and Assignment Sheet, which are located in the Gallery.
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What happens if I cannot complete an assignment after accepting it?
It is understood that occasional circumstances arise that may prevent you from completing an assignment. If a problem arises that prevents you from completing an assignment you have, you must reject (cancel) the assignment online or contact SEC regarding the assignment. If you accept an assignment and reject it, your CBA rating will be negatively affected. You should not take on any assignment(s) if you are not positive that you will be able to successfully complete them during the specified dates and/or times.
Steps for Online Rejection of an Assignment:
Step 1: Go to www.serviceevaluation.com
Step 2: In the upper right hand area of the homepage click the orange "LOGIN", enter your Username and Password, in the section titled " Enter Eyes2Ears Gateway ".
Step 3: After entering this information, hit the "login" button.
Step 4: Select the link "Assignments in Progress", located under your Assignment Portfolio.
Step 5: Select and click on the Assignment ID for the assignment you wish to reject.
Step 6: Click on the "Refuse" icon.
Step 7: Submit a reason for canceling the assignment. After entering the reason, hit the "Submit" icon to continue with the rejection of the assignment.
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Problems Using the Website
What should I do if I receive an error when I try to submit an evaluation?
If you encounter an error when submitting your evaluation, please email
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, with your BA ID, the Assignment ID, and the EXACT error message you received. We receive thousands of evaluations each month and the site does work, but we want your feedback on any error message you may encounter.
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Why is the site not working properly with my computer?
This site is designed to work with Microsoft Internet Explorer. You can check what version you have by clicking ‘Help’ on the top line of the program, then ‘About’. Older versions of Internet Explorer or other browser programs may give unpredictable results because they do not include up-to-date features and cannot correctly utilize the features of this site. Internet Explorer is a free program. You can download the most up-to-date version for Windows or Macintosh from Microsoft.
Due to the many varied computers, browsers and internet connections, we cannot provide technical assistance with other computer issues. Check with your computer vendor or your internet service provider for problems related to their products.
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Can I use WebTV or a countertop "internet appliance"?
Unfortunately, you may not be able to access the interactive features on our site without a regular computer. Our site requires that you have Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.05+ and use Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0+ as your browser. You will need to check with your manufacturer or retailer to see if you have the necessary features for full web site functionality.
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Why can’t I view or print any documentation?
You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If you do not, please go to www.adobe.com. This is a program used by many web sites for viewing and printing information, and is free of charge.
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Additional
How do I contact SEC?
If you have additional questions or concerns, please email
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or call SEC at 516-714-0323 and a Representative will be happy to assist you. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm, EST.
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