Mark Csordos by Barbara Hall
Mark Csordos started his first business (C&S Mystery Shoppers, Inc.) around the kitchen table and sold it four years later. Along the way he was featured in The New York Times, Vogue, Entrepreneur, and over fifty other publications. His first book on entrepreneurship, Business Lessons for Entrepreneurs, was published by Thomson Learning. He has spoken around the country on topics such as entrepreneurship, goal setting, time management, and sales.
What is the one lesson you learned as an entrepreneur?
You have to learn how to sell. If you’re selling mattresses, you’re selling. If you’re an accountant you have to sell your services. No matter what business, you have to sell to get clients. Retailers leave money on the floor, because they don’t upsell, sell you more. You go in for a rose and they could have sold you a dozen roses or a vase, or for a little more some flowers to go with it. A lot of entrepreneurs don’t want to take the time to learn how to sell.
What other lessons did you learn?
Be careful in working with friends and families. The biggest mistake I made was working with my wife. Entrepreneurs use friends and family because they’re cheap but it doesn’t mean they are qualified for the job. As the mystery shopping business got bigger and we moved to an outside office it was beyond my wife’s capabilities, but we were stuck together. We had a lot of fights. I’m still married, so it worked out fine, but not every couple is able to separate the business out and survive that.
What made you decide to start a mystery shopping business?
I was working the night shift at an A & P. I had been there for nine years, all through high school and college and realized I didn’t want to work for the company all my life, but didn’t know what I wanted to do. I read a lot and one day I read a magazine article with a title like 101 businesses you can start for under 100 dollars and mystery shopping was listed. A & P didn’t have mystery shopping so I figured other stores didn’t either. Without a business plan or any thought, I decided to do it but I had no idea what to do or how to get clients, so I kept my job at A & P.
How did you eventually start?
The break I got was that my friend was a waiter at a Pizza Hut. I talked to him about my idea and had him ask the restaurant manager to talk to the owner. I then sent a letter to the owner saying I wanted to practice on his restaurant, but I wasn’t going to follow-up. One day the owner called and asked me to fax over some information. Well, I didn’t have any information and said I couldn’t fax it. He say, Why? Is your fax machine broken?” I said, “Yes, it’s broken.” Actually, I didn’t have a fax machine. I put together a form and some materials that were embarrassing, and went over to meet with him. I was petrified.
But I just laid it on the line and asked him to give me a chance, that I knew we could do it. He agreed that we could try two of the restaurants he owned. I came up with a form to use, but he actually wrote the form for me on what to look for in the restaurant. We developed a point system, two points for this, three points for that and a space for comments. I did the two Pizza Huts he loved the results. I ended up doing all 18 of the Pizza Huts he owned.
How did you get your next client?
After the Pizza Huts nothing happened for 6 months. I had quit my job at A & P, but felt guilty so I delivered newspapers. I had to figure out a way to make it work. But sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Out of the blue one day I got a call from a large grocery chain in New Jersey. I don’t know how they found me, but they did. The lady called on a Friday afternoon saying a consultant told them they should hire a mystery shopper but the ones she contacted were too expensive. I jumped at the opportunity. I told her I’d fax information over the next day. I didn’t have information for a supermarket but I was lucky in that my brother, best friend, and my wife still worked at A & P. We knew grocery stores. I pulled them together, we stayed up all night and developed a mystery shopping report for supermarkets and faxed it over the next morning. We ended up getting half their stores. She didn’t know we were just starting.
And the business grew after that?
Two days later, I got my third client, Manhattan Bagel. I owned a few stock in the company and decided to go to a shareholders meeting. I met one of the top executives and had amended the Pizza Hut form to fit the bagel store and they loved it. Now that I had a few clients, so I started to do some marketing. I went door to door and got a few Wendy’s.
What changes did you make as the business grew?
I had to hire independent contractors as shoppers. The business went from my house to an outside office. But I stayed with the good old fashioned “tried and true” marketing. I researched The New York Times and looked for writers who covered small businesses. I sent them news releases that I wrote myself. If figured you don’t need a big PR firm. If you can’t say something interesting about your company, you don’t have a company. I received a call from one of the reporters and he did a front page story in the business section on mystery shopping. After that, we received calls from all over the country.
The business was going well. Why did you sell it after four years?
So my wife and I wouldn’t kill each other! No, the business had gotten to the mid-six figures and my wife was expecting. I knew we’d have to take it to the next level, but I had to ask myself, Did I want to take it to the next level with a child on the way? The answer was No. Besides, there were other things I wanted to do like write books and speak, so I contacted a lawyer and business broker. Once I sold it, I spent the following summer writing the manuscript for my first book and had fun.
Tell me about your first book
It’s “Business Lessons for Entrepreneurs.” I tried to get an agent to get it published and sent out about 40 letters. I was rejected by 39 of them. So since no one was willing to do anything with the book, I thought, I’m an entrepreneur so I’ll publish it myself. I would sell it out of the trunk of my car. I would go to bookstores and email business professionals. I emailed a professor in Ohio and he read it. He said it was what he was looking for and put me in touch with Thomson Learning. After getting to the right person, they said they’d publish the book, so I went from being self-published to published.
You’re writing a book now about selling the entrepreneurial way?
Yes. I’m very shy. I remember going to networking functions and was petrified. But I realized if you’re an introvert, you don’t eat. I had to get out of my comfort zone. People have a bad view of sales people, like used car salesmen. The basic premise of the book is you can do well in sales without being viewed negatively. I talk about networking, sales letters, cold calling—all these techniques but ways to be aggressive without being overbearing.
If you started your business today, what would you change?
I’d certainly use more technology. Some of the reports I provided for clients, I’d have online for them to download. I’d use email instead of a phone call, but I would not change the approach, just the tools.
With so many customer reviews now online, would there be a place for a mystery shopping business today?
Yes. There’s still an advantage to mystery shoppers. Anyone can write anything they want online and they can be unreasonable. With online you have to take it with a grain of salt. If you have 10 complaints and they mention the service was slow, you may have an issue. Sometimes a comment is just way out there. With mystery shopping you can focus on what you want to look for. You can test a new program or service. You can target what you want to find out. Online reviews are just part of a big landscape.
What is most rewarding for you?
When somebody truly gets a benefit from the product. I’ve gotten emails from all over the world. “Thank you for writing the book, it really helped.” I gave a plaque to a guy’s franchise of Pizza Huts when I was doing mystery shopping and the plaque is still on the wall. I said to my son when we went in one day, “Mom made that on the printer.” He got a kick out of it. That is rewarding.
What business might someone start today?
Where ever they see a niche; if they’re looking for a product or service and can’t find it. Also you have to do what you love. You put in so many hours. You can’t face all the rejection and problems if you don’t actually love what you’re doing.
