Phone Mystery Shopper Jobs

You might be familiar with mystery shopping jobs you do in person, but did you know you can also earn money from home with phone mystery shopper jobs?

Unlike traditional in-person shops, Phone Mystery Shopper Jobs give you the opportunity to evaluate businesses from home (or anywhere you can make a phone call).

When working as a telephone mystery shopper, instead of visiting businesses, you will call them, ask some questions, record their answers, and write up a report. Once you submit your report, you get paid.

This work can be pretty interesting and, if you have some free hours each week, a great way to make some extra money just by picking up the phone.

What are phone mystery shopper jobs?

Each mystery shopping gig will vary a bit, but for the most part, when you work as a telephone mystery shopper, you will be given a list of companies to call (shops). When you call, you will pretend to be interested in a service or ask questions to find out more information. After the call is over, you will have to fill out a survey or write up a report about your experiences. You will get paid per each completed call you make.

What do I need to apply to phone mystery shopper jobs?

Of course you will need access to a phone (cell phone or landline). You will want to make sure you have unlimited long distance on your calling plan as you could be calling businesses anywhere in the U.S. Other than that, you will need to have a clear speaking voice, writing ability (for filling out your survey and report) and a pleasant phone demeanor. If you have prior experience working in customer service or in a call center environment, you probably have the skills needed for phone mystery shopping jobs.

Where can I find phone mystery shopper jobs?

Some companies that conduct in-person shops will also have phone shops available, too. But there are also some companies that routinely have phone mystery shopper jobs available. The amount of work will vary, so it’s definitely not something that will replace your day job. But if you can get in with multiple companies, you can earn some extra money each month as a telephone mystery shopper.

ARC

ARC requires candidates to register before they can begin taking paid shops. You will need to provide basic information as well as provide your social security number and fill out a W-9. They pay via direct deposit, so you will need to have a bank account, too. The pay rate varies for each call; You can earn as little as $3.50 and all the way up to $12.00 for each call you make.

In addition to phone mystery shopper jobs, they also have Objective Call Center Evaluator positions.  Theses are more stable opportunities and are usually extended to telephone mystery shoppers who have worked for them for a while and perform well.

On their application page, they have Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, U.S. Virgin Islands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States listed. I assume then that people in these locations can all register to become phone mystery shoppers.

Call Center QA

Registering with Call Center QA is quick and easy. After you fill out some basic information, you will need to complete two test calls as part of the application process. From there, you can begin working. Call Center QA phone mystery shopper jobs require you to call businesses and pretend to be interested in their services. After you’re done, you will write up an evaluation and email it back to Call Center QA.

You are paid a flat rate per call (somewhere around the $5.00 mark). Payments are made via PayPal. Most workers report being paid for a completed shop within 24-48 hours, but sometimes you’ll find it may take up to a week. To get started, you just need to fill out a short registration form here.

Perception Strategies

Perception Strategies offers phone mystery shopping jobs within the healthcare industry. Basically, you will call hospitals and doctors offices and ask a series of questions like, “Where do I need to park?” “What do I need to bring for a first appointment?” “How long can I expect to be there for an appointment?”

To get started, you will need to fill out a short form. Once you submit that, you will be given instructions on completing a sample shop. I went through the application process with Perception Strategies. The sample shop required that I call a local hospital or doctor office of my choosing while posing as a person who was bringing their friend in for an appointment the following week.

I asked a series of questions and had to document every little detail of my call (how many rings until someone answered, how long I was put on hold, who answered, the tone the person used, etc.) Perception strategies wants you to write up a VERY detailed report when performing their phone mystery shopper jobs! Trust me when I say, the more details you provide, the better your chances are of getting in with them.

They pay anywhere between $12.00 and $17.00 for each shop you complete (again keep in mind your write up may take 20 minutes or so to complete!). You can expect to receive a few shops per week, so obviously this is just extra income. Once you are assigned shops, you are able to complete them at your convenience as long as they are done within a week of being assigned. They aren’t always hiring, but if they are impressed with your sample shop, they will keep you on file and contact you when they are hiring.

Yardi Matrix

Every year, Yardi Matrix (formerly Pierce Eislen) hires Rent Surveyors. These are very much like telephone mystery shopping jobs except you will only be calling apartment complexes. The Rent Surveyor positions are temporary (around eight weeks or so). You get paid per hour plus each call you make (busy signals, wrong numbers, and no answers all pay at different rates).

At this time, Yardi Matrix is actively recruiting Rent Surveyors for their Fall 2015 campaign. The position starts in September. Although the project is for Yardi Matrix, you will actually get hired on as an employee for a staffing agency which will handle payments.

If interested, I would immediately head over to their recruitment page. While there are currently positions available for a September start date, they are being filled up on a first come first serve basis!

Intelicheck

Intelicheck offers phone mystery shopper jobs within the service industry. So you might call a car dealership about service options, price quotes, availability, etc. They are looking for telephone mystery shoppers who can commit to a certain number of hours per week (10-30 or so). The hiring process requires you to submit your resume and pass an evaluation call.

When just starting out, you can expect to earn around $1.00 for each call you make (keep in mind a typical call will only take three to four minutes to complete). As a new hire, you are paid by check every two weeks. After you become established, you can be paid via direct deposit.

Keep in mind, the Intelicheck phone mystery shopper jobs may require you call a company and ask the same questions as several other mystery shoppers. This means that the person receiving the call may not be very happy to receive your line of questioning after having a handful of people calling within a short timeframe and asking the same exact questions. In other words, you might need a bit of a thick skin to remain pleasant and unphased by any negative reception you get.

However, there is room for advancement. After you perform well you may be able to become a Producer which oversees other telephone mystery shoppers. Intelicheck is very specific with how shops are to be handled and require that all candidates go through training prior to beginning their phone mystery shopper jobs. Some of their contractors report earning as much as $90.00 per day (obviously the more experienced you are, the quicker you can complete calls and the more you make!).

What else should I know about phone mystery shopper jobs?

Unlike other work-from-home phone jobs, you will not need to provide a quiet, noise-free background to do your calls. Since you are posing as an interested party or prospective customer, kids and pets in the background would be expected (in fact, this probably lends itself to being more “real” instead of it being dead silent).

With most of these opportunities the work available may be hit or miss. So you do not want to count on phone mystery shopping jobs as your primary source of income. But if you can get in with a few of these companies, you may be able to earn a nice secondary or side income (some people report earning near full-time wages with phone mystery shopper jobs!).

Don’t forget that this time of year, once kids go back to school and Halloween decor starts showing up on store shelves, is the perfect time to start thinking about earning extra money for the holidays. Phone mystery shoppers jobs would be perfect for that and stay-at-home parents or college students who are looking to make some money but require flexibility in their work.

All in all, phone mystery shopper jobs are a legitimate (and maybe even fun for some) way to earn money every month.

Have you worked as a telephone mystery shopper? Do you know of a company that’s not listed? Please let us know in the comments below! Don’t forget to share with your friends.

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