Lady in store holding shopping bags

How to Mystery Shop Without Leaving Your Home

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Secret shopping, also known as mystery shopping, is a fun way to earn extra money. It’s a part-time job where you get to choose which assignments you want to take.

But, did you know you can work as a mystery shopper without even leaving your house? Well, you can. The companies listed here hire mystery shoppers to work from home to do shops over the phone instead of in person.

What is Mystery Shopping?

Mystery shopping is a resource used by businesses to assess the quality of their overall service. 

Mystery shopping can be an excellent way to identify potential problems with a business and make improvements accordingly. A mystery shopper poses as a regular customer and evaluates several aspects of the business. These include things like the cleanliness of the store, the friendliness of the staff, and the speed of service. 

Mystery shoppers can visit retail stores, restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, and even theme parks. There are also mystery shopping companies that perform telephone shops.

After a mystery shopper completes their shop, they typically have to write up a simple report about their experience as a customer and submit it online. After the report is submitted, they’ll be paid for their shop, as well as reimbursed for any purchase they were told to make.

How to Get Started as a Mystery Shopper

You don’t need any special education to become a mystery shopper, but you should have some basic skills. There’s no need to be a professional detective to be a mystery shopper – anyone with keen observational skills can do it. Successful shoppers will be able to maintain their impartiality and communicate well. They must be able to pay attention to detail and be highly organized.

If you’re interested in working as a mystery shopper, there are a few things you need to do. First, sign up with a mystery shopping company. There are many different companies out there, so take some time to research which one is right for you. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be able to access a list of available assignments in your area. When you find an assignment that interests you, simply follow the instructions and complete the report. It’s as simple as that.  

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Lady in a store holding shopping bags

Where to Find Telephone Mystery Shopping Jobs

1) ARC Consulting

ARC Consulting is a full-service consulting firm that provides businesses with the resources they need to succeed. They offer a wide variety of services, from strategic planning to marketing and sales support. They also provide mystery shopping for businesses. 

This company hires independent contractors to make customer satisfaction survey calls. Most calls are typically conducted in the evenings and on weekends. 

2) Call Center QA

Call Center QA is a third-party quality assurance company that specializes in contact centers. They provide mystery shopping, performance evaluations, and customer satisfaction surveys to help call centers improve their quality of service. 

Call Center QA helps to ensure that customers are getting the best possible experience when they contact a company. By providing detailed feedback, they help call centers identify areas where they can make improvements. In addition, Call Center QA offers training and consultation services to help call centers further improve their quality of service. 

They contract shoppers living throughout the United States who are at least 18 years.  

3) InteliChek

InteliChek is a market research company that specializes in automobile-related services. Their consumer-centric strategy helps clients understand what their competitors are saying to their customers and gives them insight into how their competitors handle customer requests for service pricing. 

They contract shoppers to call a variety of automobile dealerships and mechanic shops. After you sign up, you’ll be required to take an assessment and do a mock call.

4) Multi-Value

Multi-Value is a European company with over 20 years of experience in helping leading companies improve their customer experience.

This company has more than 30,000 carefully selected and trained Mystery Shoppers in their database that provide clients with high-quality results. Mystery shoppers provide online reporting, which allows clients the opportunity to monitor results in a user-friendly way.

Multi-Value offers onsite mystery shopping as well as telephone mystery shopping. 

5) Mystery Shopper Services

Mystery Shopper Services is a division of Business Evaluation Services.

Business Evaluation Services is a company that specializes in business evaluations. They help businesses identify areas of improvement and develop strategies for growth. They also provide training and support to businesses so they can effectively implement recommendations. 

Their goal is to help businesses improve their bottom line and become more successful. So, they hire independent contractors as evaluators to complete mystery shops and evaluate companies.

6) Perception Strategies 

Perception Strategies is a company that specializes in public relations and marketing. In other words, they help their clients to build and maintain a positive public image. 

This company focuses on the healthcare industry and helps clients understand, manage, and improve their patients’ perceptions of them. They do this by conducting perception research and finding out if patients have the desired perceptions of their healthcare organization and, if not, what are the barriers to achieving those perceptions.

They accept mystery shoppers living in several states.

7) Shoppers’ Critique

Shoppers’ Critique International (SCI) is a market research company that provides insights into retail shopping experiences. 

SCI recruits people to act as mystery shoppers and provide detailed feedback about their experiences in different stores. This information can be used by businesses to improve the customer experience and make informed decisions about store layout, product selection, and employee training. SCI also offers a range of other services, such as customer surveys and focus groups. As a result, it is a valuable resource for businesses that are looking to improve their understanding of the customer experience.

This company provides onsite as well as telephone mystery shopping services to a wide variety of industries.

8) Yardi Matrix

Yardi Matrix is a research and analysis firm that specializes in the commercial real estate industry. The company provides data and insights on a variety of topics, including market trends, property types, and production costs. 

In addition, Yardi Matrix offers a range of consulting services to help clients navigate the ever-changing landscape of the commercial real estate market. Whether they’re looking for investment opportunities or trying to stay ahead of the competition, Yardi Matrix is a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in commercial real estate.

Yardi Matrix typically contracts mystery shoppers for rent surveying positions several times per year. Shoppers are tasked with calling apartment complexes across the country to gather information. These surveys usually last six to nine weeks.

Final Thoughts

Mystery shopping is a legitimate practice that helps businesses identify customer experience problems and improve service. Unfortunately, there are scammers out there. Legitimate mystery shopping companies are always free to sign up and will never ask you to pay a fee.

If you’re thinking about becoming a mystery shopper, but you’re not sure if a company is real or not, head to MSPA.org. This site has a list of all reputable mystery shopping companies. If you can’t find information about your mystery shopping company on MSPA, it is probably a scam and should be avoided.  

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