Job Description

At Marketplace, our mission is to help readers turn their aspirations into reality. We arm people with trusted advice and guidance, so they can make informed decisions they feel confident in and get back to doing the things they care about most.

We are an experienced team of industry experts dedicated to helping readers make smart decisions and choose the right products with ease. Marketplace boasts decades of experience across dozens of geographies and teams, including Content, SEO, Business Intelligence, Finance, HR, Marketing, Production, Technology and Sales. The team brings rich industry knowledge to Marketplace’s global coverage of consumer credit, debt, health, home improvement, banking, investing, credit cards, small business, education, insurance, loans, real estate and travel.

Job Description

The Senior Phone Researcher will play a critical role in helping Forbes Advisor gather real-time, accurate pricing and feature data from various companies across multiple industries. This role involves running a small team responsible for conducting outbound calls and sending emails on behalf of Forbes Advisor to mystery shop and research the costs, features, and service options of products ranging from HR software, payroll solutions, and business services, to insurance and loans. It also involves supporting the team by conducting your own phone research during US hours.

The Senior Phone Researcher will work closely with the Data Research and Editorial teams to ensure accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date data is collected and used in articles, reviews, and comparison tools for a wide range of business products and services.

If you're detail-oriented, have strong communication skills, and enjoy diving deep into research through phone-based outreach, this role offers the perfect balance of independence and collaboration.

Responsibilities:

• Manage a small team of phone researchers based in the Philippines who will be conducting day-to-day research outreach
• Establish best practices, processes and ways of working for the phone research team to adopt to source accurate and consistent research data.
• Conduct your own outbound phone and email research to gather pricing, features, and service offerings from companies in various sectors across financial services, SMB, legal services, home improvement and others.
• Pose as a business representative or broker (mystery shop) to collect real-time data, ensuring pricing and feature information is comprehensive and accurately reflects various business sizes and needs.
• Create scripts to use for different situations in order to ensure a consistent approach.
• Compile and categorize the data collected, ensuring it’s delivered in a clear, structured format for use in Forbes Advisor content and comparison tools.
• Collaborate with the Data Research and Editorial teams to provide the data needed for in-depth product reviews, buyer’s guides, and best-of rankings.
• Develop and maintain a consistent approach to gathering and recording data from different vendors to ensure comparisons are accurate and methodologically sound.
• Identify trends, discrepancies, or patterns in pricing and features across different vendors and industries.
• Liaise with the Editorial team to communicate findings, raise questions about any gaps or discrepancies, and ensure data meets certain standards and practices to ensure a more scientific approach to data collection via phone surveys. 
• Handle follow-up inquiries or communication with vendors to clarify or update information as necessary.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience in phone research, data collection, mystery shopping, market research, or other phone-based outreach roles.
• Experience of managing small sized research teams of 5 - 10 operatives.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to ask targeted, clear questions and elicit detailed information during phone calls.
• Ability to handle conversations professionally while posing as a business representative or broker to collect accurate data.
• A knack for problem-solving and thinking on your feet, especially when faced with resistance or incomplete information from vendors.
• Meticulous attention to detail and data accuracy, ensuring the collected data is reliable, verifiable, and formatted correctly.
• Self-starter with the ability to manage and organize your time effectively while working in a remote, fast-paced environment.
• Experience working with Google Sheets/Excel or data management software to record and categorize data.
• Familiarity with business products and services such as HR software, payroll solutions, home improvement, legal services, insurance, and loans is a plus but not required.
• Ability to work collaboratively with data researchers and editors while maintaining independence in day-to-day tasks.

Desired Skills:

• Previous experience in market research, content research, or data gathering in fields such as financial products, business services, health products, or software.
• Experience conducting research on behalf of third parties is highly preferred.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple inquiries and vendors at once, ensuring deadlines are met.
• Experience working in a remote team environment with strong communication and reporting skills.

Additional Information

Forbes Marketplace provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

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