There are times when you must reach a designated person on an apartment shop. This can be because the person has been singled out for a raise or even for a promotion or it is just time for their annual review. In any case, you need some creative ways to get your target on the telephone.
First of all, you could try to have yourself and another person call the office and see if the target answers the call. If your helper is the one who reaches the target, simply switch telephones and carry on with the shop. Make sure you take notes and you should be on your way to completing the shop.
Secondly, if you only have yourself to complete the call, you could use the hold or add a call feature on your cellular phone. Make the call as normal and then add the call the number again with the add the call feature. Again if you reach your target, all is fine. If not, hang up and see if the target is on the other line.
Thirdly, when you do calls as such as these, make up a reason for saying you called the wrong number. You could say you thought it was another apartment community and choose a name from another town.
Lastly, try not to call over and over again in an hour. Remember, the agent could be with a customer or showing an apartment so space your calls and see if you can reach you target without too much hassle.
Congratulations! Your scheduler has emailed you asking you to complete a well-paying audio shop! Don’t panic – the money to do the shop is good and all you have to do is get the right equipment. Keep in mind some companies provide the equipment to use and others will ask you provide your own. If you need to provide your own, ask you scheduler what type of audio file they would prefer. Some prefer .wav and others will ask for a different extension; check to make sure.
When you complete a mystery shop, try to give the leasing agent the best opportunity to be successful. Here are a couple of ways you can establish a good platform for success.
Remember, completing the phone and onsite portion of the shop is just the beginning. The final icing on the cake is your mystery shop report. This report is extremely important as this is what will be sent to the apartment management staff for review.
Every so often, you might end up with eight or more shops that must be completed in a single day. When you factor in the hours driving from one location to the next, you know you will be working a 12-hour shift. Days like these do not often come around, so if you can get through the project and make some good money, you will be better for it. Here are a few tips to help keep you going.
After completing an apartment mystery shop, you must take the time to complete the online report. Online reports are typically due within 24 hours after the shop has been completed. Once the report is submitted, you must pay attention to your phone calls, voicemails and emails to note any follow-up received from the leasing agent you evaluated during the mystery shop. 
There are several types of apartment mystery shops you can complete. All of them are equally fun to complete, but my all-time favorite are the audio shops. Completing audio shops takes the pressure off trying to remember every single word the leasing agent said or detail from the shop.
Let’s face it, we mystery shop because we like to provide invaluable information to companies so they can continue to provide great customer service to their clients. However, we also like to make money. We have bills to pay and we want to enjoy life; that takes money.
It does not matter whether you are a new mystery shopper or you have been doing this for years; you can grow your skills at any level of your mystery shopping career. To be the best at anything, you need to focus and grow your skill set. This takes time and dedication, yet it does not have to take all of your time. If you are strategic and plan accordingly, you can get a lot done in a small amount of time.