Why phone shop your dealership?
Every call to your sales line was paid for somewhere: a search ad, a listing on AutoTrader.ca, a radio spot, a sign on the highway. A buyer who calls is usually further along than one who fills in a form, and industry benchmarks put phone leads well ahead of internet leads for setting appointments. Foureyes puts phone leads at about a 75% appointment-set rate against about 40% for internet leads.
That only holds if someone answers well. A phone mystery shop tells you whether the call is answered at all, how long the buyer waits on hold, and whether the salesperson asks for the appointment or just reads off the price.
What a phone mystery shop measures
- Answer and hold: how many rings, who picks up, and how long the buyer is on hold or transferred.
- Greeting and name capture: does the salesperson introduce themselves and get the buyer's name and number early?
- Qualifying: trade-in, timing, budget, payment versus cash, and who else is involved in the decision.
- Vehicle knowledge: can they answer questions about the trim and options, and do they build value in the vehicle?
- Alternatives: if the unit is sold, do they pivot to similar stock, incoming units or the dealer network?
- Asking for the appointment: do they offer a specific day and time, or let the buyer hang up with a price?
- Follow-up after the call: do they call or text back the next day?
What you get after each call
Each phone shop comes back with the call recording, a scorecard covering 20+ criteria, and a written breakdown in plain language of what went well and what was missed. Play the recording in your sales meeting, use it in one-on-ones, or settle what was actually said.
Sales manager escalation testing. On the Scale plan we also test what happens when a buyer asks for a manager or pushes back on price, so you can hear how the desk handles it.
Phone shops work best paired with internet lead shops
Most buyers touch both channels. An internet lead mystery shop shows how your team handles the form fill. A phone shop shows how they handle the call. Every plan includes both.
Pricing
| Plan | Price (CAD, per location) | Mystery shops each month | Works out to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $149 / mo + GST | 1 phone shop, 1 internet lead shop | $74.50 per shop |
| Growth | $349 / mo + GST | 3 phone shops, 2 internet lead shops, plus an inventory awareness shop | $69.80 per shop |
| Scale | $699 / mo + GST | 5 phone shops, 5 internet lead shops, covering every channel and every manager | $69.90 per shop |
Dealer groups with 3 to 5 locations save 10%, and groups with 6 to 10 save 15%. Every plan is month-to-month with no contract.