Experienced US-Based Phone Interviewer for Business Research

We're looking for an experienced phone interviewer to run short research conversations with owners of US home services businesses, such as plumbers, HVAC, roofers and electricians. This is research, not sales. There is no pitch, no appointment setting and no lead generation.

What you'll do:
Call a list of small businesses we provide (owner or office manager)
Ask for a 10-minute conversation and follow a short interview guide we provide
Ask follow-up questions when answers are vague ("Why is that?", "Can you give me an example?")
Record each completed interview with the participant's consent
Log every attempt (no answer, voicemail, declined, scheduled, completed)

Pilot scope:
15–20 completed interviews over 2 weeks
Pay: $50 base fee + $15 per completed interview
If the pilot goes well, there will be more interviews

Deliverables:
A recording of each completed interview
A call log covering every attempt (we'll provide a simple template)

Requirements:
Based in the US, native or fluent English
Experience doing phone interviews or qualitative research with business owners (B2B experience preferred over consumer surveys)
Comfortable cold calling, but does not use a sales style
Knows the rules on getting consent to record (some states, including California, require consent from everyone on the call)
Available weekday mornings or late afternoons, when business owners are reachable
The client won't be named during calls; if someone asks, you'll say you're doing research for a company in the home services space.

In your proposal, please include:
A past project where you called business owners for research (not sales). What was it, and how many interviews did you complete?
How you'd respond if someone asks, "Who are you calling for?"
How you record calls (app or tool) and how you'd get consent
How many interviews you could complete per week