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HS Brands International is a global mystery shopping and loss prevention company.
The Service Sleuth division provides worldwide mystery shopping services, customer data collection that measures and provides feedback on the guest experience.
The Mershimer Group division creates customized loss prevention programs, executes audits and consults on royalty assurance, which drive results and can significantly impact a client’s bottom line.
Company Overview
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• HS Brands International was formed in 2006 when Tom Mills (Service Sleuth est. 1992) and Mike Mershimer (The Mershimer Group est. 2003) formed a partnership.
• The two divisions of HS Brands are designed to work seamlessly together to improve the customer experience and minimize loss.
• HS Brands International boasts some of the world’s most recognized brands as clients. They are committed to growing their client’s business through customer service excellence and loss prevention strategies utilizing the industry’s most advanced technology. HS Brands has a database of up to 500,000 field contractors, which will grow as they continue to expand globally.
• HS Brands International currently has 6 offices worldwide; Boston, Las Vegas, Switzerland, Turkey, India and Argentina.
• HS Brands International is a member of the Mystery Shopping Provider’s Association.
Operations Delivery Strategy
• Mystery Shopping and Loss Prevention programs that are complimentary to each other. We are a one-stop shop for all Loss Prevention programs and Mystery Shopping services eliminating your need for multiple vendors, which cuts down your costs. – The Service Sleuth division of HS Brands can handle any mystery/integrity shopping and bar-
spotting domestically (including Nevada) and internationally. – The Mershimer Group handles everything that goes beyond simple mystery shopping like in
store audits, business standard evaluations, fraud/theft investigations, loss prevention planning and awareness and even high risk terminations.
• We lead the way in the technological advances of our industry.– Tom Mills Jr. created the industry’s first web-based mystery shopping software.– HS Brands is on top of the newest software and tools from web-based platforms to
smartphone surveys. You saw it here first. • Every mystery shop report is read by an editor as part of our quality control process. Shops
are read for grammar and style as well as basic shop guideline fulfillment. These controls create a finer product for the client because there are multiple people that touch the report before it gets to the client. The report has a number of stages from the scheduling and shop execution phase to the editing phase.
• Our reporting functions are unparalleled. We utilize fully customizable dashboards, graphical and mapping data and tools including triggered reports that are tailored to your program. Reports are important to showcase your data and make a profound impact on your team. You can compare districts, regions and managers for overall customer experience. Or you can drill down to recognize trends over time, analyze question-by-question and rank locations. You can also view individual reports on screen or do a mass data export.
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Mystery Shopper Profiling, Selection and Training
• Any person in the world that wishes to become a mystery shopper signs up in one of our databases depending upon where they live.
• Once in the database they are required to complete extensive demographic data about themselves, which includes gender, race, marital status, children, income level and education level. They also supply us with a writing sample.
• Our proofreading team, who also determines if this person can become an active shopper now capable of receiving potential mystery shopping jobs, reviews the writing samples.
• Once active, the shoppers receive e-mails that detail potential mystery shopping jobs in their area. Their request for a particular job is sent to our scheduling team who selects which shoppers are best for a particular assignment.
• The proofreading team reviews the mystery shop and grades the performance on a scale of 1-10. Shoppers that did exactly what they were instructed; such as provide a detailed report with no grammatical mistakes or contradictions and submit the report on time receive a 10. For each missing piece or any need for cleanup or contact to the shopper by the proofreader lowers the score. Once the final rating is selected, the proofreader writes a detailed list of what could have been done by the shopper to achieve a higher or perfect score.
• Going forward the scheduling team uses this rating in it’s selection process and potentially deactivates shoppers that fall below our acceptable threshold of 7.
• Shoppers that are MSPA certified (silver or gold level) are used more often because they are trained more extensively by the MSPA.
• We can create shopper tests in our Sherlock software system for certain mystery shops that need a higher level of familiarity/industry knowledge to complete. For example, all casino mystery shoppers need to complete the “casino shopper test” before applying to take a casino mystery shop.
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Project Management Tools
Shopper interaction is an integral part of the success of each mystery shopping project that we run. Scheduler and client service manager contact details are in every set of shop instructions, so shoppers have access to the people who are running the actual program. We recruit shoppers, they apply for jobs and are in constant contact with the scheduling team throughout the assignment process and up until shop completion. After that, shoppers are in contact with the editing team to make sure every detail of the report is addressed.
HS Brands uses a rating and feedback system to gauge shoppers. After each completed report an editor rates the shopper’s performance on that mystery shop on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the worst and 10 being the best). Editors also leave helpful comments for the shoppers to improve their shop rating for next time.
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Quality and Data Validation
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All data collected goes into our Sherlock software system. Once shops are completed they are read by one of our editors for style and grammar. They also read reports to make sure that the shopper followed the shop instruction exactly. They can go back to the shopper for more detail on their report or to clarify why they answered a question the way they did. Shoppers and editors are in constant communication during this process.
We also have two services that pick up on fraud detection.
The first is called Geo-Verify, where a shopper can check in via geo-location service on their smartphone to a shop location. This verifies their shop location and time. They will then receive a code to put in their mystery shop report that proves they were at the locations they were supposed to be at and within a specific time frame (if applicable).
Another fraud detection service we use is Photo DNA, which looks at the authenticity of photos and receipt uploads. It can detect if photos were doctored in any way as well as identifies duplicate receipts. It alerts the editor immediately if the system thinks it’s a fraudulent match.
Approach to Online Reporting
3 Pronged Approach to Reporting:
- Viewing data on screen: You can view the data on screen within our Sherlock software system or export/PDF the reports individually.
- Data export: You can export the data for further manipulation and analyzing.
- Use Sherlock’s suite of reports: Sherlock has over 50 statistical reports ranging from geographic reports to trending over time. These reports are fully customizable too. View our reporting video here.
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Partial Client List
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Batteries +Bellagio Resort and CasinoCartierCousin’s SubsCVSDomino’sDunkin’ DonutsFriendly’sGNCHyatt GamingJiffy LubeJohnny RocketsLGThe Light Group
National AmusementsOakleyOlympia SportsPapa John’sProPark ValetQuiznosRipley’s Believe It or NotSpencer’s GiftsSmokey BonesTedeschi’sTreasure Island Resort and CasinoVansWestin HotelsWolfgang Puck
Testimonials
I strongly recommend The Mershimer Group division of HS Brands for loss prevention services. They provide a unique and valued expertise that fills an important need for our company. They understand our business and are dedicated to providing diligent and professional services, both for company and franchised operations. Their reports are clear and actionable and their attention to detail creates a solid record for any later dispute resolution requirements. Whether the circumstances are urgent or routine, they never fail to accommodate our needs.
Bob S., VP - General Counsel, Friendly's Ice Cream
HS Brands continues to demonstrate a high level of professionalism, service, and flexibility. Since beginning our working relationship, they have continually shown that they are a company with our best interests in mind, and they are there to help us improve our guest experience month in and month out. While we initially began using them for our customer service shops, they have also been instrumental for our loss prevention team with their integrity shopping service and experience.
Like many other retailers, there are times when our priorities shift and we need HS Brands to quickly shift gears for us. They’ve done so every time we’ve asked, and they’ve done so willingly and without hesitation. They are a vendor partner we know we can rely on to help us improve our guest experience, and keep improving our business. We’ve seen positive results year over year in our guest service, and HS Brands and their dedication to providing top notch service and reporting has been a big part of our strategy for improvement.
Scott H., Senior Director of Operations at Spencer's Gifts
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Tom Mills Jr., [email protected] x 114500 Myles Standish Blvd.Taunton, MA 02780www.hsbrands.com
Tom is the past President of the Mystery Shopping Provider’s Association (MSPA) and creator of SASSIE, the industry’s first web based mystery shopping software. Tom’s experience comes from running a mystery shopping company for 20 years after working in management and merchandising capacities with Staples, Kentucky Fried Chicken and others.
Tom is the Chief Operating Officer at HS Brands International, a global mystery shopping and loss prevention company headquartered in Taunton, MA. Other office locations include: Las Vegas, NV, Switzerland, Turkey, India, and Argentina.
Tom is a licensed Private Investigator (NV PILB #1182).
