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ISC Quality Certification: Basic Information for all Service Checkers at INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK
Dear Service Checker, In this document you will find all of the information needed to be an INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK Service Checker. You will also find some information about Mystery Shopping and our company, so that you can get a better idea about what it is exactly that we do. Please save this document to your hard drive so that you may be able to find and reference it easily. The following topics are covered: 1) 2) 3) 4) Information about our Company and Corporate Philosophy W hat is Mystery Shopping? Completing a Service Check Order W hat should I do during a Service Check and what in particular should I pay attention to? For all Service Checkers

You will find the most important information in regards to the certification under point 4. This part includes the basic knowledge that every Service Checker must have. You will also find a set of tips, rules, and guidelines that a Service Checker must follow while completing every assignment. Please read the following information thoroughly because this knowledge, when put into practice, will help you to complete good Service Checks as well as to avoid misunderstandings. Have fun completing the certification and doing all of your future Service Checks! Your INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK Team

1) Information about our Company and Corporate Philosophy

Multisearch GmbH Germany was founded in 1996. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK operates and maintains the universal naming rights and copyrights, and has grown continuously and increased its global expansion to currently consist of 3 companies. Multisearch GmbH, INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK, Munich, Germany, operates in the German and Austrian market. Multisearch AG, INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK, Basel, Switzerland, covers the rest of the European market. Worldwideservicecheck FZ-LLC (WWSC), INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK, Dubai, Arab Emirates, covers the region of APMEA (Asia-PacificMiddle-East-Africa). At this time, INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK / Multisearch is one of the most renowned market research companies specializing in Mystery Shopping for trade and service companies as well as directly to manufacturers. We adapt our services to each of our individual clients. Our goal is to always surpass our customers expectations in quality, implementation, and support. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECKs approach is to quickly and efficiently deliver the results to our customers based on the use of all possible technical options. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK operates on the global level and has several hundred thousand registered Mystery Shoppers, known also as Service Checkers. We attach great value to our well educated, trained, and prepared Service Checkers. For this we use various certifications in which our Service Checkers have to prove their knowledge. In addition, Service Checkers are instructed, if necessary, by our Field Coordinators to conduct Service Checks either online, by phone or, less often, in person. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK is a global company and a member of the MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association), which provides international ethical standards for Mystery Shopping. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK receives Service Check orders from a widely diversified range of industries. Mystery Shopping is at this time indisputably the best instrument used in modern day market research. It is personal, friendly, and above all, realistic! INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK Service Checkers are in operation 365 days a year, analyzing the quality standards of everyday business, such as friendliness, expertise, customer loyalty, cleanliness, and so on. This adds up to hundreds of thousands of individual Service Checks each year, the results of which
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INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK passes on to their respective trades and industries for optimization measures. In general, a Service Check of INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK consists of a questionnaire and a personal experience report. The questionnaire is usually created in consultation with the client. In the questionnaire, the Service Checker objectively answers yes and no as well as multiple choice questions. Sometimes Mystery Shoppers are required to comment on their answers. In the personal experience report, the Service Checker gives a complete overview of the visit by writing a detailed and vivid portrayal of the experience. Every detail of the questionnaire and experience report is revised and evaluated at INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK by a Proofreader. This enables us to provide the ongoing high quality of feedback reports to our client. Sometimes you may receive a phone call or email to answer extra questions a Proofreader may have to optimize the report. This is the reason why we ask you to be available for contact up to 72 hours after the visit.

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK uses the latest technological tools and evaluation standards. For our clients we offer permanent Internet access to the results, if desired, online transferred data, and a 100% data security guarantee. In addition, INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK guarantees that each Service Check result will be evaluated, prepared, and delivered to the client within 72 hours after the real Service Check took place. That is the reason why we ask you to send us the results of your assignment within 24 hours of your visit and why this deadline is very important for us.

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2. What is Mystery Shopping?

Our specialty is Mystery Shopping. What is it? How does it work? For Mystery Shopping, especially trained Mystery Shoppers (at INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK they are called Service Checkers) pose as completely ordinary customers. While shopping, they pay attention to different things in particular and check the service. The result is a detailed shopping report from a customer. Mystery Shopping is available in all areas in which customer service is provided. This directly concerns the retail sector, but manufacturers can also check their distribution partners. Especially important is: 1) How the customer is treated by the employee 2) Whether the rules of the company/business are upheld by the employees (i.e. greeting, advertisement, and so on) The goal of Mystery Shopping is to improve the quality of service for the customer, leading to better customer service and higher sales figures. Our Service Checkers themselves receive a reimbursement for their time; however, it is more important to many that they can help to improve the service in shops. Through the combined use of questionnaires and experience reports, we can offer our clients a very accurate picture of their services. And this is always from the perspective of a customer! There is no other way for business owners to create this. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK does not ask for the subjective perceptions of the Service Checkers, but rather asks them to measure the service objectively, regardless of personal preferences or moods. The questionnaire for the Service Check is always created together with the client in order to correspond fully to their needs and to provide the answers to the questions that they find most important. In addition, the Service Checker is instructed accordingly and follows a complete prescribed set of guidelines and an appropriate process. The result of this approach is a very objective and, for our clients, very tangible description of the quality of the service.

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3. Completing a Service Check Order

If one of our clients would like to have the service checked in a series of shops, then, with this in mind, an INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK employee would contact the potential client to discuss exactly what should be checked, when and where. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK has different questionnaires for different companies; however, these are completely adapted to the clients wishes. When everything is clear about what is supposed to be analyzed, INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK is provided with all of the information for the questionnaire and all documents needed for the job (guidelines, texts on the Internet, and so on), given all of the branches to be checked, and the Service Check is created in our system. Now the Field Coordinator, or in some cases, the automatic coordination comes into play: in both cases the objective is to find an appropriate Service Checker for each Service Check. The Field Coordinator selects a Service Checker from the Mystery Shopper database according to the specifications from the client and contacts him/her. The Field Coordinator asks the Service Checker whether he/she would like to accept the assignment, clarifies the specifics, and answers questions about the scenario and tasks to follow. If the Service Checker agrees, he/she will be assigned the Service Check. In the case of automatic coordination, several appropriate Service Checkers will receive a notification by email when a Service Check is announced. All appropriate Service Checkers will see the Service Check available in their accounts under Available Checks. The Service Checker who accepts first receives the assignment. This form of invitation is only offered to experienced Service Checkers and is not used by all clients. With automatic coordinated Service Checks, Service Checkers have no direct contact person. But they will be provided with a contact address if they have any problems or questions. All our Service Checks need to be completed before a specific deadline. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CHECK relies on the commitment of our Service Checkers to complete their assignments within the set timelines. Once a Service Checker has been assigned to a specific location this Service Check is exclusively for him/her. No matter how a Service Check is coordinated, the Service Checker will always receive a notification about the assignment by email. In any case where the Service Checker cannot complete the visit before the deadline it is requested the Service Checker contacts their Field Coordinator immediately to discuss an extension of the set timeframe or to cancel the Service Check.
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The focal point for our Service Checker is our homepage www.internationalservicecheck.com. Click on Service Checker Login to get to the login page where you need to enter your own Service Checker Number (i.e. T123456) and your password. When you are logged in, you can find all the information concerning assigned Service Checks, and your Service Check history. Also, you can often find available Service Checks in your area (only experienced Service Checkers). In your account you can also update your personal and contact information. If you received an assignment for a Service Check, once you are logged into your own account you can find all the relevant information there. Double click on the Service Check to see the following documents: 1. Guidelines (Role Description or Scenario): It is crucial to adhere to the guidelines; they explain exactly how the Service Check must be carried out. The guidelines also state your contact persons details and an example of how to write a personal experience report. It is very important to check the address and opening times of the location. 2. The questionnaire that should be filled out after the visit. Please read the questionnaire thoroughly so you know which specific information you need to gather when performing the Service Check. 3. Attachments. You may be sent further attachment. This may be examples of advertising campaigns, employees uniforms, stores interior, and so on. After the Service Checker has visited the location, he/she needs to log in again to his/her personal page to enter the results online. To enter all the information certain steps need to be taken. 1. Enter date, arrival time and departure time. Ensure you have followed the allowed shopping times in the guidelines. 2. Enter personal report. It is useful to first write your report in a word document. Once you have checked the spelling you can copy the report into the system. 3. After the report is entered, click on Save personal report and answer the questions. Remember to always click on the button save and next question before you answer the next questions, otherwise the answer will not be saved. 4. When you have answered all your questions, click on save questionnaire.
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5. Service Checkers are now asked to agree to our company policy by clicking on the I agree button on the bottom of the agreement. 6. First time Service Checkers are asked to enter their bank details. For most countries we ask an IBAN and BIC code. This information is needed to make international bank transfers and is often found on your bank statement. 7. Once all the information has been entered, the Service Check can be saved. It is important that the Service Checker verifies if a Service Check has been sent to the system. A completed Service Check should no longer be available under My Checks but should show up under completed Checks.

Once a Service Check has been received in the system a Proofreader will read the report and questionnaire to ensure the Service Checker adhered to all guidelines. The Proofreader will also correct grammar and spelling mistakes in the experience report. Once the Service Check has been proofread the Proofreader will send a feedback email to the Service Checker. In case the Service Check has been performed satisfactory the Service Check continues to the evaluation and the final results and reports are sent to our client. In case a Service Checker did not uphold the guidelines we must unfortunately delete the report and assign another Mystery Shopper to the Service Check. In such cases, the Service Checker who unsatisfactorily completed the Service Check cannot be paid. Please read part 4 to ensure your Service Checks will be classified as Satisfactory. Payment will be transferred to the Service Checker within six weeks.

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4. What should I do during a Service Check and what in particular should I pay attention to?
THE RIGHT PLACE Please always be sure to visit the right branch. That sounds simple, but it has happened time and time again that the Service Checker completed the Service Check in the wrong shop. So always pay particular attention to the exact address, whether or not it is in a shopping center, on what floor, and so on. THE RIGHT TIME Time intervals are given for the visit time with the Service Check. For example, it can be indicated that the Service Check can only be made on a working day between 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Always pay attention to the guidelines for the visit time. Any visit outside these time intervals will be cancelled and cannot be paid. YOU MUST DO YOUR OWN SERVICE CHECK You are personally selected to complete a Service Check. Clients provide us with certain criteria, such as the age and gender of the required Service Checker. You are not allowed to ask a friend or relative to carry out the Service Check for you! NO SERVICE CHECKS CAN BE DONE IN A BRANCH IF YOU USED TO WORK THERE, YOUR FRIENDS AND/OR RELATIVES WORK THERE, OR IF YOU ARE A REGULAR CUSTOMER THERE If you know somebody working in the branch to be checked, please cancel your Service Check and immediately let us know. This Service Check will simply be transferred to another Mystery Shopper. YOU MUST DO YOUR SERVICE CHECK ALONE You are never allowed to take a friend/partner/acquaintance along with you on a Service Check. Doing so would falsify the results. You must always complete your Service Checks ALONE. Exceptions are only possible if it is explicitly requested in the guidelines! YOU MUST NEVER ANNOUNCE YOURSELF AS A SERVICE CHECKER You should always behave like a common customer who would like to buy something or ask questions about the products. Never allow yourself to be recognized as a Service Checker / Mystery Shopper! Even if you are directly asked if
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you are a Service Checker: NEVER admit to it. Never take the questionnaire or any documents with you on the Service Check! If you are recognized as a Service Checker and admit to it, please cancel the Service Check and get in touch with your contact person. THE SERVICE CHECK MUST BE CONDUCTED ACCORDING TO THE GUIDELINES Exact instructions for conducting each Service Check are given in the guidelines. Please adhere to these guidelines! Service Checks that are carried out in a way that does not adhere to the guidelines are not accepted and are worthless for us and our clients. Unfortunately, you will not be paid for Service Checks that do not adhere to the guidelines. THE RIGHT PERSON (only sometimes) It sometimes happens that a certain employee is to be checked. Please pay attention to the guidelines. If, for example, Mr. Clarks is to be checked, then please do not have your consultation with Mrs. Durman. NEVER ACTIVELY SHOP Be fundamentally passive. In general, NEVER approach the employee FIRST, but always wait until the employee greets or approaches you. Only give the employee the information which is given to you according to the guidelines. Never anticipate answers. Always wait for the employee to finish and then respond to the question or comment. If you directly state your initiative, then the employee is not able to question your needs. When all employees are busy please wait until an employee is free to approach you or until you can approach him/ her. You can never leave a shop without having the consultation. The consultation is a crucial part in the personal report and should be described as detailed as possible. Exceptions are only possible if specified in the guidelines! CALM AND POLITE Always remain calm and polite with all of your observations, even if the employees are not friendly to the customers. It is not your task to provoke the employees, to be deceptive, or to criticize. Also, never complain during a Service Check! Instead, make a mental note of your criticisms, and write it up in your report after the visit. Again, exceptions are only possible if it is explicitly stated in the guidelines.

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 CRITICAL, EXACT, AND OBJECTIVE Make sure you are always critical, exact, and objective! The answers to the questions on your questionnaire must, of course, also correspond with what you write in your experience report! Many clients check the statements of the Service Checkers against the surveillance videos. Please always be honest and precise. DONT BE OFFENSIVE Insults and offenses are neither appropriate when in the branch nor while filling out the questionnaire and experience report. Always remain objective and factual! RECEIPT For many Service Checks it is necessary to make a purchase. If you are required to purchase something during your Service Check, please remember to keep the receipt. If you are not offered one, then please ask for it! If you are asked to return the purchased item to the shop it is necessary to make a digital photo of the receipt before you return the item. Also write down the most important items from the receipt (date/ amount/ receipt number) in case the digital photo comes out unreadable. Once you return the item the employee will often keep your receipt and therefore your digital copy is your proof of purchase. For some Service Checks it is sufficient to include the receipt number in the questionnaire; other Service Checks need a scanned copy or digital photo to be uploaded in the questionnaire. For some Service Checks it is also required to send the receipt by post mail. You will always find the necessary required procedure in the guidelines. HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO FILL OUT THE PERSONAL REPORT AND QUESTIONNAIRE? The personal report and questionnaire must be entered online within 24 hours after your Service Check. The best way is to complete them right after completing the Service Check itself because you memory is still completely fresh. Reports sent too late cannot be sent to the client within the agreed time frame and are therefore unusable for us and cannot be paid. THE EXPERIENCE REPORT FORM: Please write in complete sentences, full paragraphs, arrange in chronological order, and pay attention to capitalization and lower case letters. CONTENT: Please write in detail about your interaction with the employees and describe what was particularly noticeable to you.

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Attention! For every Service Check, please write a new, unique experience report. Your experience reports are always automatically compared with one another. Reports with noticeable resemblances or very similar reports will not be accepted. EVERY SERVICE CHECK STANDS ALONE NEVER make comparisons, for example, to other branches or other shops in the same chain or earlier visits. The only thing that is important is exactly how things are in the branch at the exact time of your visit! CONFIDENTIALITY Please treat all of the data made available to you confidential! This applies to the questionnaire, the time of your visit, your findings, and of course, the informational materials that you receive from us. Do not share any of this information with third parties (such as friends and acquaintances)! TO WHOM SHOULD I TURN WITH QUESTIONS? For every Service Check you will receive a contact person with whom you can get in touch if any questions should come up. The contact person will be made known in each set of Service Checker guidelines. Please make note of the name because as soon as you have sent the Service Check back to us, you will no longer have access to the guidelines. As a rule, the contact person is a Field Coordinator. An email address is always provided and sometimes also a telephone number. If you have questions or need help, then please write or call your Field Coordinator. ONLY ONE ACCOUNT PER PERSON Please only sign up with us once as a Service Checker. If you are not sure whether or not you have an account, please contact us (i.e. if the computer lost connection to the Internet while you were creating your account and you would like to create another one). We are happy to help! Those people who deliberately register themselves several times with a false name, address, and so on will be deleted from the system!

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