UniFocus to Unveil Mystery Shopping Evaluation Tool

SERVICEScope®

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. October 14, 2008

DALLAS, TX, September 6, 2007. UniFocus, the most comprehensive performance-management company in the hospitality industry, is developing a unique mystery shopping system that will link service standard attainment to guest and employee perceptions. SERVICEScope(R), scheduled to launch November 1, will deliver real-time on-line information in an easy to understand and actionable format, consistent with the other components in UniFocus' Loyalty Division that includes guest, employee and meeting planner feedback solutions.

"By adding SERVICEScope(R), UniFocus now provides all aspects of measuring the service experience and more importantly, can now assist our partners in seeing the mystery shop results from a multi-dimensional perspective," said Mark Heymann, UniFocus president. "It is no longer enough to look at one-dimensional data. The industry knows that standards impact guest perceptions, that employee attitudes impact the delivery process and these data points need to be inter-related if the proper actions are to be employed to improve performance. And this is what our new system will do with and for our partners.

"Further, we will introduce a new certification system for our shopping staff that will ensure absolute integrity of the process while implementing other shopper-relations systems and processes with the objective of becoming the company that service evaluators want to work with," he said. "With more than 30 years as a company working in the hospitality industry, providing full-service operational analysis, management and staff training, financial and labor management applications, as well as staff, meeting planner and guest satisfaction measurement programs, we have become a true one-stop-shop for measuring performance and delivering information that helps to create measurable service delivery improvements."

UniFocus has tapped the talents of Susan Perrin to serve as director of SERVICEScope(R) operations. With more than 30 years herself in the hospitality and foodservice industries, Perrin has evaluated hundreds of hotels and performed numerous kitchen audits around the world. She also has extensive experience in writing brand standards for all hospitality segments.

"UniFocus isn't providing a new service to the industry," Perrin said. "Instead we will be providing a popular service far better than anyone has before. As a mystery shopper myself, it is disappointing to learn that often times evaluation data is not put to full use by the hotel owner or manager, but instead just looked at as a numerical rating. UniFocus has cut its teeth on converting ratings data into actionable information, and we will do the same with this new SERVICEScope(R) process. The true value of the timely shopping results and relational information will be self evident as a training tool and for addressing hazardous and /or off standard conditions."

In addition to overseeing SERVICEScope(R) operations, Perrin will continue to serve as a mystery shopper and will oversee all final reporting to the UniFocus clients. She will also contract with outside evaluators, and will be responsible to ensure full training of the shopping staff and manage the overall process.

Perrin said SERVICEScope(R) compliments the UniFocus portfolio of performance-measurement solutions. Based on guest feedback from the UniFocus GUESTSScope(R) solution, employee feedback from its STAFFScope(R) system, and now evaluation feedback from SERVICEScope(R) managers can quickly look through online data and compare properties to see who is performing well and who is not, and then determine their course of action. "It's a real awakening for many people who think their service levels are up to par or better."

"UniFocus is committed to providing our clients with all the tools they need to do their jobs more effectively - namely managing their hotels and providing the ultimate in guest and employee satisfaction," Heymann said. "With the tools that we have created to date in our Loyalty and Watson, RM Divisions (Operational Management Tools) we have felt for some time that adding a mystery-evaluation tool to our portfolio would make greater use of our technology, and enable us to better serve our partners. With Susan Perrin at the helm, we know we have the right person leading this initiative and are confident that the information this group delivers will be even more valuable than what has been the industry norm to this point."

If your hotel is interested in becoming the beta test site for SERVICEScope(R) before it rolls out in November, call Susan Perrin with UniFocus at (972) 512-5179.