Watch the TV Broadcast of the Women in Business Awards

Posted by Michael Gallagher on Thu, Jan 29, 2015 @ 12:39 PM

Biz TV will broadcast a special television program about the 11th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business on Friday, January 30 at 10:00 ET, with a repeat broadcast on Sunday, February 1 at 6:00 pm ET.

Biz TV BroadcastThe Stevie Awards for Women in Business are the world's top honors for female entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run. The 11th annual awards were presented during a dinner in New York on November 14, 2014. More than 400 nominees and their guests from around the world attended.

Read Biz TV's blog post about the broadcast here.

Biz TV is associated with Biz Talk Radio, which broadcast the November proceedings live across the U.S.A.

We saw a preview of the program the other days and it's outstanding! The program features all of the on-stage Grand and Gold Stevie Award presentations, selected interviews with Stevie Award winners, and some original videos produced by 2014 Stevie winners.

Biz TV promises to broadcast the program several more times in the first quarter of this year after the first two airings. We'll publicize those dates when we have them.

Watch the Broadcast

Learn more about the women in business awards at www.StevieAwards.com/Women.  The 2015 competition will open for entries in May.

Topics: business awards, women awards, women in business awards

Final Judging Chairs Named for Sales & Customer Service Awards

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Wed, Jan 28, 2015 @ 05:23 PM

The Stevie® Awards have announced the seven executives who are chairing the specialized final judging committees for the 9th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top sales awards and customer service awards program.

Final judging began last week and will continue through February 4.  Finalists in the competition were announced last week.  Final judging committees are reviewing and rating the Finalists, and their average scores will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements that will be announced during a gala event at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on February 27.

The seven committee chairs have worked with the Stevie Awards to recruit and brief the members of the final judging committees, who will be named in a separate article next week.

So let's meet our seven final judging committee chairs.

SALES INDIVIDUAL/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CHAIR
Ric Riddle, VP, Demand Generation

SalesStaff LLC, Stafford, Texas, USA

SA_SI-Chair-Riddle2

Ric Riddle serves as the vice president of Demand Generation at SalesStaff. He is responsible for global demand for the fast-growing SalesStaff revenue acceleration platform. He leads a team that integrates a variety of functions and has a material influence on the strategy and performance of the company. Ric oversees demand generation, market response, content marketing, social outreach, product marketing, and sales enablement.

Ric brings more than twenty years of experience and energy in driving demand and stewarding customer success. He is a recognized thought leader and has served as a senior executive at some of the most well-known enterprise brands, bringing a dynamic blend of creativity, ground level execution, and scalable best practices. Ric’s integrated approach to engaging target audiences, shaping brand attitudes, and generating qualified pipeline for sales teams makes him a valuable contributor to the SalesStaff executive team.

Ric lives in Austin, Texas yet remains passionate about the University of Houston and his beloved Astros. His favorite activities are those spent with his wife and three children.

SALES DEPARTMENT/SOLUTION PROVIDER CHAIR
Cigdem Wondergem, Global Head of Sales Training 

DHL Global Forwarding, Global Head Office, Bonn, Germany

SD-Chair-Wondergem2

Cigdem Wondergem has worked for the past 18 years at DP DHL Group in different business units, and has held roles within marketing and sales for regional and global teams. She loves working in a multinational environment with colleagues from different cultures. Her personal motto is: “Dream, act, and enjoy!.”

Cigdem was born in Istanbul, Turkey. After graduating from the Sankt George College in Istanbul, she went to study in Austria, and after leaving university completed her studies with an MBA in International Management from UBI Brussels. While studying in Austria, Cigdem worked actively for the international student organization AIESEC, both as Local Committee President of Innsbruck and as National Committee President of Austria.

Now based in Bonn, Germany, Cigdem is married with a young son and daughter. Her family is multilingual and can communicate in four languages.

SALES TEAM/SALES ACHIEVEMENT CHAIR
Todd E. Quarfot, EVP, Chief Sales Officer

PrimePay, West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA

ST-Chair-Quarfot2

Todd Quarfot joined PrimePay in 2001 as vice president, Sales and Marketing. As the Chief Sales Officer, he is currently responsible for all sales groups and regions across the U.S. In addition, he leads a corporate team with responsibility for sales training, sales operations and enablement, and product group management.

Before joining PrimePay, Todd spent about seven years with Gartner, Inc., based in Stamford, Connecticut. While at Gartner, he served in several leadership positions in sales and marketing that culminated in the role of vice president, Sales Process, focused on worldwide sales technology adoption and sales management process.

Prior to joining Gartner, Todd spent more than 12 years with the Eastman Kodak Company. Todd graduated from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, in 1982.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER INDIVIDUAL CHAIR
PeggyPeggy Heafey, Director of Intermediary Partner Care,
Marriott International, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Peggy Heafey has been with Marriott International for 26 years. Her background includes experience in Reservation and Group Sales, Training and Development, and Customer Care. Under her leadership, the department has grown from providing primary services for travel agents, to 8 desks and functions supporting all travel, group, wholesale, and OTA intermediary partners and over 4,000 Marriott properties globally.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER TEAM CHAIR
David Graffia, Vice President, Sales

dinCloud, Gardena, California, USA

CST-Chair-Graffia2

David Graffia has over 20 years of channel experience in the area of IT sales and consulting.  He has expertise in cloud services, infrastructure and asset management, electronic procurement, software licensing, and services (both managed and professional). As vice president, Sales for dinCloud, David has established relationships and built partnerships with some of the industry’s largest global aggregators and Value Added Resellers including Ingram Micro, En Pointe Technologies, CDW, Insight Enterprises, and Tech Data.

Prior to joining dinCloud, David spent nearly a decade at En Pointe Technologies, one of the largest Microsoft Licensing Solution Providers, where he served as vice president of Sales. In addition to sales and marketing, his responsibilities included managing the corporate strategy and the development of emerging technologies. David has also worked in executive management at PC Mall and Hartford Computer Group.

David has served on numerous advisory councils and is currently a member of the Technology Executives Club, IT Leaders Circle, and IT Marketing Institute. He enjoys building partnerships and broader business relationships, and is always willing to provide guidance and support.

CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT & NEW PRODUCT/SERVICE CHAIR
Rosa M. Moreno, SVP, Treasury Services Manager

Wells Fargo & Co,Treasury Management Client Delivery, El Monte, California, USA

CSD-Chair-Moreno2

As senior manager for the Technical Services and Research teams, Rosa Moreno oversees second-level support to treasury management clients who use the
Commercial Electronic Office® portal, and supports the customer service officers (CSOs) on complex research transactions. Rosa’s teams are located in three sites: Los Angeles, California; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jacksonville, Florida.

Previously, Rosa managed the Los Angeles Treasury Management Customer Service (TMCS) team, responsible for CSOs supporting Wholesale clients, and spent time as a product implementation manager. Prior to joining TMCS, Rosa worked with retail banking as a customer service manager, where she gained a keen understanding of customer needs and expectations.

In 2014, Rosa received the Bronze Stevie® for Women in Business in the Category of Female Executive of the Year/Accounting and Financial Services. Rosa’s training includes Managing for Excellence, Achieving Extraordinary Customer Service, and Frontline Leadership.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER ACHIEVEMENT CHAIR
Tim Taylor, Chief Client Success Officer
Telogis, Aliso Viejo, California, USA

CSA-Chair-Taylor2

Tim Taylor has extensive experience in senior leadership positions with start-up and fast-growth companies on an international scale. As founder and CEO of Tycom Corporation (now Kyocera Tycom Corp.), CEO of Tycom Dental Inc. (now SybronEndo Corporation, a division of Sybron Dental Specialties), and CEO of Tulon Inc., Tim has a track record of successful product development and company leadership in a variety of markets. Prior to joining the team at Telogis, he had been the director of Liquidmetal Saga Italy, a technology start-up company in the Veneto region of Italy aimed at the European luxury goods market.

Tim earned a Bachelor of Arts in Russian Language and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Southern California.

Topics: customer service awards

Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service Announce Finalists

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Thu, Jan 22, 2015 @ 11:00 AM

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Winners in 9th Annual Competition to Be Announced in Las Vegas on February 27

Finalists in the 9th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in disciplines that are crucial to business success, were announced today.    

A diverse group of organizations and individuals around the world are among those recognized in the customer service awards, contact center awards, business development awards and sales awards categories.  Organizations with Finalists in multiple categories include AllClear ID, Avea Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Data & Analytics - Black Knight Financial Services, Delta Air Lines, DenizBank A.S., DP DHL, (in various locations worldwide), EMKAY Inc, Fareportal, FedEx TechConnect, Fujairah Police General HQ, GuideWell Connect, HomeAway, Inc., HomeServe USA, iHeartMedia, Inc., John Hancock Financial Services, Kohl's Department Stores, Lennox Industries, Inc., Marriott Vacation Club, MassMutual Life Insurance Company, Ministry of Interior, Sharjah Police HQ, Nuance Communications, Nudge, OptumRx, PetRays, Richardson, Sales Partnerships, Inc., SurePayroll, Inc., Visualize, VIZIO Inc., Wells Fargo, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, and ZoomInfo, among others. For a full list of Finalists by category, visit www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

BellagioGold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced during a gala banquet on Friday, February 27 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets are now on sale.

The awards are presented by the Stevie® Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards and the new German Stevie Awards. The Stevies are widely considered to be the world’s premier business awards.

More than 1,900 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition, an increase of 27% over 2014. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 139 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges. Entries were considered in 54 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 50 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Business Development Achievement of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers. The Business Development categories are new for 2015.

More than 100 members of several specialized judging committees will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, to take place January 26 - February 4.  

PCSAFCS_LogoBeginning today, the general public may cast their votes for their favorite providers of good customer service in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service Department. Voting is open at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com. Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service in multiple industries will be determined in mid-February and honored at the awards gala in Las Vegas on February 27.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

Sponsors and supporters of the ninth annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include Biz Talk Radio and ValueSelling Associates.

German Stevie Awards prämieren besten Kundenservice

Posted by Catrin Beu on Fri, Jan 09, 2015 @ 03:27 PM

Ein moderner und kompetenter Kundenservice gilt längst als wichtiger Wettbewerbsfaktor, um eine hohe Kundezufriedenheit zu gewährleisten und die Kunden an ein Unternehmen oder eine Marke zu binden. Deshalb investieren immer mehr Unternehmen in die Qualität ihres Kundenservice. Doch was zeichnet einen kompetenten und modernen Kundenservice aus?
 
Kundenservice bedeutet, die Bedürfnisse des Kunden im Blick zu haben. Er deckt die ganze Bandbreite des Kundenkontakts ab: von der Produktauskunft, über das Callcenter für technischen Support bis hin zum Beschwerdemanagement, für den Fall, dass doch einmal etwas schief gegangen ist.

Erreichbarkeit: auf den Kunden zugeschnitten
Während Telefon und Email immer noch zu den meistgenutzten Kontaktkanälen zählen, nutzen immer mehr Kunden die Social Media Angebote der Unternehmen, um Fragen zu stellen oder um Beschwerden zu äußern. Unternehmen tun daher gut daran, die verschiedenen Kanäle ihres Kundenservice miteinander zu verzahnen, um einen optimalen Bearbeitungsprozess von Kundenanfragen zu gewährleisten.
Neben dialogorientierten Kanälen nimmt auch die Relevanz von sogenannten Self-Service-Angeboten wie Foren, interaktiven FAQ und Unternehmenswikis weiter zu. Diese 24/7-Kanäle ermöglichen es den Nutzern, sich orts- und zeitunabhängig beispielsweise über Produkte und Serviceleistungen zu informieren.

Qualitätsmerkmal: Verlässlichkeit
Ob auf dem Shopfloor, in der Kunden-Hotline oder während der Beratung über die Online-Chatfunktion, Kunden legen großen Wert auf die Richtigkeit der erteilten Auskünfte, auf die Freundlichkeit der Berater sowie auf deren Fähigkeit schnell und lösungsorientiert zu handeln.
Auf Grund der umfassenden Möglichkeiten im Internet haben sich viele Kunden bereits informiert, bevor sie den Kontakt zum Unternehmen suchen. Meist suchen sie Auskunft oder Unterstützung in ganz konkreten Anliegen. Die Kundenberater müssen daher sehr gut informiert und geschult sein, um den Kunden weiterhelfen zu können. Hier spielt auch das unternehmensinterne Wissensmanagement eine wichtige Rolle. Kann ein Servicemitarbeiter einem Kunden nicht direkt weiterhelfen, muss er genau wissen, wo er die entsprechenden Informationen erhält oder wer weiterhelfen kann.

Stevie Awards: Auszeichnung für herausragenden Kundenservice
Die German Stevie Awards prämieren herausragende Leistungen im Bereich Kundenservice. Bis zum 11. Februar 2015 können sich Unternehmen um den Titel „Kundenservice des Jahres“ für Abteilungen und Teams sowie einzelne Manager bewerben.
Von der Strategieentwicklung eines neuen Kundenservicekonzepts, der Verknüpfung eines Produktes mit einer neuen Kundendienstleistung, über die Einführung oder Optimierung neuer Kommunikationskanäle oder Kommunikationsmethoden im Kundendialog, bis hin zu einer schnellen und eleganten Lösung eines Kundenproblems: Verfassen Sie zu Ihrer erbrachten Leistung eine Beschreibung von bis zu 525 Wörter. Am besten dokumentieren Sie Ihre Einsendung mit weiterführenden Informationen, die Sie als Dateien mit Ihrer Beschreibung bei der Online-Bewerbung mit hochladen. Ihre Teilnahmeunterlagen für die German Stevie Awards erhalten Sie hier. Kurzentschlossene können noch bis zum 13. Januar auch an den Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service teilnehmen. Mehr über die Teilnahme erfahren Sie auf unserem Blog oder auf der Homepage

 

Topics: customer service award, The German Stevie Awards, Kundenservice-Awards

Limited Number of 2014 Gold Stevie Award Medals Now Available

Posted by Michael Gallagher on Tue, Jan 06, 2015 @ 03:29 PM

We have struck a very limited number of 2014 Gold Medals that are now available for purchase in the Stevie Awards Store to all 2014 Gold Stevie Award winners. 

Purchase Now

We have had only 50 Gold Stevie medals struck and once they are gone they will be gone for good.  The price of each Gold Stevie medal is $50 + shipping & handling.

Only Gold Stevie Award winners in the following 2014 Stevie Awards programs are eligible to purchase this limited edition item:

Medals are 3 inches x 0.25 inches. Each medal features the Stevie® Awards image and the year of conferral. Each medal comes in a presentation gift box, with a transparent viewing window on top.

Order your 2014 Gold Stevie Award medals today.

In addition, we are offering discounted pricing this month on 2014 Silver and Bronze Stevie Award medals.  Typically available for $50 each + shipping & handling, this month 2014 Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners can purchase additional medals in the Stevie Awards Store for just $25 each + shipping & handling.

Questions about these items?  Email us at help+awards@stevieawards.com.

 

Topics: Stevie Award Store