From Solution Provider to Solution Stevie Award Winner

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Tue, Sep 27, 2016 @ 11:10 AM

The 11th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service recognize the achievements of contact center, customer service, business development and sales professionals worldwide. Entries for the 2017 competition are now being accepted.

October 19 is the early-bird entry deadline with discounted entry fees. The entry deadline is November 16, but late entries will be accepted through January 11 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the eleventh annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on February 24 at Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Today we will highlight the Solution Provider Awards categories.

SASCS_Call_for_entries_4-1.jpgThese categories recognize the achievements of solution providers for sales, contact center, and customer service professionals.

Information required for entries in these categories include:
(a) An essay of up to 650 words describing the nominated organization's accomplishments since July 1, 2015.

(c) Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. At the very least you should provide a link to the organization's website.

  1. Sales Consulting Practice of the Year
    121. Sales Training Practice of the Year
    122. Sales Outsourcing Provider of the Year
    123. Incentive, Rewards, or Recognition Provider of the Year
    124. Customer Service or Call Center Consulting Practice of the Year
    125. Customer Service or Call Center Training Practice of the Year
    126. Sales or Customer Service Solutions Technology Partner of the Year
    127. Contact Center or Customer Service Outsourcing Provider of the Year 
    128. Leadership or Management Training Practice of the Year (new category for 2017)

Solution Provider Award winners in 2016 include: 

Sales Consulting Practice of the Year 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Sales Partnerships, Inc., Westminster, CO USA: A Beautiful Reinvention of Selling
SILVER STEVIE WINNERS:
EFG Companies. Irving, TX USA: Raising the Bar in Client Service
Imparta Inc., Austin, TX USA: Imparta Inc.
BRONZE STEVIE WINNERS:
Confero Inc., Raleigh NC USA: Leveraging mystery shopping and employee engagement for maximum sales
HGS, Lisle, IL USA: Improving Enterprise Sales with Speed, Effectiveness, and Visibility
Janek Performance Group, Las Vegas, NV USA: Janek Performance Group

Sales Training Practice of the Year 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Imparta Inc., Austin, TX USA: Imparta Inc.
SILVER STEVIE WINNERS:
iSpeak, Inc., Round Rock, TX USA: iSpeak and IGT
Janek Performance Group, Las Vegas, NV USA: Janek Performance Group
MarketBridge, Bethesda, MD USA: MarketBridge
Wilson Learning, Minneapolis, MN USA: Wilson Learning
BRONZE STEVIE WINNERS:
The Brooks Group, Greensboro, NC USA: The Brooks Group
Carew International, Inc., Cincinnati, OH USA: Carew International
MAVI Interactive, LLC, Doylestown, PA USA: "Waisimo" customer service training game with LC Waikiki
mLevel, Chicago, IL USA: mLevel's Partnership with Microsoft Azure
New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Westbury, NY USA: Building Business Customer Relationships

Sales Outsourcing Provider of the Year
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Sales Partnerships, Inc., Westminster, CO USA: Sales Outsourcing Leader Wins Head to Head Yet Again
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
Revana, Tempe, AZ USA: Revana - Integrated Sales and Marketing Solutions Drives Superior Outcomes for Clients
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
GuideWell Connect, Jacksonville, FL USA: Partnering for Success

Incentive, Rewards, or Recognition Provider of the Year 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
MarketBridge, Bethesda, MD USA: MarketBridge
SILVER STEVIE WINNERS:
EXTRA Loyalty Solutions Co., Istanbul, Turkey: Tailored Loyalty Solutions for our Clients to Increase Their Sales and Customer Engagement
GuideWell Connect, Jacksonville, FL USA: Flexible Work Arrangements = Win-Win
BRONZE STEVIE WINNERS:
GuideWell Connect, Jacksonville, FL USA: Change Leaders Committed to Continuous Improvement
GuideWell Connect, Jacksonville, FL USA: Curtain Call - Top Performers Have Chance to Razzle Dazzle ‘em

Topics: customer service awards, sales awards, stevie awards for sales and customer service, solution provider awards, best solution providers

Nominate Your Customer Service and Contact Center Stars

Posted by Michael Gallagher on Thu, Sep 22, 2016 @ 10:14 AM

The 11th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service recognize the achievements of contact center, customer service, business development and sales professionals worldwide. Entries for the 2017 competition are now being accepted.

October 19 is the early-bird entry deadline with discounted entry fees. The entry deadline is November 16, but late entries will be accepted through January 11 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the eleventh annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on February 24 at Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

SASCS_15_blog_image-1.jpgToday we will highlight the Customer Service and Contact Center Individual awards categories.

The customer service and contact center individual categories recognize individual contact center and customer service professionals.

Information required for entries in these categories include:
(a) An essay of up to 650 words describing the nominee’s accomplishments since July 1, 2015. 
(b) Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. At the very least you should provide a link to the organization's website.

  1. Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year
    Recognizing the achievements of customer service professionals who directly engage customers. This category is split into five separate categories:
    a. Business Services Industries: recognizes achievements of professionals in business services industries such as advertising, consulting, marketing, public relations, recruiting, etc.
    b. Financial Services Industries: recognizes the achievements of professionals in the accounting, banking, financial services, insurance, etc. industries.
       c. Other Service Industries: recognizes achievements of professionals in services industries such as financial services, healthcare, hospitality & leisure, legal, media & entertainment, real estate, retail, etc.
       d. Technology Industries: recognizes achievements of professionals in technology industries such as computer software, computer services, computer hardware, internet/new media, and telecommunications.
       e. All Other Industries: recognizes achievements of professionals in all industries not covered by the other Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year categories.
  2. Back-Office Customer Service Professional of the Year
    Recognizing the achievements of customer service professionals who work behind the front lines of customer service organizations for their achievements since the beginning of July 2015.

    57. Young Customer Service Professional of the Year
    Recognizing the achievements of customer service professionals under the age of 30.

    58. Customer Service Manager of the Year
    Recognizing the achievements of customer service managers and service professionals with a managerial role at organizations of any size, of any type.

    59. Customer Service Leader of the Year
    Recognizing the achievements of senior customer service and call center executives.

    60. Contact Center Professional of the Year
    Recognizing the achievements of non-executive professionals who work in a call or contact center.
  3. Contact Center Manager of the Year
    Recognizing the achievements of contact or call center managers for their achievements since the beginning of July 2015.
  4. Contact Center Leader of the Year
    Recognizing the achievements of senior contact or call center executives for their achievements since the beginning of July 2015.

Customer Service and Contact Center Individual Stevie winners in 2016 include:

Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year - Financial Services Industries 
GOLD STEVIE WINNERS:
eMoney Advisor, LLC, Conshohocken, PA USA: Jennifer Collins, Success Coach
eMoney Advisor, LLC, Conshohocken, PA USA: Joseph Pearson, Client Support Specialist
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
AllClear ID, Austin, TX USA: Benjamin Miller, Senior Licensed Investigator
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
Paycor, Inc.; Cincinnati, OH USA: Jon Southern, Implementation Solutions Manager

Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year - Other Service Industries 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
DHL Express United Arab Emirates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Juanita Santos, Contact Center Advisor
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
DHL Express Bulgaria LTD, Sofia, Bulgaria: Radoslava Pavlova, Key Account Desk Advisor

...and more. See all Stevie winners here.

Topics: best customer service, customer service awards, stevie awards for sales and customer service, contact center awards

Winners of People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Companies Announced

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Wed, Sep 21, 2016 @ 09:00 AM

The PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies is the top winner in the 2016 People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Companies, a feature of The International Business Awards, the world’s only international, all-encompassing business awards program which is now in its 13th year.

The worldwide public vote was conducted this summer, with the highest number of votes deciding the winners in a variety of industries. More than 33,000 votes were cast. All Stevie Award winners in the Company of the Year categories of this year’s International Business Awards were eligible to be included in voting for the People’s Choice Stevie Awards.

Peoples_Choice_IBA.jpgThe PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies, the Manila, Philippines-based conglomerate that owns and operates a portfolio of financial services businesses, has won People’s Choice Stevie Awards in three industry categories. Freelancer.com, the Sydney, Australia-based outsourcing and crowdsourcing marketplace for small businesses, has won two People’s Choice Stevie Awards.   The organization that received the most votes overall is the Dubai Statistics Center.

The crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards will be presented to winners at The International Business Awards banquet on Friday, 21 October at the Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Rome, Italy. Tickets for the event are now on sale. The winners of peer-adjudicated Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will be presented with their awards along with the People’s Choice Stevie Awards. Stevie winners were selected from more than 3,800 nominations received from organizations and individuals in more than 60 nations.

The winners of the 2016 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies are:

-Advertising, Marketing & PR: other
-Automotive / Manufacturing / Transport: International Armoring Corporation
-Banking: ZiraatBank
-Business or Professional Services: Freelancer.com
-Computer Services: RheinBrücke IT Consulting
-Computer Software: Jasper
-Consumer Products: Jeunesse Global
-Diversified Services: PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies
-Financial Services: Payoneer
-Government / Non-Profit: Dubai Statistics Center
-Health / Pharmaceutical: NMC Healthcare
-Insurance: Cebuana Lhuillier
-Internet / New Media: Freelancer.com
-Other Industries: PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies
-Real Estate / Retail: N&F Global Corp.
-Telecommunication: Ooredoo Qatar

Topics: International business awards, American business awards, company of the year, best companies

How to Enter The Stevie Awards for Women in Business in Just a Few Minutes

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Mon, Sep 19, 2016 @ 04:56 PM

You've been busy. Summer's over and you're getting back into the swing of things. Whatever the reason, you didn't get around to submitting entries to this year's Stevie Awards for Women in Business. But you've gotten a reprieve. We have some tips on how you can submit your nominations in as little time as possible. The last day final entries wil be accepted is Friday, September 30.

We know, you're still busy. Your calendar this week is still chockablock. But surely you can find 10 free minutes. Because in 10 minutes you can prepare and submit an entry to the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and potentially win a Stevie®, one of the most coveted trophies on the planet.

Women-in-Biz-new-for-newsle-2.gif

Here are a number of ways you can do that:

Repurpose Nominations From Other Awards Programs
The submission requirements are fairly open-ended, and there's a wide variety of categories to choose from. If you've entered any other awards programs this year, simply repurpose the nominations you wrote for those competitions, as long as they qualify as being run by women. Most categories require only the submission of an essay of up to 650 words and a bullet-list summary of the achievements portrayed in the essay.

Repurpose Your Press Releases and White Papers
It's likely you've already done the heavy-lifting of describing your organization's achievements, your innovations, your new products and services, your marketing and PR campaigns, etc. Throughout the year you've been trumpeting your successes through press releases and white papers. Simply comb through your output over the past year and cobble together the text you've already written into a short essay. Note that the 2016 Stevie Awards for Women in Business will recognize your achievements since the middle of 2015.

Repurpose Your Press Clippings
With every nomination you have the option to attach any number of press clippings, work samples, video clips, photographs, etc. to your essay, to help paint the picture for the judges. Does one or more of your press clippings feature a compelling story that can be the basis of the essay for your Stevie Awards for Women in Business nomination? There's no need to reinvent the wheel if it already exists and you can reuse it.

Hire a Consultant
Did you know that there are a number of consultancies that specialize in preparing and submitting awards nominations on behalf of their clients? There are quite a few in the U.S.A., and internationally and they've been remarkably successful over the years in winning Stevie Awards for their clients. Contact us if you'd like a referral to one of them who can take the process of getting entries into the Stevie Awards for Women in Business off your hands this week.

Submit Media Work
Sometimes you hope to win a Stevie for a specific reason - for a major achievement, or a member of your team - but you can also win a Stevie Award for specific media work. If that's the case, take a look at the categories for videos, apps, websites, publications, and live events. It's really easy to enter these categories. These categories generally require only a short essay of up to 125 words, describing the nominated work's purpose and results to date, and the nominated video or app, etc., itself.

Resubmit a Nomination From Another Stevie Awards Program
Did you have success with a nomination in the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, or The American Business Awards? One Stevie Awards competition has nothing to do with another, and resubmitting a nomination from one program to this year's Stevie Awards for Women in Business is a valid strategy followed by many organizations.

Contact Us for Help
You'll save a lot of time by letting us do some of the important work for you. We'll save you the trouble of plowing through our category lists to find the category that's right for you, for example. Contact us, by email at help@stevieawards or telephone at +1 703-547-8389. Tell us what your organization wants to be recognized for, and we'll suggest the best category for your nomination.

Whichever strategy you choose to get your nominations written and submitted this week, do get them submitted by the final entry deadline of Friday, September 30.

Ready to Enter the 2016 Stevie Awards for Women in Business?

Get the entry kit now

Topics: entrepreneur, stevie awards for women in business, women awards, media awards, Women in Business

Nominate Your Award-worthy Sales Team

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Thu, Sep 15, 2016 @ 10:32 AM

The 11th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service recognize the achievements of contact center, customer service, business development and sales professionals worldwide. Entries for the 2017 competition are now being accepted.

October 19 is the early-bird entry deadline with discounted entry fees. The entry deadline is November 16, but late entries will be accepted through January 11 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the eleventh annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on February 24 at Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

SASCS_winners_2016_987.jpgToday we will highlight the Sales Team Awards categories. Sales team categories recognize the members of individual teams within your overall sales department.  For example, the team may service a particular customer segment or a single client, or may work in a particular sales territory.

Information required for entries in these categories include:
(a) An essay of up to 650 words describing the team’s accomplishments since July 1, 2015.
(b) Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. At the very least you should provide a link to the organization's website.

Global Sales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams whose industry, client, or other focus has a global scope.

National Sales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams whose industry, client, or other focus has a national scope.

Government Sales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams whose charge is selling to government clients.

Field Sales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams that obtain the majority of their business out of the office at face to face meetings with clients.

Telesales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams that obtain the majority of their business by telephone .

Online Sales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams that obtain the majority of their business via online and social media.

Sales Support Team of the Year
Recognizing teams that provide administrative, logistical, or resource support to sales organizations.

Sales Operations Team of the Year
Recognizing teams that help sales organizations to run effectively, efficiently and in support of business strategies and objectives

Virtual Technology Sales Enablement and Pre-sales Team of the Year
Recognizing teams that provide remote sales and technology expertise to accelerate and enable sales with a global or national scope.

Sales Management Team of the Year
Recognizing the leadership teams of sales organizations for their achievements.

Past Stevie Award winners in the Sales Team Awards categories include:

Global Sales Team of the Year 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Cisco Systems Inc., San Jose, CA USA: Cisco's Global Virtual Sales Organization
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
Acquia, Burlington, MA USA: Acquia's Global Account Sales Team
BRONZE STEVIE WINNERS:
Marriott International Inc., Bethesda, MD USA: Marriott Global Reservation Sales
Varonis, New York, NY USA: Varonis Systems Sales Team
Victrex plc, Lancashire, United Kingdom: Victrex Sales Team

National Sales Team of the Year 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Adobe Systems Incorporated, San Jose, CA USA: Adobe Strategic Accounts Sales Team
SILVER STEVIE WINNERS:
iHeartMedia, Inc., New York, NY USA: iHeartMedia, Inc. National Sales Team
Lyons Consulting Group, Chicago, IL USA: LYONSCG's National Sales Team
Sales Partnerships, Inc., Westminster, CO USA: Sales Partnerships, Inc. Sales Team of the Year
SoftPro, Raleigh, NC USA: SoftPro Sales Team Boosts Revenue Amidst Industry Changes
BRONZE STEVIE WINNERS:
Digital Risk, Maitland, FL USA: Digital Risk National Sales Team
Revana, Tempe, AZ USA: Revana Ranked Highest Global Google AdWords Vendor

Government Sales Team of the Year 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
DHL Express U.S., Plantation, FL USA: DHL Express Public Sector Team
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
IAC Philippines / TomArmor Systems, Layton, UT USA: IAC Philippines Government Sales Team

Field Sales Team of the Year 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Sales Partnerships, Inc., Westminster, CO USA: SPI Lights up Sales in 2015
SILVER STEVIE WINNERS:
American Solar Direct, Los Angeles, CA USA: American Solar Direct Embraces Change to Drive Results
Turk Ekonomi Bankasi, Istanbul, Turkey: Strongest Field Sales Team of Turkey
USHEALTH Advisors, LLC, Grapevine, TX USA: USHEALTH Advisors Field Force Fulfills Our Company's Mission of HOPE
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
Lennox Industries, Inc., Richardson, TX USA: Lennox's Field Territory Sales Team

...and more. See all 2016 Sales Team winners here.

Topics: sales awards, stevie awards for sales and customer service, sales accomplishments, best sales team

Death-defying Stunts and a Sense of Fun Get Results for Stevie® Award Winner

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Thu, Sep 15, 2016 @ 10:03 AM

The Spaceship, in Sydney, Australia, won five Gold Stevie® Awards in the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards: two in the Corporate Communications/Investor Relations/Public Relations Awards categories, for Innovation in the Use of Celebrities or Public Figures and for Innovation in the Use of Video; and three in the Marketing Awards categories, for Innovation in Branded Entertainment, for Innovation in Sponsorships, and for Most Innovative Marketing or Advertising Professional of the Year.

The 2017 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards will open for entries in October. 

Request your Entry Kit here.

We spoke with 2016’s Most Innovative Marketing or Advertising Professional, Kumar Manix, Founder and Creative Director of The Spaceship, about his company, his work philosophy, and what winning multiple Gold Stevie® Awards has meant to him and his team.

1609SpaceshipSmaller.gifKumar and his team at The Spaceship specialize in blending the creative and the commercial with an entrepreneurial flair, and bring to each project a deep level of strategic thinking and industry knowledge honed by years of experience working with blue chip brands.

The Spaceship team is talented and highly motivated, and they approach campaigns with a provocative and adventurous spirit, as well as a strong sense of fun, but are still relentless in achieving demonstrable results for their clients.

Kumar told us that winning in the Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards has been great for his team and his clients. “We take great pride in our work,” he told us. “We celebrate our success at the Stevie Awards and it is something each of us will hold close to our heart. Our clients also get to share in the win and it allows them to shine amongst their peers.”

Transforming Customers into Fans

Together with his team at The Spaceship, Kumar’s goal is to find innovative and inspiring ways to transform customers into fans, content into ideas, and ideas into experiences. 

A great example of this is the Gold Stevie® Award-winning entry for their Rise of The Tomb Raider Asia Launch.

Tomb Raider is the iconic video game franchise starring its beautiful and fearless protagonist, Lara Croft, battling enemies through highly challenging environments using improvised weapons and gadgets. The exclusive launch of Rise of the Tomb Raider on Xbox made the event a natural magnet for worldwide attention, Xbox sought to elevate the game experience even further by bringing Lara Croft herself to life for fans in Asia.

The Spaceship team created and executed a clever stunt-led idea that developed into an all-encompassing, fan-focused campaign. It started with a death-defying stunt, and continued with fun interactive contests using Twitch, the leading video platform and community for gamers.

High Impact Stunt

Renowned Lara Croft cosplayer, Jenn Croft, leapt off the world’s highest bungee jump at Macau Tower, decked out in the latest Tomb Raider outfit and accessories.

Embedded Prizes

Fans could #HackTheIce through the twitter hashtag to reveal prizes embedded in eight Rise of the Tomb Raider-themed ice sculptures.

Social & Digital

The entire event, from the death-defying stunt, fan engagement contests, unveiling of never-before-seen Rise of the Tomb Raider footage, meet-and-greets, and question-and-answer sessions were all streamed live over Twitch–a first for a game launch in Asia.

Fans who tuned in participated by tweeting in their questions bearing the #HackTheIce hashtag, and voted for the ice sculpture to be hacked by Jenn Croft, to reveal prizes for participating fans. This sequence of events was also amplified via Xbox and Microsoft social media channels across Asia. A media release on the #HackTheIce campaign was disseminated to media across Asia, and posted on the Microsoft Asia News Center.

Outstanding Results

In line with Lara Croft’s personal adventures in Rise of the Tomb Raider, the #HackTheIce Campaign has shown that the bold execution of big ideas and going off-the-beaten-track can lead to great rewards:

  • The campaign generated the highest-ever digital sales for any Tomb Raider version on Xbox;
  • The video game content created for the campaign was viewed more than a million times;
  • The interactive live stream event saw nearly 600 questions tweeted over just two hours, and reached close to 600,000 fans from around the world via social media; and
  • The media outreach garnered 66 stories across multiple markets in the region.

Bringing Crazy Ideas to Life

We asked Kumar how The Spaceship team keeps coming up with such amazingly wild and crazy ideas. He told us: “We are fortunate to have an incredible team that thrives on the challenge and relishes the buzz of bringing crazy ideas to life. We have a zest for doing amazing experiences. We want our clients to push us to create new and bold ideas. We don’t want to just emulate other best practices. We want to create them.”

A Bright Future for Brands in Digital and Social Media

Kumar added that the Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards are helping in broadening awareness of his company.  “Being recognized as an ‘innovative business’ by the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards is helping to further open doors for us in new business development. It is also helping us to transcend the traditional events agency model.”  As Kumar puts it:  “We work on creating epic launches and experiences for brands across Asia.”

Looking ahead, Kumar sees a bright future. “We love the challenge of creating shareable experiences that go well beyond the moment and that extend beyond the audience at an event,” he explained. “We aim to transform customers into fans. Digital and Social are at the heart of what we believe is the start of an amazing era of rich experiences for brands all over the world.”

About Kumar Manix:

Kumar has led a wide range of high profile campaigns for clients such as Microsoft, Foxtel, Samsung, Intel, Coca Cola, and Adobe. He has achieved enormous success, driving millions of dollars’ worth of earned media and inspiring epic levels of fan engagement.

As a marketer, his campaigns have seen him collaborate with some of the greatest storytellers in the world including Oprah, the BBC, Disney and Marvel. Through his innovative use of video to drive engagement, Kumar has taken fans on numerous adventures to thrilling places, such as floating 100,000 feet into the sky on a space balloon, leaping off a high building with Lara Croft, and driving at 280 km/h in a racing car with The Stig.

He has worked extensively in the Asian market, primarily in China and Singapore, but also in Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. His deep understanding of the unique character and requirements of consumers in Asia has helped him to achieve extraordinary results, including working on the launch of the Xbox video game console in China in 2014 following a decade-long ban on foreign video game consoles.

Outside of his work, Kumar is happily married and the father of two children, Kiran and Ria. He is sports obsessed–something the Australians term a “sports tragic”–and a lover of street food from all over the world. He also owns an enviable collection of sneakers.

About The Spaceship:

The Spaceship is a brand activation agency that is based in Sydney and works globally.

For more information, go to http://thespaceship.com.au/

Topics: marketing awards, communication awards, best marketing, best marketing campaign, Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards

The 11th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service Issues Call for Entries

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Wed, Sep 07, 2016 @ 10:29 AM

Top Sales Awards and Customer Service Awards Winners to Be Recognized in Las Vegas

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, has issued a call for entries for the 2017 (11th annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Entry kits and complete details on the competition are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

TN-53253_sascs17entrykit_0011.jpgAll customer service, contact center, business development and sales departments, teams and professionals worldwide are eligible to be nominated, in addition to new products and services used by those professionals. The 2017 awards will recognize achievements since July 1, 2015.

The early-bird entry deadline, with reduced entry fees, is October 19, 2016. The final entry deadline is November 16, but late entries will be accepted through January 11, 2017 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the 11th annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on February 24 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service feature more than 135 sales awards, customer service awards, business development awards, new product awards and solution provider awards categories. Entrants may submit any number of nominations to any number of categories, which include:

  •         Sales Individual categories such as Senior Sales Executive of the Year and Sales Representative of the Year
  •         Sales Team categories like Global Sales Team of the Year and Online Sales Team of the Year
  •         Sales Achievement categories such as Sales Turnaround of the Year and Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year
  •         Sales Distinction categories in 13 industry groupings
  •         Customer Service and Contact Center Individual categories such as Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year and Customer Service Leader of the Year
  •         Customer Service and Contact Center Team categories like Contact Center of the Year and Back Office Customer Service Team of the Year
  •         Customer Service and Contact Center Achievement categories such as e-Commerce Customer Service Award and Award for Innovation in Customer Service
  •         Customer Service Department categories in 11 industry groupings
  •         Customer Service Success categories in five industry groupings, to recognize the customer service-related achievements of organizations without a formal customer service function
  •         New Product and Service categories like Best New Business Intelligence Solution and Best New Marketing Solution
  •         Solution Provider categories such as Sales Consulting Practice of the Year and Incentive, Rewards or Recognition Provider of the Year
  •         Business Development categories such as Business Development Professional of the Year and Business Development Achievement of the Year    

The 2017 program offers new categories for new products and services and solution providers. New categories for new products and services include Customer Service or Sales Book of the Year, Customer Service Training Product of the Year and Sales Training Product of the Year. The new solution provider category for 2017 is Leadership or Management Training Practice of the Year.

The 2017 competition will be judged by more than 200 professionals around the world.

2017 will see the return of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service, a popular feature of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service in which the general public worldwide may vote for their favorite providers of customer service.

Stevie Winners in the 2016 edition of the awards included Cars.com, Comcast, CubeSmart, Delta Air Lines, DP DHL, Etiya, eZCom Software, FedEx, HubSpot, IBM, ISN Software UK Ltd., Kohl’s Department Stores, Office Depot, SAVO, ShopKeep POS, Vestmark, VIZIO, Inc. and Vodafone Turkey, among others.  The full-text of Gold Stevie-winning nominations are available on the website.

The 2017 entry kit and a complete history of the awards program are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

Get the Entry Kit

Topics: best customer service, customer service awards, new product awards, sales awards, stevie awards for sales and customer service, customer service excellence, business development awards

No Formal Customer Service Department? No Problem

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Fri, Sep 02, 2016 @ 11:38 AM

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service recognize the achievements of contact center, customer service, business development and sales professionals worldwide. Entries for the 2017 competition are now being accepted.

October 19 is the early-bird entry deadline with discounted entry fees. The entry deadline is November 16, but late entries will be accepted through January 11 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the eleventh annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on February 24 at Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

SASCS_winners_2016_7-1.jpgToday we will focus on the Customer Service Success Awards categories.

If your organization doesn't have a formal customer service function - if "everyone here works in customer service" is your motto - then these are the categories for you.

 If your organization has a formal customer service function, don't enter these categories - enter the Customer Service Department categories instead.

Information required for entries in these categories include:

(a) An essay of up to 650 words describing your organization's customer service-related accomplishments since July 1, 2015.
(b) Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. At the very least you should provide a link to the organization's website.

  1. Customer Service Success - Business Service Industries
    141. Customer Service Success - Financial Service Industries
    142. Customer Service Success - Other Service Industries
    143. Customer Service Success - Technology Industries
    144. Customer Service Success - All Other Industries

Winners of the Customer Service Success Awards categores in 2016 include:

Customer Service Success - Business Service Industries 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
John Hancock Financial Services, Boston, MA USA: Service Success Along the Way
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
SAHOURI Insurance, McLean, VA USA: SAHOURI Insurance

Customer Service Success - Technology Industries 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Wagepoint, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, Canada: Wagepoint - Where customers are part of the family
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
Calabrio, Minneapolis, MN USA: Calabrio's Customer Service Success
BRONZE STEVIE WINNERS:
Aplos Software, Fresno, CA USA: Aplos Builds Customer Confidence To Find Customer Service Success
Cisco Systems, Inc., Feltham, United Kingdom: Service Logistics and Operations Best Practice in the Delivery of Field Services
Patagonia Health, Cary, NC USA: Patagonia Health: Trust Comes from Providing Great Service

Customer Service Success - All Other Services and Industries 
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
IDG TechNetwork, New York, NY USA: IDG TechNetwork's Customer Service Success
SILVER STEVIE WINNER:
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Youth Assembly, Istanbul, Turkey: IMM Youth Assembly's Successful Projects
BRONZE STEVIE WINNER:
Selvice Service Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan: Selvice Service's Maple Halloween

Topics: best customer service, customer service awards, stevie awards for sales and customer service, customer service success

In Praise of Successful Women, from a Stevie Awards Judge

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Thu, Sep 01, 2016 @ 02:55 PM

Tania Hummel is Director of Thrive Coaching and Consulting in London, United Kingdom.  She assisted in judging the Company/Organization Awards categories for last year’s Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

The
2016 Stevie Awards for Women in Business is accepting late entries through the final entry deadline of Wednesday, September 21.  REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Preliminary judging of the 2016 Awards has just commenced. Tania will be joining the final round of judging in October. If you are interested in being a judge this year, apply to judge here.

Following are some surprisingly moving comments Tania sent us on her experience of judging in 2015.

1608Thrive.jpgThis time last year, I was approached by an old friend to judge the Stevie Awards for Women in Business.   Not knowing what to expect, I gamely applied and was accepted. At the allotted time and date I accessed the judging website to view entries.

The first thing I discovered was that there were many more entries than I had expected– and from all over the world.  

The next thing I discovered was just how challenging judging could be.

Pressure to Succeed

Some submissions were about women who had scaled the heights of corporate giants, landing in senior roles where the competition and pressure to succeed could scarcely be imagined. Closer inspection of supporting documents to these applications showed that these were often “winners” from childhood–starting in their earliest school days, often mentored or supported by other high achievers, and given the best education money could buy.  In some cases, the question wasn't how could they succeed, but how could they possibly fail?  Yet the pressure to succeed, the perfectionist standards, and the constant striving made clear that success was without doubt hard won.

Rising from Obscurity

Then there were women who rose from complete obscurity, with no advantages at all, who told stories of how they worked during the day, and studied at night, sometimes working more than one job just to make ends meet.  They also scaled the corporate heights, sometimes in areas you might expect such as NGOs and charities, where sheer pluck and strength of character might get you places, but also in more conventional and male-dominated industries.  They added a quality of sheer grit and determination, inspiring others to believe that they, too, could make it, against all odds.  I identified with these women, as their story was my story–but I was careful not to allow my conscious bias to affect my objectivity.

Building Businesses from Scratch

I noticed there were women from all kinds of backgrounds: corporate refugees; stay-at-home moms; apparently ordinary women who started up businesses from their living rooms.  Sometimes they succeeded first time, sometimes they didn't.  Some of them had succeeded so well they had more than one entry, as they were running more than one business.  This demonstrated the power of the Internet to create new businesses, but these entries didn't shy away from illustrating the long hours, moments of doubt and despair, and sheer commitment and sacrifice needed to build a business from scratch.

Turning Weakness into Strength

Then there were the women who defeated the odds by overcoming their personal demons, and in so doing had succeeded beyond all expectations. These were women who had been given harsh feedback because of some personal flaw, but had not given in to either self-pity or self-loathing. Instead–with courage, determination, and the will to work on themselves–they had turned things around, and turned those weaknesses into strengths.  

Harnessing Technology to Solve Suffering

And then there were the women in technology roles, who started out in global organizations but who managed to use their positions of power to lobby their organizations to use their technology for a purpose beyond profit.  One such example was a woman who showed how her company brought first-line medical care to the remotest parts of the world via telecommunications in a way that made me rejoice at the limitless possibilities of harnessing technology to solve suffering in the world.

The Capacity to Care

Finally, there were the stories that made me stop in wonder at the human capacity to care.  One woman had started an obscure charity in a faraway country to which she apparently had no personal links. As an example of what must have been pure altruism, she showed the difference she had made–with no personal gain that I could see–to a group of blind and disabled people in a developing country, who, as a result of her efforts, were able to earn a living in a supportive community.

Mentoring and Inspiring

How clever, how kind, how determined, and how creative these ladies were. And how wonderful that so many of them cited other women as mentors, and were mentoring young women themselves.  It shattered the myth of the Queen Bee who pulls up the ladder behind her, and renewed my gratitude to the great lady who gave me my own big break.  And how encouraging, too, that many cited as inspiration their fathers, the male bosses who mentored them, or the husbands and partners who provided much needed moral, practical, or financial support.

I was once asked in a consultation forum what was the one thing I thought a woman with a family most needed to be successful. Without hesitation I replied: “A quality husband!”  Looking around at my successful girlfriends, however, I note that these can be a rare commodity, which makes the women who succeed as single parents, or who recover from adversity, all the more to be admired and respected.  

At any rate, there is usually someone, whether male or female, who is prepared to take a step down while you take a step up. Someone who is prepared to be a little bit beta while you go a little bit alpha … because no one gets to have it all–at least not all at the same time. 

So, in celebration of all successful women and the people who helped make them so, here is an anthem to Women’s Day from Peter Gabriel & Youssou N’Dour to play us out. 

Read more of Tania’s views on the world of Coaching and HR on the Thrive Blog.

About Tania Hummel:

Currently the Director of Thrive Coaching & Consulting, for six years until 2014 Tania Hummel led the HR function of the Nature and Macmillan Publishing Group, one of the world’s most renowned scientific, academic, and education publishers, during a period of transformation from a regionally organized, traditional, print-based business to a global digital and data-driven information provider. She had strategic and operational accountability for over 5,000 employees in over 50 markets, dealing with complex people and organizational challenges in countries as diverse as Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Kenya, Mexico, Brazil, India, Japan, Australia, and the US. Her key experiences include managing complex employee relations issues in the UK and internationally, executive coaching, talent management, employer brand development, leadership and management development, communications, and global compliance and risk management.

Creative, pragmatic, and focused, Tania creates a safe space for teams and individuals to develop transformational goals whilst building confidence and increasing strategic capability. She is equally comfortable coaching groups, or individuals and is passionate about developing talent through strategic talent management initiatives. She uses innovative, award winning tools and techniques to create bespoke initiatives and has coached senior executives internationally via Skype or Google hangouts.

Topics: stevie awards for women in business, women awards, awards judging, Awards for Women