The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world's premier business awards programs, has extended the final entry deadline for the 2025 (19th annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Entry kits and complete details about the competition are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

The original final entry deadline was January 22, but by popular demand, entrants now have through February 18 to submit nominations. Winners will be announced on March 6, and the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be honored during an awards ceremony in New York City on April 10.

Eligible nominees include departments, teams, and professionals from around the world who work in customer service, contact centers, business development, and sales. New products and services and solution providers used by those professionals are also eligible. The 2025 awards will recognize achievements since July 1, 2022.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service feature more than 150 sales awards, customer service awards, business development awards, new product awards, thought leadership, 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 14 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 12 industry groupings
  ● Customer Service Success categories in five industry groupings
  ● New Product and Service categories like Best New Business Intelligence Solution and Best New Marketing Solution
  Solutions and Implementations categories such as Business Intelligence Solution, Collaboration Solution, Contact Center 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 - Hospitality & Leisure
  ● Thought Leadership categories such as Best Use of Thought Leadership in Sales, Best Use of Thought Leadership in Business Development, and Best Use of Thought Leadership in Customer Service

2025 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 public may vote for their favorite providers of customer service from among all finalist nominations in the Customer Service Department of the Year categories.

Winners of the 2024 edition of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service included Allianz Services Pvt Ltd, Apexon, Ayala Land, Bank of America, Blackhawk Network, Cisco Systems, Delta Dental of Kansas, DP DHL, Everise, Hinduja Global Solutions, HP Inc., IBM Corporation, Lounge Group, Purpol Marketing Limited, Sales Partnerships, Inc., Samsung Electronics America, SAP, Splunk, Support Services Group, Tata Consultancy Services, Toco Warranty, UPMC Health Plan, VIZIO Inc., Watsons, and Weber Shandwick.

The 2025 competition will be judged by more than 150 professionals around the world. Those interested in participating on one of the juries may apply at https://sales.stevieawards.com/sa-judge/register.

Sponsors of the 2025 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include The Brooks Group, Sales Partnerships, Support Services Group, and ValueSelling Associates.

Founded by Ankur and Aditi Daga, Angara Inc. is a family-started and family-run fine jewelry brand, committed to "helping the world celebrate with color." Their handcrafted jewelry is dressed in high-quality gemstones, diamonds, and pearls, and every piece is made to order.

Stevie-winner Ankur Daga, Founder and CEO of Angara, is a visionary entrepreneur whose journey is defined by a passion for gemstones and a commitment to transform the industry through a more personalized shopping experience. A Harvard graduate with a Gemological Institute of America (GIA) certification, Ankur's entrepreneurial spirit was evident even during his academic years when friends sought him out for customizing engagement rings, foreshadowing the path he would later embark upon.

A Journey Rooted in Passion
Ankur's personal journey, from combing the carpet for diamonds at the age of 5 to working in the family's wholesale gemstone business as a teen, reflects a deep connection to the industry. Despite initially choosing a different path through academia and consulting, he was driven to return to his roots by a unique combination of experiences.

Ankur's professional trajectory took an interesting turn at McKinsey & Company, where he worked as a consultant on a jewelry brand, making him realize the untapped potential of the market. Through online retail and customer-focused strategies, he set out to transform the fine jewelry industry with the power of customization.

In 2005, Ankur Daga founded Angara, combining generational expertise and cutting-edge technology. His long-term approach deliberately eschewed venture capital funding, ensuring alignment with his ambitious goals.

With features like gemstone quality, carat weight and metal choice, every jewelry piece comes in a minimum of 64 variants to suit every style and budget. Today, with its most recent "Create with Angara" (CWA) feature, Angara allows customers to design their own rings from scratch—from a plethora of gemstone options, styles, settings and precious metals–within minutes.

Ankur recognized the challenge of shifting customer mindsets towards buying fine jewelry online and strategically addressed it through this accessible, convenient, and highly personal approach, ensuring that what customers had in mind was precisely what they received.

Transforming the Industry With Color
Angara's manifesto which reads, "Color Changes Everything. For the Better," reflects Ankur's core belief. For this reason, he initiated the brand’s always-on campaign, "Celebrate with Color" to encourage people to celebrate life’s precious moments with color.

In an industry dominated by diamonds, Ankur's bold vision is to become the undisputed leader in colored gemstones, aiming to create a cultural shift, rekindling appreciation for the beauty and significance of colored gemstones that have been overshadowed for decades.

Overcoming Challenges and Vertical Integration
Ankur notably navigated challenges like lack of awareness about gemstones and customer perceptions about buying jewelry online through his vertical integration strategy. Spanning gemstone cutting, polishing, jewelry design, manufacturing, and eCommerce retail, he ensures that everything is handled by his in-house team, addressing challenges head-on.

In 2022, Ankur introduced a partnership program. In an effort to nurture entrepreneurship within the company, he is setting up smaller start-up units within Angara that are driven solely by individuals and contribute to overall success. Furthermore, he champions the empowerment of women in leadership roles, attributing the success of Angara in part to the contributions of his own mother and wife.

Looking Ahead
As colored gemstones gain a larger share of the market, Ankur envisions Angara as a name synonymous with color. The company has experienced significant growth and now has a team of around 500 members spread across 10 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Angara Inc. CEO Ankur Daga won a Gold Stevie for Best Entrepreneur in Retail, and Angora Inc. earned an additional Gold and two Silver Stevies for Retail Marketing Campaign of the Year, Fastest Growing Company of the Year, and Achievement in Customer Satisfaction, respectively, in The 2024 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering for 2025?

Stevie-winner MahaloHub is focused on creating mobile applications and marketing strategies designed to help businesses effectively connect with their audiences. Founded to meet the growing need for targeted and user-friendly mobile solutions, MahaloHub combines technology, analytics, and creative design to help brands reach their goals in a mobile-first world.

Demand for marketing video content continues to grow. At the same time, the recommendation of a real person continues to carry more impact than any marketing campaign. MahaloHub is a self-service web-based application that makes it easy for companies of all sizes to invite, capture, and edit a steady stream of authentic customer and employee testimonial videos and easily share them across their digital landscape.

While the demand for video is growing, traditional video testimonials are expensive and time-consuming and cannot scale to meet the growing demand. MahaloHub eliminates the cost and time requirements of capturing, editing, and sharing customer and employee stories with a budget-friendly, user-friendly, and fully guided process that companies and their customers love.

Designed to augment expensive yet beautifully produced, traditional videos, companies can now capture authentic stories that resonate far more than slick promotional videos. The innovative editing suite makes it simple for organizations of any size to add their logo, text overlay, call-to-action, closed-captioning, image enhancements, timing, intro/outro, and more. Videos can be shared with one click across all social media sites, to a website, pre-built microsites, downloaded, and shared with a link or QR code.

MahaloHub provides services that range from developing custom mobile applications to crafting data-driven mobile marketing campaigns. Their approach involves understanding each client’s specific audience and business objectives and then tailoring solutions that align with those needs. By utilizing tools such as advanced analytics and AI-driven personalization, MahaloHub ensures that the mobile experiences they create are both engaging and functional. 

The company places a strong emphasis on collaboration throughout the project lifecycle. From initial consultations to post-launch support, MahaloHub works closely with clients to ensure the delivered products and strategies meet both immediate needs and long-term growth plans.

MahaloHub's focus on combining user-centric design with robust functionality has made them a reliable partner for companies looking to leverage mobile technology to drive engagement and growth. 

MahaloHub won a Silver Stevie Award for Best Mobile App Marketing in The 2024 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering for 2025?

Sixth Annual Awards Sponsored by RAK Chamber of Commerce and Industry Recognize Innovation in 18 MENA Nations

Winners in the sixth annual Middle East & North Africa Stevie® Awards, the only awards program to recognize innovation in the workplace throughout 18 nations in the Middle East and North Africa, have been announced.  The awards are sponsored by RAK Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The list of Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners is available at http://MENA.StevieAwards.com.

The 2025 Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards have recognized organizations in 14 nations including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates. More than 1,100 nominations in Arabic and English were evaluated in this year’s competition. Winners were determined by the average scores of 118 professionals worldwide, acting as judges on five juries to recognize innovative apps, achievements, entire organizations, public relations, customer service, human resources, individual professionals, live and virtual events, management, sustainability, technology, thought leadership, and more.

Winners of multiple Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Awards include Abu Dhabi Customs, UAE; Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), UAE; ACTION LABS CONSULTANCY, Bahrain; Al Dhafrah Region Municipality, UAE; DHL Express, multiple locations across the region; Ebebek Mağazacılık A.Ş, Türkiye; General Civil Aviation Authority, UAE; Gulf Agency Co. (Dubai)L.L.C/ GAC, UAE; Insan Charitable Society for the Care of Orphans and Their Mothers, Saudi Arabia; Miral Destinations, UAE; Mobile Communications Company of Iran - MCI, Iran; Ooredoo Group, multiple locations across the region; Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu, Saudi Arabia; Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), UAE; The Fashion Commission, Saudi Arabia; ZIRA Arabia, Saudi Arabia, among others.

Stevie winners will be presented their awards at a gala banquet at the Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah Hotel in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, 22 February. Tickets for the event are now on sale.

“We are delighted to recognize the achievements of such a diverse group of organizations across the MENA region in the 2025 edition of the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards,” said Stevie Awards President Maggie Miller.  “We look forward to celebrating Stevie winners during our gala event on 22 February in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. The quality of nominations received this year was exceptional. The program has grown every year, showing the vast amount of innovation in the MENA region.”