What started with The American Business Awards in 2002, the Stevie Awards are now the world's premier business awards and offer seven programs each year with various awards categories. 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.

If you've ever been confused about which categories in each awards program are best suited for your organization, sign up for the new Stevie Awards Alerts.

By signing up for Stevie Awards alerts, we'll send you periodic emails about opportunities to win awards in the category group(s) of your choosing and reminders of upcoming entry deadlines. Sign up to recieve one category alert or sign up for them all. 

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At a time when businesses have access to more data ‒ from more sources ‒ than ever before, Mina Lux believes the ability to better understand that information will be crucial to future success. That’s precisely the challenge that Lux, who just took home the Gold Stevie Award in the 2016 Stevie Awards for Women in Business for Female Entrepreneur of the Year, is trying to address.

The 2017 Stevie Awards for Women in Business will open for entries on May 22. These are the top awards for women across the globe. The program features entrepreneur awards, company awards, marketing awards, media awards, and more.

Request the entry kit now and it will be emailed to you in May.

Her young New York City-based firm, Meelo Logic, Inc., enables companies to aggregate data and gain insights through artificial intelligence. As a result, clients can “understand, activate, engage and motivate customers” more effectively.

It’s an endeavor that could fundamentally reshape the way companies interact with data. And yet the Taiwan native, who grew up in Canada, has an even more ambitious goal: to break down the longstanding gender gap within the tech industry.

She’s trying to tackle the issue by mentoring young females and calling attention to the issue at industry events. “Throughout my career, I’ve had the good fortune of supporting young women in their careers by offering them guidance and opportunities in organizations that are often dominated by men,” Lux says.

The under-representation of women is underscored by a 2015 TechCrunch report, which found that only 18% of technology companies had a female founder. That’s up from less than 10% as recently as 2009. The forces behind that phenomenon are numerous.  But for Lux and other women in the industry, there’s still plenty of work to do.

Certainly, having fewer female role models to follow has kept many young women from studying in computer science or engineering programs. Those who do pursue STEM-related degrees often find unique obstacles when they try to launch startups of their own. In part that’s because early-stage investment firms are themselves a “boy’s club,” according to researchers.

A joint survey by the National Venture Capital Association and Deloitte, for example, found that women make up just 11% of top decision-makers at venture capital firms. And, there are plenty of entrepreneurs who say that creates a bias ‒ whether consciously or not ‒ against female-led organizations.

To overcome those hurdles, Lux suggests it’s important for females to not only have the necessary skills, but the confidence to see their goals through. It’s a point she drove home during an International Women’s Day event at her alma mater, the University of Ottawa.

“We discussed the steps of building a company from recognizing a need, dreaming up a solution, solidifying funding, running a company and confronting challenges head on,” she says. “But most of all, I wanted to highlight the importance of never undervaluing your own brilliance and to believe in yourself.”

Breaking Barriers

Cracking the glass ceiling is something Lux has successfully done time and again. After graduating with a dual biochemistry and chemical engineering degree, she changed course and helped co-found a marketing company called FloNetwork. There, she pioneered the first technology platform that allowed businesses to send emails as a way of generating leads and building revenue. She ended up selling the business to DoubleClick for a staggering $80 million in 2001.

After a distinguished consulting career where she tackled digital marketing for the likes of USA Today and Doubleday Book Club, she decided to start a new technology firm that would help businesses strategize based on real-time consumer data and behaviour prediction. Meelo was born.

Already, the company is gaining serious attention from the tech world. Among its accomplishments: beating out thousands of early-stage firms to win the 2016 TiE50 Top Startup award. 

“[Meelo] is the only company that holds partnerships with the two largest think tanks in the cognitive technology and artificial intelligence: IBM Watson and Caltech/Jet Propulsion Labs,” Lux explains. “Meelo uses both think tanks to solve any problem and provide intelligence for any need." 

In order to deploy the technology effectively, she says it’s vital that the organization bring in contributions from a diverse pool of talent.

Lux says, “At Meelo, all voices are heard, all talents are valued and all have an equal opportunity to succeed.”

Winners in the eleventh annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, recognized as the world's top customer service awards and sales awards, were unveiled on Friday night at a gala ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada attended by more than 650 executives from around the world.

The complete list of Stevie Winners by category is available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

DP DHL, with Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award wins for activities worldwide, in Argentina, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, and the U.S.A., among other nations, was the most honored organization this year, earning the top Grand Stevie Award trophy for the fourth consecutive year. Other Grand Stevie Award winners, in descending order, include Visualize, HomeServe USA, Delta Air Lines, GuideWell Connect, IBM, VIZIO Inc., Carbonite, Inc., WePay Inc, and Concentrix.

Among other Stevie winners, Carbonite Inc., HomeServe USA, IBM, and iHeartMedia won four Gold Stevie Awards, the most from all organizations. Cisco Systems, ClearVision Optical Company, Optum Consumer Sales and Services, UNOX, Vivint Smart Home, and WePay Inc took home three Gold Stevies. Winners of two Gold Stevie Awards include Ally Bank, CAC 2000 Ltd, Delta Air Lines, Inc., Dow Jones & Co., GuideWell Connect, Imparta Inc., Inci Akü GS Yuasa, Infinity, John Hancock Financial Services, ListenTrust, Network Alliance, Odeabank, VIZIO Inc, and Wilson Learning.

Winners in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service, as determined by more than 149,000 public votes, were also awarded at the event to organizations including Bombardier Aerospace, Chewy, CommonBond, CubeSmart, Distinguished Programs, FieldEdge, GPS Insight, j2 Global, Inc., Marriott Vacation Club Owner Services, Ultimate Software, Unitrends, and Zelis Payments.

The presentations were broadcast live via Livestream, and are still available to watch online..

The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business award shows including the prestigious International Business Awards and The American Business Awards.

More than 2,300 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition, an increase of 10% over 2016. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 77 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges. Entries were considered in 61 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; 53 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Business Development Executive of the Year to Sales Department of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers.

More than 75 members of several specialized judging committees determined the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, that took place January 23 - February 1.

Sponsors of the 11th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include Sales Partnerships, Inc. and ValueSelling Associates, Inc.

The 15th annual American Business Awards are the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A. They attract more than 3,000 nominations from organizations nationwide each year.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Full entry details are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/aba. 

The entry deadline is Thursday, February 16 but late entries will be accepted through Wednesday, March 15.

There are more than 30 categories for Mobile Site Awards & App Awards, and many of them are new for the 2017 competition. These categories are simple to enter because your mobile website or app is what is being judged -- a long submission essay is not required.

Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories for the 2017 ABAs will include:

a. An essay of up to 200 words describing the mobile site’s or app's purpose and results to date.

b. The mobile site or app itself, in the form of a demonstration video of up to three (3) minutes in length. You must attach the video to your entry through our attachment/link uploading tool. 

c.. Optional: list the people and organizations who contributed to your site or app, whether it was creative, production or development services.

Mobile Site Awards & App Awards:

Note the new categories for 2017 are highlighted in red.

F55. Business/Government
F56. Education & Reference
F57. Entertainment
F58. Events
F59. Experimental & Innovation
F60. Family & Kids (new category for 2017)
F61. Fashion & Beauty (new category for 2017)
F62. Financial Services / Banking (new category for 2017)
F63. Fitness & Recreation (new category for 2017)
F64. Food & Drink (new category for 2017)
F65. Games
F66. Guides/Ratings/Reviews
F67. Health (new category for 2017)
F68. Integrated Mobile Experience
F69. Lifestyle
F70. Magazine / Editorial (new category for 2017)
F71. Marketing
F72. Messaging (new category for 2017)
F73. Music
F74. News
F75. Productivity (new category for 2017)
F76. Professional Education
F77. Professional Services (new category for 2017)
F78. Public Service & Activism (new category for 2017)
F79. Real Estate (new category for 2017)
F80. School / University (new category for 2017)
F81. Shopping
F82. Social
F83. Sports
F84. Training
F85. Travel
F86. Utilities & Services

App Award winners in The 2016 American Business Awards include:

Business/Government – Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations and Business Services Industries
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
EffectiveUI, Denver, CO: City and County of Denver’s PocketGov Web App Allows Citizens to Interact with Government from Anywhere

Business/Government – All Other Industries
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Applied Systems, University Park, IL: Applied Mobile

Education & Reference
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Neocate, Rockville, MD: Neocate Footsteps App

Events
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
BMO Capital Markets, Chicago, IL: Global Metals and Mining Conference App

Experimental & Innovation
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
Sharecare.com, Atlanta, GA: Sharecare Voice App

Integrated Mobile Experience
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
LogMeIn, Boston, MA: join.me

LifeStyle
GOLD STEVIE WINNER:
ACTIVE Network, Dallas, TX: Couch to 5K: Running App, Training Coach and GPS Tracker

The 15th annual American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A. which attracts more than 3,000 nominations from organizations nationwide each year, is accepting nominations for the 2017 program. 

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Full entry details are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/aba. The entry deadline is Thursday, February 16 but late entries will be accepted through Wednesday, March 15.

There are more than 100 categories for New Products & Services.

These include all product management, product development, product engineering and manufacturing functions. New products and services released in the U.S.A. since January 1, 2016 are eligible to be nominated. Both brand-new and new-version products are eligible.

An added bonus in entering the New Product Awards categories is that you are automatically included in the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products. Every new product or service nominated in The American Business Awards will automatically be included in voting. Voting will be conducted by the general public from May 2 through June 2, and the winners will be honored at the ABA awards banquet on June 20. In early May, entrants in the Best New Product or Service categories will receive instructions on how to promote People's Choice voting to their own customers, fans, and followers. 

The New Product Award category groups are:
Product & Service Categories
Software Categories
Content Categories
Education Categories 
Product Management Categories

Note the new categories for 2017 are highlighted in red and the categories with no entry fee are highlighted in blue.

Products & Services
P01. Business-to-Business Products
P02. Business-to-Business Services   
P03. Consumer Electronics
P04. Consumer Products
P05. Consumer Services
P06. Financial Services 
P07. Hardware - Computer
P08. Hardware - Networking
P09. Hardware - Peripheral
P10. Hardware - Semiconductor or Other Electronic Component
P11. Hardware - Storage
P12. Hardware - Other
P13. Health & Pharmaceuticals - Product
P14. Health & Pharmaceutical - Service
P15. Industrial Products & Services 
P16. Media & Entertainment - Product
P17. Media & Entertainment - Service
P18. Telecommunications - Product
P19. Telecommunications - Service
P20. Transportation

Software
P21. Software - Application Programming Interface (API) Management Solution (new category for 2017)
P22. Software - Asset Management Solution
P23. Software - Big Data Solution 
P24. Software - Business or Competitive Intelligence Solution
P25. Software - Cloud Application/Service
P26. Software - Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution (new category for 2017)
P27. Software - Cloud Infrastructure
P28. Software - Cloud Platform
P29. Software - Cloud Storage & Backup Solution 
P30. Software - Collaboration/Social Networking Solution
P31. Software - Content Management Solution
P32. Software - Corporate Learning/Workforce Development Solution
P33. Software - Data Visualization Technology (new category for 2017)
P34. Software - Electronic Commerce Solution
P35. Software - Endpoint Security Management Solution (new category for 2017)
P36. Software - Event Management Solution (new category for 2017)
P37. Software - Financial Management Solution
P38. Software - FinTech Solution (new category for 2017)
P39. Software - Governance, Risk & Compliance Solution
P40. Software - Healthcare Technology Solution (new category for 2017)
P41. Software - Human Capital Management Solution
P42. Software - Identity & Access Security Solution (new category for 2017)
P43. Software - Infrastructure as a Service (new category for 2017)
P44. Software - Integration Solution
P45. Software - International Data Protection Solution
P46. Software - IoT Analytics Solution (new category for 2017)
P47. Software - IT Operations Management Solution (new category for 2017)
P48. Software - IT Service Management Solution (new category for 2017)
P49. Software - Lead Generation Solution 
P50. Software - Marketing/Public Relations Solution
P51. Software - Migration as a Service (new category for 2017)
P52. Software - Mobile Development Solution 
P53. Software - Mobile On-Demand Application
P54. Software - Mobile Operations Management Solution
P55. Software - Network Security Solution (new category for 2017)
P56. Software - News Monitoring Solution (new category for 2017)
P57. Software - Payments Solution (new category for 2017)
P58. Software - Platform as a Service (new category for 2017)
P59. Software - Project Management Solution
P60. Software - Real Estate or Construction Management Solution (new category for 2017)
P61. Software - Relationship Management Solution
P62. Software - SaaS Enablement as a Service (new category for 2017)
P63. Software - Social Business Solution
P64. Software - Software Development Solution
P65. Software - Supply Chain Management Solution
P66. Software - Systems Management Solution
P67. Software - Web Services Solution
P68. Software - Other

Content
These categories recognize products, technology and services created by, or for, media, publishers and information services providers.

P70. Content - Advertising or Campaign Management Platform
P71. Content - Aggregation Platform
P72. Content - Business Directory
P73. Content - Business Information Solution
P74. Content - Content Analytics Solution
P75. Content - Content Marketing Solution
P76. Content - Content Rights and Delivery Solution
P77. Content - Crowd Sourced Information Solution
P78. Content - eCommerce & Billing Platform
P79. Content - Financial & Market Data Information Solution
P80. Content - General Reference Service
P81. Content - Health & Medical Information Solution
P82. Content - Information Service Delivered as Mobile App or Platform
P83. Content - Legal Information Solution
P84. Content - Media & Information Monitoring Solution
P85. Content - Multichannel Publishing Technology (new category for 2017)
P86. Content - Sales & Marketing Intelligence Solution
P87. Content - Scholarly Publishing Information Solution
P88. Content - Science and Technology Information Solution
P89. Content - Search Technology Solution
P90. Content - Semantic Technology Platform, Tools and Applications
P91. Content - Service Using Aggregated Content
P92. Content - Solution for Integrating Content into the Workflow
P93. Content - Subscription Management Solution (new category for 2017)
P94. Content - Video Platform for Media & Publishers

Education
These categories recognize applications, products and services from developers of educational software, digital content, online learning services and related technologies across the K-20 sector.

S01. Education - Arts & Creativity Solution
S02. Education - Career and Workforce Readiness Solution
S03. Education - Classroom Management Solution
S04. Education - Collaborative Social Media Solution for Educators
S05. Education - Cross-Curricular Solution
S06. Education - Education Cloud-Based Solution
S07. Education - ELL/World Language Acquisition Instructional Solution
S08. Education - Game-Based Curriculum Solution
S09. Education - Instructional Solution in Other Curriculum Areas
S10. Education - K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution
S11. Education - K-12 Enterprise Solution
S12. Education - Learning Capacity-Building Solution
S13. Education - Learning Relationship Management Solution (new category for 2017)
S14. Education - Mathematics Instructional Solution
S15. Education - PK-12 Personalized Learning Solution
S16. Education - Pre-K / Early Childhood Learning Solution (new category for 2017)
S17. Education - Postsecondary Enterprise Solution
S18. Education - Postsecondary Learning Management Solution
S19. Education - Postsecondary Learning Solution
S20. Education - Postsecondary Personalized Learning Solution
S21. Education - Professional Learning Solution for Education
S22. Education - Reading/English/Language Arts Instructional Solution
S23. Education - Science Instructional Solution
S24. Education - Social Sciences or Social Studies Instructional Solution
S25. Education - Solution for Special Needs Students
S26. Education - Source for Reference or Education Resources
S27. Education - Student Assessment Solution
S28. Education - Virtual Learning Solution

Product Management
P96. Product Development/Management Department or Team of the Year 
P97. Product Development/Management Executive of the Year
P98. Product Developer of the Year: recognizing all non-executive product development or management professionals. There is no entry fee for this category.

The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of the 2017 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service from November 2016 through January.  Their average scores determined the 2017 Finalists.  We thank them for their time, insights and support.

The 11th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service gala is on Friday, February 24 where winners will be announced. Tickets for the Las Vegas ceremony are on sale now.

Asburche Adalan, Business and Sales Development Mgr., DHL Express US, Miami, FL USA
Amit Kumar Agarwal, Sr Manager, FarePortal India Pvt. Ltd, Gurgaon, Haryana India
Shelly Alder, Manager, Domestic Customer Service, J.R. Simplot Company, Boise, ID USA
Scott Anschuetz, CEO, Visualize-Inc, Birmingham, MI USA
David Araujo, Direct Sales Supervisor, DHL Express São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Benj Arriola, SEO Director, Myers Media Group, San Diego, NC USA
Bilal Asci, Customer Value Group Manager, n11.com, Istanbul, Turkey
Ronald Joseph, Avecilla Process Auditor, Globe Telecom, Manila, Philippines
Stuart Bankey Manager, Community Management Rackspace,San Antonio, TX USA
Mike Bare, CEO, BARE International, Washington DC USA
Nick Broadbent, VP Global Support, DataCore Software, Reading, United Kingdom
Randi Busse, President Workforce Development Group, Inc., Massapequa Park, NY USA
Pembe Candaner, Founder, President, JobzMall, Tustin, CA USA
Lucia Caron, Manager, Customer Support, Verint Systems Inc., Herndon,VA USA
Beth Castro, AVP - Commercial Enablement, AT&T, Houston, TX USA
Joe Cherian, Regional Vendor Manager, Vonage, Chennai, Tamilnadu,India
Brian Correia, Director, Sales & Client Services, Solstice Dental & Vision, Plantation, FL USA
Marc Cowan, Fellow at the Institute of Supply Chain Management, Dolphin International, United Kingdom
Emilia D'Anzica, VP, Customer Engagement, WalkMe, San Francisco, CA USA
Robyn Davis, Trade Show Strategy Specialist, When I Need Help, Columbia, SC USA
Luis Deza, General Manager, Canto Rodado Consulting, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
Sheryl Dobson, Director of Customer Support, J2 Global Cloud Services, Ottawa, ON Canada
Alan Dowler, Operations Manager, Hamilton Jewelers, Princeton, NJ USA
Eve Dumovich, Publisher, Snowline Publishing, Ashford, WA USA
Caroline Edwards, Consumer Information Centers Product Manager, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee, Chattanooga, TN USA
Andrew J. "Flip" Filipowski, Executive Chairman & CEO, SilkRoad Technology, Winston, Salem NC USA
Shannon Gregg, Director, Sales Operations, TeleTracking,Pittsburgh, PA USA
Tara Griffin, Senior Solutions Consultant, Genesys, Flagler Beach, FL USA
Heidi Guzman, MBA, Consorcio Kairos, VILLAHERMOSA, Tabasco, Mexico
Nabyl Hassain, Director of Telesales, DHL, Miami, FL USA
Mary Henson, Membership Care Coordinator, United States Equestrian Federation, Lexington, KY USA
Deepak Kumar, Hotkar Manager, Jasper Industries Private Limited, Hyderabad, Telangana,India
Lin Hui Kai, Deputy Manager, Cathay Life Insurance Co., Ltd Taipei, Taiwan
Adam Ihrig, Business Analyst, JPMorgan Chase, Heathrow, FL USA
Linden Ingram, EVP Sales, Imparta Inc, Austin, TX USA
Joann Kay, Customer Care Director, GraduationSource, Port Chester, NY USA
UMUT KECECIOGLU, Mobile Services Manager, Yapi Kredi Bankacilik Üssü, Kocaeli, Turkey
Tony Keesee, Director of Customer Care, VPay, Richardson, TX USA
Joshua Kelley, Supervisor, Leadership Operations Training, MTM, Inc., West St Paul, MN USA
Kathy Leckey, Vice President of Marketing, SomethingNew, New York, NY USA
Sandra Lynch, Account Manager, John Hancock, Boston, MA USA
David Madacsi, Senior Technical Customer Support Engineer, GrassValley, Lakewood, CO USA
Wessam Massoud, Programme Delivery Manager, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center (ADSIC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Rowena Maxwell, Senior Manager, Accenture, London, United Kingdom
Judy Mod, Founder, CEO, Chief Adoption Officer, RevenueSphere, Atlanta, GA USA
Anni Mollett, SVP, Senior Credit Products Manager, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Dallas,TX USA
Thomas Moor, Global Director, Strategy and Planning, Sartomer (a business unit of Arkema), Exton, PA USA
Ann Moreth, Sr. Customer Service Engagement Manager, UPMC Health Plan, Pittsburgh, PA USA
Jason Morris, Director of Operations, SRS|Acquiom LLC, Denver, CO USA
Rajendran Nair, VP, Marketing, Rootstock Software, Fremont,CA USA
Tracy Neiser, Customer Service Manager, Active Exhaust Corp., Toronto, ON Canada
Ken Overly, Vice President, Operations, EFG Companies, Dallas, TX USA
Kadir Mustafa, OZTURK Executive Vice President / ADC & Digital Banking Solution Projects, Intertech Bilgi Islem ve Pazarlama Ticaret A.S.,Istanbul, Sisli, Turkey
Leticia Padilla, Corporate Recognition and Citizenship, Concentrix, Fremont, CA USA
Lou Reinemann, Director, Customer Care, SmartBear Software, Somerville, MA USA
RJ Riemer, VP Support Operations, VIZIO, Inc., Dakota Dunes, SD USA
Toni Roberts, VP, Customer Service & Operations, Delta Dental of Michigan, Ohio & Indiana, Farmington Hills, MI USA
Vicki Rollins, Sales Operations & Marketing Professiona, Glenaden Homes, Inc., Toronto, ON, Canada
Sharon Rudd, Organisational Development & Sales Consultant, TNT, Mascot, NSW, Australia
Stu Schlackman, Owner, Competitive Excellence,Richardson, TX USA
Paula Seeger, Library Technician 2, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, OR USA
Randy Selleck, Sr. Director, Call Center Operations, Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, GA USA
Bill Shelton, Senior Vice President, USHEALTH Advisors, Grapevine, TX USA
Melda Sofuoglu, Channel Experience & Operations Development Manager, Call Center Operations & Experience & Development, Istanbul, Turkey
Andrzej Szczepaniak, Deputy Director, Central Settlement Services Bank, Zachodni WBK S.A., Poznan, PA Poland
Will Tarrant, Managing Partner, Service Metrics Group, Plano, TX USA
Asli Tas KAYABAS, Psychologist, Trainer, Founding Partner, Awards Consultant, Kuzey Academy, Istanbul, Turkey
Özge Tekalp, Director, Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S, Istanbul, Turkey
Julie Thomas, President & CEO, ValueSelling Associates, Rancho Santa Fe, CA USA
Kelly Thomas, Assistant Vice President, Transfer Agent, OppenheimerFunds, Inc., Centennial, CO USA
Irem Tuzunalper, Founder & CEO, EXTRA Loyalty Solutions Co., Istanbul, Turkey
Lori Van Dyke, Manager, Customer Care, Access One Inc,Chicago, IL USA
Chris Vasan, Communcations Lead, Cisco Systems, Inc., Raleigh Triangle Park, NC USA
Madalina Vilau, Managing Director, Expo Media, Bucharest, Romania
Sunil Wadhwa, VP - Customer Success, Druva, Sunnyvale, CA USA
Charles White, Principal Administrator, International relations officer (retired), European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
Nicolette Wuring, Managing Director, Customer Management Services, Amstelveen, Netherlands

Freelancer is the world's largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by number of users and projects.  The company recently won two People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies in the 13th Annual International Business Awards. We got a chance to talk to Sebastián Siseles, the International Director of Freelancer about how the group connected with the Stevie Awards years ago and how they’ve seen the value of winning .

The 2017 International Business Awards opens for nominations on February 1. Request your entry kit here and it will be emailed to you as soon as it's available.

Sebastián remembers when they, “became acquainted with the Stevies back in 2012, when a well-known media outlet announced the winners of the IBAs. We were convinced right away of its importance as it recognizes the achievements of the world's most important organizations and its leaders. The following year, in 2013, we decided we were ready to apply to the awards as Freelancer.com had grown to be an outstanding company. That same year we were honored with our first Stevie Award.”

Freelancer.com has become a staple in connecting employers and freelancers to do work together 24/7 across the globe. Sebastián relayed that, “Freelancer.com is the world's largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by number of users and projects. We connect over 23 million employers and freelancers globally from over 247 countries, regions and territories. Through our marketplace, employers can hire freelancers to do work in over 900 areas such as software development, writing, data entry and design right through to engineering, the sciences, sales and marketing, accounting and legal services.

Sebastián stressed the importance of their vision, which is providing jobs and changing the lives of at least one billion people all over the world. For example, in the Philippines, Freelancer.com partnered with the government's Department of Science and Technology to extend online freelancing opportunities to Filipinos in rural areas with limited employment options.

Sebastián continues that they also have, “an ongoing partnership with the Malaysian government’s Multimedia Development Corporation, which provides education for Malaysia’s B40 communities.”

Recently, the company concluded its first round of the Train-the-Trainers program, which educated fifty (50) trainers who will be deployed across Malaysia to help underprivileged Malaysians find online work.

Freelancer.com has been a global success, Sebastián reflects on their first nomination:

“At the time of the nomination, Freelancer.com hit the 15 million users milestone and we wanted to acknowledge our community by putting together an e-book: https://issuu.com/freelancercom/docs/15mm_ebook

Sebastián also notes the significance of winning a Stevie:

“Receiving an award is always an honour for Freelancer.com. It also serves as recognition for the team for all the hard work. We always try to be part of the amazing Stevies Gala and the chance of networking while being there is just awesome.”

“Our community celebrates with us whenever we share the news with them and this seems to further boost their trust on the marketplace. They are always deeply informed about the nominations and always eager to cast their votes for us,” Sebastián adds.

Sebastián highlights the results from winning a Stevie:

“Freelancer.com has gained a lot of exposure due to the awards that we were honored with in the past three  years which led to an increase in user acquisition. With each award, we have reinforced our leadership in the freelancing market, especially with the People´s Choice Awards.”

"Here are links to press releases on our Stevie Awards since 2015":

• http://press.freelancer.com.s3.amazonaws.com/FreelancerWins9Awardsat12thAnnualInternationalBusinessAwards.pdf
• http://press.freelancer.com.s3.amazonaws.com/FreelancerStevieAwards2016.pdf
• http://press.freelancer.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Freelancer.com2016GrandStevieAwards.pdf
• http://press.freelancer.com.s3.amazonaws.com/SteviesPeoplesChoiceAwards2016.pdf

Freelance work is growing exponentially. Sebastián reports their findings in this growing sector:

“Expanding opportunities for entrepreneurship and jobseekers’ preferences are driving changes in the online freelancing and crowdsourcing industry. And as seen in our growing number of users from around the world (currently at 23 million), more and more businesses and entrepreneurs are hiring freelancers online and a growing number of skilled professionals are providing services in their fields of expertise.

Sebastián details their industry highlights in, “seeing more employers from small businesses to major companies now collaborating with freelancers through crowdsourcing. An example of this  is  NASA’s partnership with Freelancer. Not only are they crowdsourcing the best ideas through a contest on Freelancer.com, they are putting together a virtual team of freelancers from around the world through remote collaboration. For example, they will hire a graphic designer from Latin America, a web developer from Asia, and  an internet marketer from North America.  These freelancers are working together as a team despite their locations. This is why we are continuously looking for ways to equip our community based on how their needs are evolving.”

Lastly, we asked if there is an inspirational story related to Freelancer.com that might appeal to our blog readers. Sebastian shared their 15 million users e-book that contains stories of how Freelancer.com helped change the lives of our users: https://issuu.com/freelancercom/docs/15mm_ebook

Here are recent stories from Freelancer in the Philippines:

• Freelancer Ian Fosgate
• Freelancer Sonny Aldave

ValueSelling Associates has been a sponsor of the Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service for nine consecutive years

We spoke with Julie Thomas, President & CEO of ValueSelling Associates. Julie will be presenting awards at the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service gala in Las Vegas on February 24. She shares her thoughts and sales industry insights.

The 2017 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service announced finalists last week. People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service voting is now open through February 10. If you missed the Sales & Customer Service entry deadline this year, check out The American Business Awards Customer Service Awards categories. 

What does ValueSelling do?

ValueSelling Associates offers its customers a conversational, question-based sales methodology that is simple, logical and scalable. We offer customized training on the ValueSelling Framework®, interactive reinforcement tools and consulting services that empower sales organizations around the globe with a proven formula to qualify prospects, accurately forecast and close more deals. We work with business-to-business sales organizations who are working to improve their sales productivity. Some of the challenges that we address with our clients include reducing discounting, improving forecast accuracy, more effective qualification, and selling the breadth of the product line.

What is the organizational vision?

The vision is to continue growing our well-respected global business. We’re motivated by our clients’ results. Witnessing the effectiveness of the ValueSelling Framework when working with world-class sales teams such as Adobe, Alere, Kamstrup, Autodesk, Cisco, Google, Monster, NCR, Rockwell Automation, Servicemax, Siemens, and ServiceNow, keeps us fired up. 

We invest in and integrate the most current adult-learning concepts into our customized classroom instruction, on-demand courseware and tools, leading to thousands of participants each year developing skills that measurably increases sales productivity. We know adults learn more when they are having fun,  so we strive to deliver unique and exciting experiences for our clients.

What sets your company apart in your industry?

The ValueSelling Framework is easily applied to complex B2B sales. Our methodology gives you a framework to have a conversational, question-based dialogue. So, instead of pitching, you’re engaging. Instead of presenting solutions, you’re collaborating and competing based on value, and by that, I mean the value confirmed by the individual and the organization.

How did you first become acquainted with the Stevies?

I met Michael Gallagher, President of The Stevie Awards, over 10 years ago. We became involved with the Stevie Awards at the very beginning. We welcome the opportunity to recognize our clients’ individual and organizational impact through this prestigious organization.

What’s it like for your clients to win the Stevie Award?

We put a lot of thought into which clients to nominate for the Stevie Award for Sales & Customer Service. It’s thrilling to be with them at the gala in Las Vegas, celebrating their achievements.  There are high fives, champagne toasts and lots of celebrations when the awards are announced. Our clients prove time and again the power of the ValueSelling Framework and correlate that to their outstanding results. During the Gala, we get an opportunity to toast and applaud their dedication and successes.

What inspires you to continue your work?

It’s fun! Each organization is unique. There are many different challenges: meeting revenue numbers, forecasting more accurately, growing strategic accounts, and difficulty accessing high-level executives, among others.

What’s inspiring is watching how our team and the ValueSelling Framework methodology is a wonderful solution to enabling our clients to resolve their business issues. It’s transformative, not only for individuals, but for entire teams and organizations. We pride ourselves on enabling the entire organization to wrap around our framework, create a common language and leverage a common toolset. When everyone inside a company is focused on value for their customer, then, they are well positioned to develop long-standing customer relationships.

What changes do you expect in your industry in the future?

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a lot of emphasis on sales software solutions and technology tools such as sales asset management and marketing automation platforms. Used well, these are great tools for supporting the sales effort.

Another key trend is the increase in inside sales – not telemarketers, but true inside sales professionals who build relationships and sell products and services solely over the phone and the web. The tools and techniques to become proficient and communication are different when you never build a face-to-face relationship.  That said, the inside sales professional will continue to need and leverage a successful sales methodology.

In the end, it comes down to people connecting with people virtually and social selling is a technique that is needed by sales, but success in sales requires having real conversations  either in person or by phone about the business issues and problems a buyer is facing.

On-demand courseware will become more prevalent, but the critical success factor will be presenting information in a way that keeps adults tuned in. That means smaller chunks of learning and just-in-time learning. That’s why our eLearning modules include interactive quizzes and scenarios. It’s not enough to just show a canned video or slide with a talking head. Gamification and user-centric learning is here to stay.

Given the uncertainty in the world, I expect that businesses are going to seek tried and true solutions. For over 25 years, the ValueSelling Framework has been helping organizations around the world maximize their sales productivity, better qualify prospects and improve win rates.

Is there an inspirational story related to your organization that might appeal to our blog readers?

Market Track, the leading provider of timely market intelligence solutions serves more than 1,700 brands, retailers, manufacturers, and agencies. Market Track supports clients with comprehensive analysis of the advertising, promotional, and eCommerce landscape to optimize engagement with consumers throughout their purchase cycle.

Business Issue: How do you get an entire sales team on the same page with a single methodology given the requirements of a steep growth trajectory and the continual addition of new sales professionals with various sales training and backgrounds?

Problem: In 2008, Market Track’s value proposition was murky. There was no proactive client or prospect engagement. The close rate low.

The management team knew sales would fuel future growth plans. And because the sales team was selling an intangible—tech-enabled service—they had to sell on value. Market Track called on ValueSelling Associates to install a sales methodology that could be implemented consistently to drive rapid growth.

Solution: Market Track has quintupled its revenue since adopting ValueSelling Associates’ proprietary sales methodology. Such sales improvements have allowed the firm to make 11 acquisitions in 8 years and broaden its portfolio.

The resulting, expanded organization successfully integrates new sales executives and managers with a consistent methodology and approach across each of the acquisitions so the company is supported, not stymied by additional team members.

Market Track's overall adoption is stellar because the sales methodology and tools are easy to apply in a war room or deal review. With a common sales process, the team maximizes their weekly gatherings, sharing best practices—new templates, better conversations, more innovative strategies—all honed to engage Market Track’s buyers.

Market Track continues to organically grow as they keep a pulse on their clients’ advertising, promotion, and eCommerce initiatives. In 2016, the firm had its best first half ever. Justin Hartanov, Market Track EVP (recently appointed to lead Market Track’s international expansion) and 10-year ValueSelling practitioner, swears by his team’s consistent practice of ValueSelling principals.

To learn more about ValueSelling, visit http://www.valueselling.com/

Finalists in the 11th 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. Among the organizations with the most finalists are Carbonite, Inc. (Lewiston, ME USA), Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, GA USA), Deutsche Post DHL (offices globally), Festival Walk (Hong Kong, China), Guidewell Connect (Jacksonville, FL USA), HomeServe USA (Norwalk, CT USA), IBM (Armonk, NY USA), John Hancock Financial Services (Boston, MA USA), and Vizio, Inc. (Irvine, CA USA).

For a full list of Finalists by category, visit www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced during a gala banquet on Friday, February 24 at Caesars Palace 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 American Business Awards.

More than 2,300 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition, an increase of 10% over 2016. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 77 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges. Entries were considered in 61 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; 53 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Business Development Executive of the Year to Sales Department of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers.

More than 130 members of seven specialized judging committees will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, to begin January 23.

Beginning today through February 10, the general public may vote for their favorite providers of customer service in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service. Voting is open at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com. Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards in multiple industries will be determined in mid-February and honored at the awards gala in Las Vegas on February 24.

“We are very pleased with the quantity and quality of nominations received in this year’s competition,” said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of the Stevie Awards.  “The final judges are in for a treat, because they’re going to review many remarkable, inspiring stories of workplace success from around the world.”

Sponsors of the 11th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include Sales Partnerships, Inc. and ValueSelling Associates, Inc.

An interview with Fred Kessler,  CEO of the highly respected sales outsourcing firm, Sales Partnerships, Inc.

Sales Partnerships has provided outsourced sales solutions since 1997. Among their many Stevie Award wins, the company recently won the Silver Stevie in Sales Outsourcing Provider of the Year - along with a slew of other Stevie Awards in multiple categories. They were named as a Grand Stevie-winner in 2016 and are also a sponsor of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service for the second consecutive year.

We got the chance to talk to Fred Kessler, CEO of Sales Partnership, Inc., about how the group first submitted nominations to the Stevie Awards years ago and how they’ve remained involved since then.

The 2017 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service has closed for nominations. The 2017 American Business Awards offers Customer Service Awards categories and will accept entries through February 16. Late entries will be accepted through March 15. 

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Fred looked back on when they first, “heard about the Stevies in 2007 and knew it was something we wanted to be a part of. That year marked our first win – as the winner of the top Sales Outsourcing Provider. We’ve repeated as winner in that category several times.”

Sales Partnerships has become known for helping companies overcome their challenges. Fred relayed that, “Sales Partnerships helps top brands navigate the challenges of market expansion and customer engagement via field engagement and outsourced sales solutions. Utilizing our proprietary technology and best practices, Sales Partnerships provides integrated sales and marketing solutions for market launch, customer engagement, customer acquisition and retention.”

Since 2007, Sales Partnerships has continued to win Stevie Awards.Fred explained why their involvement with us has been beneficial: “We first got involved in participating in the Stevie Awards several years ago when we were just signing some of our first big accounts. We thought it would be a good way to get our name out there, network some of the other participating companies, and learn from each other.”

Being recognized for progress in your field is important; Fred explains why the Stevie Awards matters to the firm:

“We take pride in the wins. Recognitions for being the best at what we do are important.”

Fred also acknowledged how winning Stevie Awards has directly affected their business.

“Our Stevie wins have helped reinforce the reputation we’ve built over two decades of being the industry leader in Sales Outsourcing. “

We asked Fred what trends have come and gone over the years and how they have stayed relevant:

“Old school approaches to sales are increasingly failing. Field representatives aren’t there to just parrot information about products. Market targeting and approach have to be far more than just intuition or guessing about where the best opportunities will exist. Today’s success in field engagement requires getting the best talent, constantly honing them, and equipping them with best tools and analytics about their territories. Smart applications of big data, cutting edge use of analytics to maximize sales, and leveraging real time information to adjust and to maximize markets is now the requirement to be competitive. Today’s best field engagement teams will require evolution of the best practices and technologies – the industry is in a state of renaissance that will separate those willing to take the steps to achieve the best results and those left behind.”

Though the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service feature more than 135 Sales Awards, the Sales Partnerships vision has remained focused on continuing their success in changing times.

“The vision of Sales Partnerships is to continuously develop best of breed solutions to allow for engagement with customers in the field as branded representatives for our clients. We serve as an extension to our clients’ brands which allows them to expand their market presence in ways difficult to do on their own. This provides brand protection and focus not possible through resellers or independent rep organizations. ”

Fred concluded that, “We focus on developing the most productive processes for recruiting, training, field management, territory management, and analytics to drive maximized marketing and sales goals for our clients. Large companies trust us to be their field forces globally. We strive to always deliver far above any other option they could have used while vigilantly protecting and advocating for their brands.”

Learn more about Sales Partnerships here