Mike Ortegon, Director of Global Sales Operations at HomeAway, a Stevie® Award-winning online marketplace of vacation rentals based in Austin, Texas, will Chair the Final Judging Committee for the Customer Service and Contact Center Team categories of the 2014 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Services, the world's premier sales awards and customer service awards. The results will be announced on February 21 at the gala awards banquet in Las Vegas. We talked to Mike about the challenges facing today’s sales teams.

“Today’s sales professionals are challenged by savvy customers and prospects,” says Mike Ortegon, Director of Global Sales at HomeAway.  “Thanks to digital and social media advancements, they have many channels of information and are consequently better informed during the purchase cycle. As a result, it is essential for sales professionals to stay one step ahead in preparation, to anticipate upselling and cross-selling opportunities, and to be consultative throughout the process.”

We asked him what steps he would recommend companies should take to establish standardized sales procedures across countries and regions. “You might be prone to think a unique product or service requires a special sales process,” Mike told us. “Some may even argue the selling process has to continually change, but my experience is that the change is occurring in the buying process, as noted above. Today’s buyers are more informed than ever.”

Simplified Methodology

“Many sales people are familiar with the ‘four, five, six, seven...sales cycle’ methodologies,” added Mike. “In reality, each of these can be boiled down to four steps: Qualify; Research; Propose; and Close. A simplified methodology enables people to focus on the sale, not the process.”

Concluded Mike: “It is always important to pay close attention to cultural differences, although just because someone speaks a different language doesn’t mean a different sales process is needed. For example, in some countries such as Southern Europe and Asia, face-to-face selling is a common practice, while other cultures are fine with a phone call. In any scenario, you still need to qualify, research, propose and close.”

Benefits of a Stevie® Award
HomeAway won a Gold Stevie® for Sales Operations Team of the Year in The 2013 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service. As Chair of one of this year’s Final Judging Committees, he is fully aware of the benefits of being a winner.

“Winning the Stevie® Award really brought to light the effectiveness of the HomeAway team in their first year together,” Mike told us.  “It brought about an even greater appreciation for the experience, talent, and determination possessed by each individual. It was great to be rewarded for our hard work and, ultimately, the team had better camaraderie and became even more motivated to improve sales effectiveness.”

Added Mike: “Winning the Stevie® Award in 2013 showcased the HomeAway sales team’s focus on adding value to the organization through industry-leading tools and best practices.”

Creating Lasting Memories

We asked Mike what most inspired him about his role at HomeAway.  His simple answer: he gets his inspiration from the HomeAway team and product. “We have fantastic people who are passionate about their work,” he told us. “Ours is a product that helps families and groups find their ideal getaway and focus on the most important part of traveling together: creating lasting memories.”

About Mike Ortegon:

Mike Ortegon joined HomeAway in March 2012 and is the Director of Global Sales Operations. In this role he is responsible for supporting sales leaders across the globe with tools, training, and sales insights to help make well-informed business decisions; and to run effective and efficient teams while aligning to corporate strategy.

Previously, Mike worked for Harte-Hanks as Global Account Director focusing on multichannel, data-driven solutions for Fortune 100 companies. Throughout his career, Mike has been in management, operational, and sales and marketing roles in North America, EMEA, Latin America, and APAC.

About HomeAway:
HomeAway is the world’s leading online marketplace of vacation rentals, with sites representing more than 773,000 paid listings of vacation rental homes in 171 countries. Through HomeAway, owners and property managers offer an extensive selection of vacation homes that provide travelers with memorable experiences and benefits, including more room to relax and added privacy, for less than the cost of traditional hotel accommodations. The company also makes it easy for vacation rental owners and property managers to advertise their properties and manage bookings online.

As the final round of judging for the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service begins, we would like to acknowledge the 129 professionals worldwide who participated in the preliminary round of judging.

Recognized as the world's top customer service awards and sales awards, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer service offer a wide range of categories to recognize the achievements of sales, business development, contact center, and customer service professionals.

The preliminary round of judging, conducted from November through through mid-January, determined the Finalist nominations in this year's competition that are eligible to be considered in the final round of judging.

The following professionals participated in preliminary-round judging of the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  We thank them for their time, insights and interest.

Teresa Allen, Owner, Common Sense Solutions, Shreveport, LA, USA
Amal Al-Najjar, HR Manager, Fluor - Kuwait, Kuwait
Mohammad Alreeh, Lt. Col., Ministry of the Interior, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Johnny Anderson, Vice President, Bulldog Solutions, Austin, TX, USA
Dmitry Aristarkov, Executive VP, National Association of Contact Centers, Moscow, Russia
Tristan Averett, Associate Manager - Enterprise EHR Support, Allscripts, Salem, OR, USA
Sam Baddeley, Senior Manager, Sales and Customer Service - Management Consulting, Accenture, London, United Kingdom
Paul Bilodeou, VP Sales and Marketing, The Brooks Group, Greensboro, NC, USA
Jill Blankenship, CEO, Frontline Call Center, Eastsound, WA, USA
Angela Blevins, VP Customer Care, Bluegreen Corporation, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Jeanne Bliss, President, CustomerBLISS, Pacific Palisades, CA, USA
Bob Botelle, Exec VP Merchant Services, Chief Customer Officer, Litle & Co, Lowell, MA, USA
Nick Broadbent, VP Global Support, DataCore Software, Reading, IN, USA
Jim Brodo, SVP Marketing, Richardson, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Peter Bush, CEO, New Swansea Bay, Port Talbot, Australia
Lucia Caron, Manager - Customer Support, Enterprise Intelligence Solutions (EIS), Verint Systems Inc., Herndon, VA, USA
Ana Castellanos, VP, Chief Human Resources Officer, Oakwood Temporary Housing, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Patrick Cheeseman, Head of Customer Support, Hotel Tonight, San Francisco, CA, USA
Peter Chiarelli, Sales Manager - Advertising Sales, Cablevision, Woodbury, NY, USA
Jackie Coffey, Director, Government and Consumer Markets, Blue Cross Blue Shield Florida, Point Vedra Beach, FL, USA
Michael Conley, Director of Operations Mid Atlantic, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, North Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Ruth Cox, Client Support Manager, One Call Now, Troy, OH, USA
John Cushman, VP eSales & Service, AT&T, Bedminster, NJ, USA
Kelly Dantas, Media Director, SDI Distributor, Yonkers, NY, USA
Robyn Davis, Owner, When I Need Help, Columbis, SC, USA
Jim de Jager, Operations Director, UPC DTH Leasing S.à r.l., Howald, Luxembourg
Jim Dickie, Principal, CSO Insights, Denver, CO, USA
Kevin Dominigue, VP, Customer Services, TRUMPF, Inc., Farmington, CT, USA
Alan Dowler, Operations Manager, Hamilton Jewelers, Princeton, NJ, USA
LaVon Edwards, Director of Sales, Century Link, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Annette Eland, Claims Customer Service Manager, Esurance, Rocklin, CA, USA
Ted Elliot, CEO, Job Science, San Francisco, CA, USA
Anita Ellis, Director of Sales, Calderon Textiles, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Ron Essig, VP, Products & Services, Marriott Vacation Club, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Andrew J. Filipowski, Executive Chairman & CEO, SilkRoad Technology, Winston Salem, NC, USA
Laura Fischer, Customer Service Coordinator, Kohl's Department Stores, Oconomowoc, WI, USA
Simone Fojut, Chief Editor, SFO Medien GmbH, Wiesbaden, Germany
Dave Forsberg, EVP Sales & Marketing, Marketstar, Ogden, UT, USA
Heisha Freeman, EVP Sales & Marketing, The Move Management Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Chris French, VP, Customer Success, Globoforce, Southborough, MA, USA
Michael Galante, Speaker, thesalescoach.com, Preston, MD, USA
Stephen Giersch, Director Instructional Design, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Orlando, FL, USA
Stephen Gill, President - Consulting, SGA, Derby, United Kingdom
Robert P. Gillespie, Executive VP, New York Community Bancorp, Cleveland, OH, USA
Stanley Goodrich, Public Relations Manager, SYSPRO, Costa Mesa, CA, USA
Robert Gregory, VP of Customer Support, Media Temple, Marina Del Ray, CA, USA
Jimmy Griffith, Director, Solution Center Operations - Extended Protection Solutions, Assurant Solutions, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Judy Guffee, Senior Manager Customer Service, med fusion/ ClearPoint Diagnostic Laboratory, Louisville, TX, USA
Heidi Guzman, MBA - Customer Service, Consorcio Kairos, Villahermosa, Mexico
Gabriel Heijmer, Innovation & Development Manager, Swedavia AB, Stockholm, Sweden
Jim Heininger, Founder, Dixon|James Communications, Oak Park, IL, USA
Phillip Horvath, SVP - Professional Services, Merchant Partners, Redmond, WA, USA
Jennifer Hrycyszyn, Vice President, Greenough Communications, Boston, MA, USA
Tunde Hubina, Customer Care Director, UPC DTH S.à r.l., Howald, LA, Luxembourg
Linden Ingram, EVP Sales, Imparta Inc, Austin, TX, USA
Tyson Jacques, Customer support manager, Hoteltonight, Dover, NH, USA
Jeanne Jalufka, Sales Marketing Consultant, Pearson, Corpus Christ, TX, USA
Kala Jarugumilli, Sr. Manager, Customer Success Operations, NetApp, Sunnyvale, CA, USA
JP Jones, Owner, Collipsis Web Solutions, Tulsa, OK, USA
Meltem Karateke, President, IMI Conferences, Atasehir, Istanbul, Turkey
JoAnn Kay, Customer Care Director, Graduation Source, Port Chester, NY, USA
Chad Kestner, Director, Client Sales & Service, RCI, Carmel, IN, USA
James Koons, Chief Privacy Officer, Listrak, Lititz, PA, USA
Elzbieta Krawczynska, Quality Specialist Trainer, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A., Poznan, Poland
Suresh Kuppahally, SVP, Engineering, Operations and Customer Success, Replicon Inc, San Mateo, CA, USA
Yamini Kurup, VP Customer Experience, Aditya Birla Financial Services, Mumbai, India
Michael LeBarron, Lead Engineer, Gemvara, Rockland, MA, USA
Verna Lee, Marketing & Business Development Consultant, McTech Corp, Cleveland, OH, USA
Shane Lewis, Asst VP of Sales, Sundance Vacations, Kennett Square, PA, USA
Scott MacGregor, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Flo-Tech, Middletown, CT, USA
Jennifer Maldonado, Sr. Program Manager, Global Client Experience, Cornerstone OnDemand, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Wessam Massoud, Programme Delivery Manager, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center (ADSIC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Deb Matthews, Director - Customer Experience, nexVortex, Herndon, VA, USA
Rowena Maxwell, Senior Principle - Customer Service, Accenture, London, United Kingdom
Lauren McKenzie, Customer Service Representative, JumpSport Inc, San Jose, CA, USA
Colin McKillip, Chief Executive Officer, Butcher Enterprises, Windsor, ON, Canada
Curtis McLaughlin, Customer Support Manager, AllClear ID, Austin, TX, USA
Chad O. Mills, COO, Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, VA, USA
Jay Mitchell, President, Mereo, LLC, Irving, TX, USA
John Monroe, Director of Communications, Stellar, Irving, TX, USA
Brian Moriarty, Vice President North America Sales, General Cable, Highland Heights, KY, USA
Jane Mullins, Sr Support Manager / Director, Technical Support Management Professional, Hayward, CA, USA
Michele Nylander, Client Relationship Director, CallMiner, Inc., Fort Myers, FL, USA
Brock Omohundro, Sr. Operations Manager - Training and Development, John Hancock, Portsmouth, NH, USA
Julius Orayo, Regional Head- Customer Services, The Jubilee Insurance Company of Kenya Limited, Nairobi, Kenya
Jacque Plair, Director - Americas Deployment & Corporate Services, IHG, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder and CEO, Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India
Jeanette Ramey, National Customer Service Manager, Empire Today, Northlake, IL, USA
Bryan Rand, Vice President, North American Sales, SDL International, Plano, TX, USA
Mark Repkin, Chief Revenue Officer, iPromo & Memory Suppliers, Morton Grove, IL, USA
Peter Rifkind, Director of Client Service, UltraLinq Healthcare Solutions, Inc, New York, NY, USA
Charlie Riley, CMO, PLS 3rd Learning, Buffalo, NY, USA
Nick Robertson, VP of Sales & Marketing, kCura, Chicago, IL, USA
Elizaveta Rybinskaya, Customer Care Director, OTTO Group Russia, Moscow, Russia
Megan Ritchie Saffitz, Director of LEED Support, US Green Building Council, Seattle, WA, USA
Randy Selleck, Sr. Director, Call Center Operations, Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, GA, USA
Behar Sensoz, Customer Complaint Management Specialist, Turk Telekom, Istanbul, Turkey
Tibor Shanto, President, Renbor Sales Solutions, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
Ramin Shokrizadeh, Product Manager, FreshBooks, Toronto, Canada
Gary Shumaker, President, C2 Solutions Group, Inc., Reston, VA, USA
Manu Singh, Contact Center Manager, Dubai First, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Alec Stern, Founding Team, Vice President Strategic Market Development, Constant Contact, Waltham, MA, USA
Manfred Stockmann, President, Call Center Verband Deutschland e. V., Berlin, Germany
Doug Storbeck, Sr. Director of Operations, KM, Plymouth, MA, USA
Fred Stickroot, President, HomeNet, New Port Richey, FL, USA
Andrzej Szczepaniak, Deputy Director, Central Settlement Services - Santander Group, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A., Poznan, Poland
Jeff Tang, Senior Manager, Technical Support, The Active Network, The Active Network, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Will Tarrant, Co-Founder/Owner, Service Metrics Group, Plano, TX, USA
Özge Tekalp, Directr - Alternative Sales Channels, Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S, Istanbul, Turkey
Lucas Tennant, SE Regional Vice President, Sales - Payroll Division, Benefitmall, Franklin, TN, USA
Christopher Tepas, Chief Marketing Officer, Emkay, Itasca, IL, USA
Bob Thomas, Director of Business Development, Prorizon Corporation, Kennesaw, GA, USA
Corina Toader, Senior Associate Operations, WNS Global, Bucharest, Romania
Ron Torten, VP, WW Sales, Inphi, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Cathy Townend, Product Manager - CSA Travel Protection, Europ Assistance, San Diego, CA, USA
Tina Turnbow, Regional Scheduling Manager, Solis Women's Health, Addison, TX, USA
Abdiel Urriola, Sales & Marketing, Puma Energy, Panama
Lori Van Dyke, Manager of Customer Care, Access One Inc, Chicago, IL, USA
Vincent Vanden Bossche, Managing Director, Call Communications, Ottenberg, Belgium
Chris Vassan, Communcations Lead, Cisco Systems, Inc., Raleigh Triangle Park, NC, USA
David Vasquez, Customer Care Executive, Ally Bank, Charlotte, NC United States
Shelley Verdejo, Director, Facilities, Acquisition & Adminstrative Services, Pentagon Force Protection Agency, Washington DC, USA
Madalina Vilau, Managing Partner, Expo Media, Bucharest, Romania
Laura Walter, Corporate Marketing Manager, Enterprise Fleet Management, St. Louis, MO, USA
Jeremy Watkin, Director Of Customer Service, Phone.com, Poway, CA, USA
Tim Watson, Vice President - Mobile Applications, Parentlink, Provo, UT, USA
Matt Weston, Director, Client Services, TradeKing, Charlotte, NC, USA
Floor Wijburg, CEO, W&I Consultants, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Rusty Williams, Co-Founder, Align Sales, Wayland, MA, USA

Interested in judging the 2015 awards?  Apply to be a judge here.

Finalists in the 8th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world’s top honors for customer service, contact center, business development, and sales professionals, 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, and sales awards categories.  Organizations with Finalists in multiple categories include AllClear ID, Bluegreen Vacations, Cars.com, Delta Air Lines, DHL Express, EMKAY, FedEx TechConnect, Canada's FreshBooks, John Hancock, Lennox Industries, LiveAnswer, Marriott Vacation Club, Marsh U.S. Consumer, Parlant Technology, PetRays Veterinary Telemedicine Consultants, Property Insight, Richardson, Salesforce, SoftPro, SurePayroll, Inc., Turkey's Turk Economy Bank, ValueSelling Associates, VIZIO, Inc., Turkey's Vodafone, and Wyndham Vacation Ownership. 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 21 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Tickets are now on sale.

More than 1,500 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition, an increase of 36% over 2013.  Finalists were determined by the average scores of 129 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges.  Entries were considered in 43 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; 43 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year to Sales Department of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers. 

More than 100 members of seven specialized judging committees will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, to take place January 27 - February 5.  

Beginning today, the general public will be able to cast their votes for their favorite providers of good customer service in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service Department.  Voting is open at http://www.stevieawards.com/Service.peopleschoice. Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service in multiple industries will be determined in mid-February and honored at the awards gala in Las Vegas on February 21.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in five programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  A sixth program, the German Stevie Awards, will debut later this year.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

Sponsors and supporters of the eighth annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include the BusinessTalkRadio Network, Competence Call Center, and ValueSelling Associates.

The following seven executives have been appointed to head the final judging committees that will determine the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie® Award winners in the 2014 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  (All the category groups can be viewed in more detail here.) The winners will be announced at the awards gala on Friday, February 21 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Becky Johns, Vice President of MarketBridge in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, is Chair of the Final Judging Committee for the Sales Achievement and Sales Individual categories.

Becky Johns works with clients to improve marketing and sales productivity by developing and executing integrated data-driven marketing and sales strategies. At MarketBridge, a global provider of digital marketing, sales enablement, and customer analytics solutions, her experience centers primarily on building brand loyalty through customer acquisition, engagement and retention programs and developing online and social media communities. Becky recently led her MarketBridge teams to win back-to-back Gold Stevie Awards for Sales Training Program of the Year in the 2012 and 2013 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service Awards, as well as a Silver Stevie for Brand Experience of the Year in The 2013 American Business Award.

George Orr, Vice President of Client Services at kCura in Chicago, Illinois, USA, is Chair of the Customer Service & Contact Center Achievement Final Judging Committee.

George Orr is vice president of client services at kCura, a developer of web-based e-discovery applications for managing large volumes of electronic evidence during litigation or investigations.  A member of the kCura team since 2007, George’s department is responsible for much of the company’s client-facing activity. Over the past few years, George has helped the team’s processes evolve from “brute-force problem-solving” to a set of polished procedures that ensures a positive customer experience every time. Prior to taking the reins of kCura’s client services department, George worked as the messaging systems manager for Rotary International, a Chicago-based non-profit organization specializing in humanitarian funding programs.

George is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to being a Relativity Certified Administrator, George also has extensive Microsoft and infrastructure training and is certified in both arenas.

 

Mike Ortegon, Director of Global Sales Operations at HomeAway.com in Austin, Texas, USA, Chairs the Final Judging Committee for the Sales Team and Sales Department categories.

Mike Ortegon joined HomeAway in March 2012. As the Director of Global Sales Operations, he is responsible for supporting sales leaders across the globe to help them make well-informed business decisions and to run effective and efficient teams while aligning to corporate strategy.  Throughout his career, Mike has been in management, operational, sales, and marketing roles in North America, EMEA, Latin America, and APAC. 

 

Sanjeev Garg, Global Head of Customer Care, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit at TATA Motors in Mumbai, India, is Chair of our Customer Service & Contact Center Individual Final Judging Committee.

Sanjeev Garg has been the Global Head of Customer Care for the Commercial Vehicle Business Unit of Tata Motors since December 2011. His customer care group is spread across four continents and supports more than 3 million Tata Motors vehicles through 2,300-plus service touch points and over 33,000 retail networks of spare parts. In 1996, Sanjeev joined General Motors Ltd and was instrumental in launching new initiatives for the customer satisfaction index and new Competitive Intelligence processes. His work at GM encompassed global geographies including South East Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Under his leadership, GM was ranked No. 1 in customer satisfaction in the Middle East, ahead of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.

The Chair of our Customer Service Department Final Judging Committee is Kelly Thomas, Assistant Vice President, Client Relations at OppenheimerFunds, Inc., in Englewood, Colorado, USA.

Kelly Thomas began working with OppenheimerFunds 29 years ago and currently is assistant vice president of Client Relations at its Denver Campus.   Her leadership philosophy is to act with integrity and pursue excellence.  She believes a leader should be able to take risks, to challenge the status quo, to inspire others, and to create a healthy work environment that will encourage and foster team collaboration. In addition to her leadership role within OppenheimerFunds, Kelly serves as the president of the City of Centennial Chapter for the National Association of Professional Women. 

Ben Herkenhoff, Customer Interaction Center Manager at Outsell, LLC in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, Chairs our Customer Service & Contact Center Team Final Judging Committee.

Ben Herkenhoff has been the manager of the Customer Interaction Center at Outsell for the past two years.  Outsell LLC is a digital marketing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that is transforming the way brands engage with consumers. Its Digital Engagement Platform offers clients the ability to consistently engage with consumers across distributed sales networks from the national to local level. Ben’s team at Outsell won the Stevie® Award for Contact Center of the Year in the 2013 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Ben tells us he is “excited to get started” on the final judging, and has worked hard to put together a great committee.

The Chair of our Final Judging Committee for the New Product & Service and Solution Provider categories is Ansa Sekharan, Senior Vice President, Global Customer Support at Informatica Corporation in Redwood City, California, USA

Ansa Sekharan is senior vice president of Global Customer Support at Informatica Corporation, an independent provider of data integration software and data masking technology. He is responsible for establishing Informatica as a trusted partner for customers worldwide by ensuring their success with Informatica's products.  Ansa has a very busy schedule, dividing his time between Redwood City, California and Bangalore, India, as well as other global Informatica locations.

 

We have published the full-text of the Gold Stevie® Award-winning nominations in the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and what a treasure-trove of inspiration, drama, and information they are!

SEE THE LIST OF STEVIE WINNERS HERE

The results of the 10th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business - the world's top honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, and the organizations they run - were announced in November in New York. The awards feature categories to recognize the achievements of individual executives, business owners, and employees; for-profit and non-profit organizations; and new products and services, marketing and public relations campaigns, and media created by or for women.

It's been our tradition to publish the full-text of Gold Stevie Award-winning entries (after the winners have the opportunity to redact any confidential information from them). Gold-winning entries are among the popular features on our web sites. They're vastly educational and entertaining, and they're great examples of entries that judges have scored highly, so they're models for future entries.

Here are some of the Gold Stevie-winning entries you'll find online now.

Frieda Caplan, founder or Frieda's, Inc. Frieda received a Lifetime Achievement Stevie, and one of the biggest cheers of the night, for her humble and inspiring acceptance speech.
Redicka Subrammanian, CEO of Interakt Digital Communications Redicka started her business at a table in a coffee shop in Singapore, and now is a Gold Stevie Award winner for Entrepreneur of the Year - Business Services.
Elizabeth Xu, Group VP-Engineering with Acxiom Corporation Big Data is a big topic these days, and Elizabeth was recognized for her achievements with a leader in big data.
Final Salute, Inc. Final Salute's mission is to provide homeless female U.S. veterans with affordable housing. They were recognized with two Gold Stevies in 2013, this one for Event of the Year for their Ms Veteran America Competition.
She Takes on the World Inc. Natalie McNeil's She Takes on the World has won won several Gold Stevies over the years for her web site that focuses on business and personal development for women entrepreneurs.

Read all of the Gold Stevie Award-winning entries in the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business today!

Entries for the 2014 edition of the awards will open in May. Join the mailing list so that the entry kit is emailed to you as soon as it's available.

Submit your entries today at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales

Tuesday, January 14 is the final entry deadline for the 2014 (8th annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. These are the world's top honors for contact center, customer service, business development, and sales professionals. All organizations and individuals worldwide are eligible to submit entries.

Review the entry kit now - you'll find it online, here. The entry kit contains all of the information you'll need to be able to prepare and submit entries to the 2014 awards.

There's a lot that's new and different for the awards this year, including our new Grand Stevie Award trophy.

Finalists will be announced on January 22.  All Finalists will ultimately be named Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award winners.  The winners will be announced during a gala banquet at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on Friday, February 21.  (Attendance isn't required to win.)

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service feature categories to recognize achievement in every aspect of the worklife of sales, business development, contact center, and customer service professionals:

• Individual Sales Performers
• Sales Teams and Departments
• Sales Achievements
• Individual Customer Service and Contact Center Performers
• Customer Service/Contact Center Achievements
• Customer Service Departments
• Solution Providers to Sales and Customer Service Professionals
• New Products and Services used by sales and customer service professionals

Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions about how to participate in the 2014 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

P.S.  Need a few extra days to enter?  Contact us.

We've just published a 5-minute video about how to enter the U.S.A.’s top business awards program, The American Business Awards.

WATCH IT NOW

Our brief video covers all of the information you'll need to be able to prepare and submit entries to the ABAs.

All individuals and organizations within the U.S.A. -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to the ABAs. The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Our business award categories include: annual report awards, app awards, company/organization awards, customer service awards, human resources awards, information technology awards, management awards, marketing awards, new product awards, public relations awards, support awards, and website awards, among others. See all corporate awards categories.

The entry deadline for the 12th edition of The American Business Awards is March 26. Late entries will be accepted through April 23 with payments of a late fee.  Nominations should cite achievements since January 1 2013. There is no eligibility timeframe for web site and app entries - it does not matter when they were first published.

Get your entry kit for the ABAs – it contains everything you’ll need to know about how to prepare and submit entries.

Questions about how to select categories or submit entries?  Contact us at help@stevieawards.com, +1 703-547-8389.

 

The Stevie Awards, the world's premier business awards programs, have just published a brochure about our 2014 sponsorship opportunities.

READ THE BROCHURE HERE

The brochure outlines the opportunities associated with our six awards programs in 2014, including two new programs - the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards and the forthcoming German Stevie Awards.

Among the benefits that are available through Stevie Awards sponsorships are:

• The ability to submit an unlimited number of entries to the sponsored program without having to pay entry fees. This benefit can be extended to sponsors’ clients as well

• The right to name and confer one or more honorary Stevie Awards upon your customers

• A full-page ad in the official program of the event

• Up to 100,000 banner ad impressions on the sponsored program’s web site and in the weekly Stevie Awards Update e-newsletter

• Tickets for the sponsored awards banquet

• At least 10 minutes of stage time to present awards at the sponsored event

• Logo identification in all photographs and video clips of the sponsored event

• Hospitality and display privileges, before, during, and/or after the sponsored event

• Editorial coverage, in the form of an interview or profile, in the Stevie Awards blog and e-newsletter

We welcome the opportunity to customize sponsorship benefits to suit your needs.  Contact Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher for details.

We've published the Gold Stevie Award-winning entries in The 2013 (10th Annual) International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition.

READ THEM HERE

Now you can read the full-text of the entries that nearly 300 judges around the world deemed to be the best in their categories.  They are a treasure trove of case studies about how organizations of all types around the world are innovating, growing, or operating at peak performance.  (If you plan to enter the IBAs in 2014 - entries open in late January, join the mailing list for the entry kit - they are great examples of entries that the judges scored highly.)

Here are some examples of the great stories of achievement you'll find among the 2013 IBA Gold Stevie Award winners:

• Finland's Rovio Entertainment, the people who addicted you to Angry Birds, the winners for Company of the Year in Media & Entertainment
  
  
• The impressive and innovative management team of Best Doctors, Inc., winners of a Gold Stevie for Management Team of the Year
  
  
• Globe Telecom of the Philippine's highly effective marketing campaign, a Gold Stevie winner in the marketing awards categories
  
  
• A groundbreaking technology by Spain's Jofemar, incorporated into their Gold Stevie-winning new product awards nomination
  
  
• The impressive entry in the HR awards categories by India's Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, a Gold Stevie winner for Human Resources Department of the Year
  
  
• The sparkling website of Korea's Hyundai Motor Company, Gold Stevie winner in the website awards categories.

What will you learn from reading Stevie Award winning entries?

1. You'll develop a sense of the types of entries that judges score highly

2. That Stevie Award-winning entries are compelling and well-written

3. That they aren't always about world-shaking or industry-changing innovations

4. If you win a Stevie Award you'll be in very prestigious company!

Join the mailing list now for The 2014 International Business Awards and you'll receive the entry kit by email as soon as it's issued in January.

What were we thinking??!  With the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. and visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads, we forgot to announce that the video clips of the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business presentations are available! 

Watch the videos here.

The 10th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business were presented in New York on Friday, November 8.   More than 400 women and their guests from around the world gathered to recognize the achievements of amazing women entrepreneurs, executives, and employees who won this year's Grand, Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards.  See the complete list of winners here.

What will you learn by watching these videos?  You'll learn that

1. Some women are able to tell their whole life stories in under 30 seconds

2. Women give much better speeches than men do

3. Winning a Stevie Award can be a transformative experience for many people

Next year's Stevie Awards for Women in Business will open for entries in May.  Join the mailing list so that you receive the entry kit as soon as it's available.  The program features executive awards categories, entrepreneur awards categories, marketing awards categories, PR awards categories, website awards categories, new product awards categories, and more.  All women and women-run or -owned organizations worldwide are eligible to be nominated.