WE WILL EMERGE FROM COVID-19 AND YOUR BUSINESS CAN BE
FRONT AND CENTER

Susan Turkell of PAIRELATIONS, LLC won her first Stevie® Award for a client in the very first American Business Awards®, all the way back in 2003.  Since then she has researched and written hundreds of Stevie Award-winning nominations for scores of her corporate clients.

We asked Susan for her perspective on whether organizations should continue to pursue honors such as Stevie Awards during a crisis like the one we're all navigating right now.

We are all trying to navigate uncharted waters during these unprecedented times.

It’s scary, it’s unnerving, it’s uncertain.

What is certain is that at some point, we will emerge from this, and you will want your organization, its people and products to be at the forefront of the key audiences you serve so your business can hum once again. Using awards to highlight your business can help place it front and center.

To help your business establish or maintain brand awareness, consider highlighting your 2019 achievements by entering submissions in various 2020 Stevie Awards programs.

There are many programs and categories from which to choose, and even several that have absolutely NO entry fees. For example, the final entry deadlines for The American Business Awards will be further extended to May 5 without any additional late fees.

The categories in this program without entry fees include Startup of the Year and Tech Startup of the Year, for which the late fees have also been eliminated.

For The International Business Awards^®, categories without entry fees include Company of the Year, which spans many industries.  The early-bird deadline for the 17th IBAs is April 8.

Right now is a perfect time to seize opportunities for showcasing your business. Leveraging award wins is an excellent way to demonstrate the success of your organization and validate its mission, people and products for years to come.

PAIRELATIONS, LLC has a proven track record for helping corporations earn recognition for the successes they are achieving throughout the business and across their operations. For more than two decades, PAIRELATIONS has helped its clients wins hundreds of awards in various Stevie programs and categories. Why not have a professional capture your successes and help you earn the recognition you deserve?

Due to the current global pandemic, we realize it may be hard for companies to devote time to this process. As a result, for a limited time, PAIRELATIONS will offer one complimentary hour of professional awards consulting services to companies that hire the firm to help them enter one or more categories of any Stevie Awards program. Mention code HUMAGAIN.  (Offer valid for new clients only.)

PAIRELATIONS stands ready to put its talents to work on your behalf so your business can soon hum again.

Susan Turkell, chief executive officer at PAIRELATIONS, LLC, has a proven track record that spans more than two decades for helping corporations earn recognition for the successes they are achieving throughout their organizations and across their operations.

Over the years, through PAIRELATIONS’ awards division, she has helped clients win hundreds upon hundreds of awards across myriad Stevie® Awards programs. This includes assisting them in earning recognition across a host of categories, ranging from products and people to management and materials. She is a three-time Grand Stevie® Award Winner, which is based on the number of points scored for all entries submitted. She earned this for multiple wins on behalf of a range of clients.

You can email Susan at awards@pairelations.com, call her at 303-766-4343 or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Seventeenth Annual Stevie® Awards Program to Be Presented This Fall in Paris

The Stevie Awards has opened entries for The 17th Annual International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition, which attracts nominations from organizations in more than 70 nations and territories each year.

All individuals and organizations worldwide—public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small—may submit nominations to The International Business Awards. The early-bird entry deadline, with reduced entry fees, is 8 April. The final entry deadline is 13 May, but late entries will be accepted through 17 June with payment of a late fee. Entry details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

Interested in entering The 2020 International Business Awards®?

Juries featuring more than 150 executives will determine the Stevie Award winners. The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced on 11 August. Stevie Award winners will be presented their awards at a gala banquet in Paris, France on 24 October.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Categories include:

• Management Awards 
• Entrepreneur of the Year Awards
• Company of the Year Awards
• Customer Service Awards 
• Human Resources Awards 
• Information Technology Awards
• Marketing Awards 
• New Product Awards 
• Public Relations Awards 
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

There are many new and revised features of The IBAs for 2020:

• Nine new categories to recognize singular business achievements in areas such as business turnaround, finance, revenue generation, and science and technology, among others.
• The submission requirements have been simplified for 2020 in the following categories: Company/Organization Awards, Corporate Communications & Public Relations Awards, Marketing Awards, and New Product & Product Management Awards.
• There are no entry fees for nominations in the Company of the Year categories and other select categories.
• Entries may be submitted as a written essay or a five-minute maximum video essay.

Stevie Award winners in the 2019 IBAs included ASDA’A BCW (United Arab Emirates), Cisco Systems, Inc. (USA), DHL Express (worldwide), Dubai Health Authority (United Arab Emirates), IBM (USA), LLORENTE & CUENCA (Spain), Megaworld Foundation (Philippines), Meli Studio (Australia), NBCUniversal (USA), PT Petrokimia Gresik (Indonesia), Seoul Metropolitan Government (South Korea), Switching-Time (China), Tata Consultancy Services (United Kingdom),  Vodafone Turkey Foundation (Turkey), and many more.

Stevie-winner Braviant Holdings is a financial technology company that uses machine-learning to assess borrowers' credit and help them achieve lower rates.

Over 24 million American households are underbanked, and another eight million are unbanked (FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households, 2017). While the former have restricted access to financial services (primarily due to bad credit scores), the latter have little or no access at all. As one can imagine, this closes a lot of doors. Many of life’s necessities, such as getting a job or renting an apartment, call for a bank account and a good credit history.

What makes this scenario even more unfortunate is that the unbanked and underbanked often land in these unfavorable financial conditions due to circumstances beyond their control. After all, not everyone with a low credit score is a habitual defaulter. For instance, many have low credit scores because of the 2008 financial crisis. Similarly, all those without bank accounts are not willfully refusing to get one. Many get their applications rejected because they have thin credit files or are migrants who don’t possess all the necessary documents.

Luckily, the fintech industry is now putting big data, machine learning (ML), and augmented analytics to work for these two neglected financial demographics, and the results are promising.

Banking the Unbanked

Online banking and lending services have made it convenient to access and maintain bank accounts, even for those in remote and rural areas. However, despite these advances, around 1.7 billion adults remain unbanked worldwide. Several fintech solutions are working toward making it easier for these individuals to create and to benefit from bank accounts of their own, though. The most notable among these is Onfido, an identity verification company based in London, United Kingdom.

Onfido does not follow the typical identity verification process. They pair highly advanced ML-based document checks with facial verification to compare user-furnished identity documents with their selfies. This makes it easier for individuals to prove their identities and open new bank accounts. This is particularly important for those with thin credit files whom banks are reluctant to trust and migrants who do not possess all the documents required for in-person verification..

Beyond Credit History and Scores

Fintech products are revolutionizing the way credit is assessed, and they are now paving the way for fairer access to financial services.

Zest AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) software platform for credit, based in Los Angeles, California, United States, helps lenders make faster and more accurate decisions on borrowers who are traditionally considered risky. It does so by using and analyzing thousands of data points to better assess predicted risk. Their clients have achieved, on average, a 15 percent increase in approval rates and reduced losses by almost 30 percent.

UltraFICO, a credit scoring system based on augmented analytics, was launched by FICO, a data analytics company based in San Jose, California, United States. It serves as yet another good example. While still in the works, it promises to be a huge step up from the antiquated FICO score system that prevents millions of people from receiving credit because of incomplete credit histories. UltraFICO will create more complete credit histories by using data from FICO, Experian, Finicity, different finance houses, and banks.

Stevie-winner Braviant Holdings, a fintech company based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, also offers financial solutions that help non-prime consumers graduate to lower rates as they work toward prime credit. They do so by building machine-learning decision models that look beyond a traditional credit score to more accurately assess the prospective borrower’s true ability and willingness to repay.

“Mainstream financial institutions cater to the needs of U.S. consumers with proven credit history, but more than 50 million adults labeled ‘underbanked’ are forced to look outside the traditional banking system to meet their needs,” says Stephanie Klein, CEO of Braviant Holdings. “Braviant offers tech-enabled credit products to help these deserving consumers access the credit they need today and work toward better rates in the future.”

Braviant Holdings recently won a Gold Stevie Award for Company of the Year in the Financial Services category at The 17th Annual American Business Awards®, 2019.

Interested in entering The American Business Awards?

Top Business Honors Will Accept Nominations Through April 14

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of The American Business Awards®, announced today that the final entry deadline for the 18^th annual ABA competition has been extended to April 14. No additional late fees will be charged. Entries submitted through April 14 will not be penalized in any way in the judging process.

“We’ve received so many requests for individual deadline extensions that we’ve decided to extend the deadline for everyone,” said Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher. The original final deadline was March 11.

Interested in entering The 2020 American Business Awards®?

The American Business Awards are widely considered to be the premier business awards program in the U.S.A. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations— public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large, and small. The 2020 awards will honor achievements since the beginning of 2019. Entry details are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Categories include:

• Entrepreneur Awards
• Management Awards
• Company of the Year Awards
• Customer Service Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Marketing Awards
• New Product Awards
• Public Relations Awards
• Website Awards, Smartphone and Tablet Apps, and other Media Awards
• …and more

The new Achievement categories  recognize singular achievements of various types of entire organizations (for-profit or non-profit, large medium or small, public or private) in nine categories. Among the category groups that feature one or more new categories are Information Technology, New Product & Service, Mobile Website & App, Publication, and Video.

More than 200 executives on 13 juries have already begun the process of rating nominations to determine the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners.

Stevie winners will be announced on April 30, and the awards will be presented at a gala banquet on June 12 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Attendance is not required to win.

The list of past Stevie Award winners in The American Business Awards reads like a who’s who of innovation and business success in the U.S.A. Explore the list of last year’s winners.

London Computer Systems is a property management software company that seeks to help businesses operate efficiently using their integrated technologies. Their Stevie Award-winning product, Rent Manager, is proven to help companies manage all types of properties.

As the property technology world develops, real estate firms are devoting more attention to how technology can help their businesses. Technology impacts real estate agents to an ever-increasing degree, and tools for every aspect of a real estate company are currently being developed.

When Communications Are Down, Technology Helps

New programs and apps help manage and streamline real estate processes for realtors—not just in the course of their everyday work but also when disasters strike. For example, in areas of the country that suffer from severe weather-related issues, property management can be extremely challenging for industry professionals and their clients. 

Software products recently released on the market, however, can help property managers connect with residents and track communications. With just a few clicks of a button, the software can ensure tenants get the help they need by using targeted text messages and phone calls. This greatly eases the stress on client and owner alike. 

Increasing Industry Use

More than half of commercial real estate agents are now using at least one form of property technology. Two common ways they’re using technology are to analyze performance and to manage accounts and properties on their lists. The goal of moving toward artificial intelligence (AI) in real estate is to give business owners the freedom to customize information technology to better fit the needs of their companies. 

At its heart, property technology makes the realtor or property manager's job easier and helps that person do a great job for his or her clients. In the past, the industry relied on time-consuming paper management systems, which didn’t allow for tracking communication between manager and tenant. Today, there are more innovative products on the market. Rent Manager makes the process much more straightforward and transparent. 

Next-Level Integration

The industry’s goal now is to progress to the next level of integration, wherein platforms connect seamlessly. This evolution will enable different software systems to work together, which will allow businesses to personalize their systems. Modern application programming interfaces (APIs) allow programmers to construct solutions that work perfectly for them and their customers. 

What Is the Future of Property Technology?

In the future, the property management industry is likely to dive deeper into the world of artificial business intelligence. The world, after all, works on electronic automation in nearly all sectors. You can book an appointment with your dentist from a website, use the self-checkout at the market, and buy a car online; to keep up, managing your rental property needs to move in the same direction.

Property management companies are likely to automate processes and to move the workforce into service-focused tasks. In that landscape, attention to detail and a focus on customer service will become the things that make a property management system stand out from the competition. 

The ability to stay on top of trends in the property management industry keeps businesses at the top of their game. In 2020 and beyond, these companies need to operate efficiently and stay connected to clients in order to build a reputation for top quality service. That involves not only relying on property management technology but employing dedicated people to use it. 

This dedication to being at the forefront of property sector tech development, as well as a commitment to excellent customer service, helped London Computer Systems, a property management software company, earn recognition as a leader in their field. London Computer Systems is based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.

The Rent Manager Product Support Department was named the winner of a Bronze Stevie® Award in the Customer Service Department of the Year category in The 16th Annual American Business Awards® (2018). The Rent Manager User Conference was also named the winner of a Bronze Stevie Award in the Corporate & Community - Corporate Event category in The 17th Annual American Business Awards.

Interested in entering The American Business Awards?

No Additional Late Fees Will Be Charged

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world's premier business awards programs, announced today that they have extended the final entry deadline for the sixth annual Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards to March 31.

"Because of many requests for individual deadline extensions, we have decided to extend the deadline for everyone," said Stevie Awards Executive Chairman, Michael Gallagher. The original deadline was March 4. Gallagher emphasizes that no additional late fees will be charged for entries submitted by March 31, and late entries will not be penalized in any way in the judging process. All organizations now have an additional four weeks to prepare and submit their entries in hopes of winning a Stevie award for their achievements.

The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards is the only business awards program to recognize innovation throughout the entire Asia-Pacific region. The competition is open to all organizations across 29 nations of the Asia-Pacific region: large and small, for-profit and non-profit, public and private. Seven nations have been added to those eligible to submit nominations to the 2020 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The awards focus on recognizing innovation in all its forms, wherever it is achieved in the workplace. Entries are accepted in eight languages - Chinese, English, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Thai and Vietnamese - in the following category groups:

• Annual Report Awards & Other Publication Awards
• Customer Service Awards
• Company/Organization Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Management Awards
• Marketing Awards
• New Product Awards
• Corporate Communications, IR, and PR Awards
• Website Awards and Smartphone and Tablet App Awards
  …and more

New for 2020, you may now submit a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about your achievements, in all categories, instead of the traditional Stevie Awards written essay.

Asia-Pacific Stevie Award winners will be announced on April 8. Winners will be celebrated and presented their awards during a gala banquet on May 29 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Scores of professionals from throughout the region will participate in the judging process to determine the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners.

The Stevie Award trophies, made by the company that makes the Emmy and other major international awards, are among the world's most coveted prizes. The name Stevie is taken from the name Stephen, which is derived from the Greek for "crowned".

Are you interested in entering the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards?

Stevie-winner Eterneva, a funeral company that converts ashes into diamonds has discovered a way to use their active social media presence to engage with their clients and community.

To many, the funeral industry sounds ill-suited for social media marketing. It is typically considered a low-tech, high-touch line of work, and the belief is that people don’t want to be reminded of death on social media. Things are changing, though, as professionals in this industry find smarter, more socially acceptable ways to engage with their local communities and to target audiences.

According to a 2019 survey on the mobile technology trends in the funeral profession, about 73 percent of the 1,172 funeral professionals surveyed were using social media to market their services. Facebook was the most popular platform for these marketers, with 67 percent of respondents using it. 

Marrying Life with Death

In an active social media managers group on Facebook, marketers are currently having a lively discussion on social media for funeral homes. One of the participants, Sam Barsanti, comments: “We are in the process of acquiring a new funeral home client. We aren’t extremely serious with them. We try to make their business seem as assistants to the celebration of life, rather than remorse for death.” 

Many funeral home marketers now echo this sentiment. Early social media posts from funeral services were largely obituaries. They are not so morbid anymore as marketers look for more meaningful ways to engage and to drive brand recall. 

Another factor driving a significant uptick in the industry’s social media usage is the emergence of “disruptive” funeral services, which are any services that move away from traditional burial. The practice of using toxic embalming fluids and burying tons of wood, metal, and concrete into the ground is rapidly giving way to more eco-friendly options. 

Capsula Mundi, a start-up based in Milan, Italy, places the ashes or unembalmed bodies of the departed loved ones in biodegradable, egg-shaped pods. This pod is then buried as a seed, and a tree chosen by the deceased is planted on top. This serves as a living, environment-friendly memorial. This company is very active on social media and has over 47,000 Facebook followers with a lot of engagement. 

Bios Urn, a start-up based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, also sells biodegradable urns, but theirs have seeds embedded inside. They have many environment-oriented stories and life celebration posts on their social media platforms and have a following of over 84,000 on Facebook.

Not all funeral start-ups are environmentally focused, though. AndVinyly, based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, presses ashes into vinyl records. The records contain music loved by the departed, as well as audio recordings from the deceased. Another outside-the-box funeral service, Heavenly Stars Fireworks, based in Stanway, Essex, England, creates pyrotechnic displays using the departed’s ashes. 

Stevie-winner  Eterneva, based in Austin, Texas, United States, converts ashes into diamonds in an eight-month process. They send pictures, videos, and updates to their customers every month, which is something positive for the bereaved to look forward to. Some customers even say this process helps them move beyond the grief. The company also maintains an active social media presence.

“Our mission is to #RememberRemarkably, so we leverage social media to pay tribute to remarkable people,” says Tracey Wallace, head of brand marketing at Eterneva. “For example, we do weekly inaugurations on Instagram Live, where our team welcomes each new loved one to the Eterneva family and shares his or her incredible story with our followers, which has evolved over time into a vibrant, highly engaged tribe.”

Eterneva won the Gold Stevie® Award in the Startup of the Year - Consumer Products Industries category at the 2019 Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Adelle Archer, an Eterneva co-founder, also bagged a Bronze Stevie® Award in the Female Entrepreneur of the Year - Consumer Products - 11 to 2,500 Employees category.

Interested in entering the next Stevie Awards for Women in Business?

Winners in the 14th 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 USA, attended by more than 570 executives from around the world.

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

IBM, with 52 Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award wins, was the most honored organization this year, earning the top Grand Stevie Award trophy. Other Grand Stevie Award winners, in descending order, include DP DHL, HomeServe USA, Sales Partnerships, Inc, Delta Vacations, Cinch Home Services, Dell Technologies, DenizBank Financial Service Group, WNS (Holdings) Limited, and Allianz Global Assistance.

IBM won 17 Gold Stevie Awards, the most in the 2020 competition. Other winners of three or more Stevie Awards include: American Airlines, Autosoft, Inc., BlueCat Networks, Inc., BNY Mellon’s Albridge, Buildium, Bounteous, Carbonite, Inc., Chorus.ai, Clarabridge, Concentrix, ConnectiCare, Constant Contact, CoverMyMeds, Covestic, Cvent, Inc., Druva, Enterprise Fleet Management, GoDaddy, Guidebook, Inc., HCL America, Inc., Industrial Security Integrators, Intuit, John Hancock Financial Services, Korea Representative, Lexmark, Loopio, Inc., Mailchimp, Merrill Corporation, Michael Kors, Mobile Labs, MRO Corp, NCR, Nextiva, Nuance Communications, Inc., OneWest Bank, Optima Tax Relief, LLC, Pushpay, QNB Finansbank, RAIN Group, Rimini Street, SAP, SoftPro, SolarWinds, Spinnaker Support, StarHub Ltd, Sun Basket, Tani, The Audacious Agency, The Brooks Group, Tivity Health, Travelzoo, TTEC, Türkiye Vakıflar Bankası T.A.O., UPMC Health Plan, ValueSelling Associates, Veeam, Verimatrix, VIZIO, Inc., VODAFONE TURKEY, VXI Global Solutions, Wells Fargo Treasury Management, Wheels, Inc., Willis Towers Watson, and xneelo.

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

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

More than 2,600 nominations from organizations in 48 nations were evaluated in this year’s competition. Winners were determined by the average scores of more than 180 professionals worldwide in seven specialized judging committees. Entries were considered in 106 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; 72 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.

Entries for the 2021 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service will open this coming July. The entry kit may be requested at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

The 14th annual edition of the Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top honors for achievement in customer service, business development, and sales, will be staged this Friday, February 28 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada USA.  More than 600 executives from around the world will attend for the presentation of the Grand, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and People's Choice Stevie Awards.

Finalists in the competition were announced in mid-January, but the Gold, Silver, and Bronze placements in each category will be revealed during Friday's presentations.  The results were determined by the ratings of more than 180 professionals worldwide on seven juries.

Winners of the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service, determined by a worldwide public vote, were announced last week.

Entries for the 2021 (15th) edition of the awards will open in July.

Here is the list of organizations that will be represented at Friday's event.

A5 Solutions
Access One Inc
Achievers
Agero
AireSpring
Aksigorta
Alliance Data
Allianz Global Assistance
American Airlines
Anexa BPO
Arch Mortgage Insurance
ARIIX
Arkansas.gov
Arzum
Ascentis
Autodesk Construction Solutions
Aweber
AWS
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe S.A.S.
Barclays
Beltone
BlueJeans Network
BMC
BNY Mellon's Albridge
Bounteous
Carbonite, Inc.
Care.com HomePay
CGS
Challenger
Chorus.ai
Cinch Home Services, Inc.
Cisco Systems
CivicPlus
Clarabridge
Cogito Corporation
Command Alkon
Compeat
Con Edison
Concentrix
Conectys
ConnectiCare
Constant Contact
Consumer Reports
Contact Lens King Inc.
CoverMyMeds
Covestic
Cricket Wireless
CyberScout
DataCore Software
Daxko
Dell Technologies
Delta Airlines
Delta Vacations
DenizBank Financial Service Group
DHL Express
DHL Express Mexico
doeLEGAL
Dorel Juvenile
Druva
Dynamic Enterprise Solutions
ECI Software Solutions
EFG Companies
Elevation Home Energy Solutions
EmblemHealth
Enterprise Fleet Management
Envoy
Etech Global Services
ExakTime
ezCater
FCM Travel Solutions
First Advantage
First American Database Solutions
Fiserv
Front
Fundbox
Further
Gainesville Health & Fitness
Grazitti Interactive
Guardian Protection Products, Inc.
Hanzo Archives
HCL Technologies
HCSS
HireVue
HomeServe USA
HUB International
IBM
Integrity Solutions
Intellis Labs
Intuit
iQor
iWave
Janek Performance Group
JDA Software
Jobber
John Hancock
Kira Systems
Kraft Heinz
Kristin Aduna
Learning Pool
Learning Tribes
Legacy.com
Lexmark
Linode
Listrak
LivePerson
Mailchimp
MarketBridge
MediaRadar, Inc.
MEDIATEL DATA SRL
Merrill Corporation
MetTel
Michael Kors
MRO Corp
MTM
Multifamily Utility Company
NCR
Nestle USA
NIC, Inc.
Oi
OmniUpdate
ON24
OneCause
Optima Tax Relief, LLC
OptumCare
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics
OxBlue Corporation
PAi
Panera Bread
Paycor
PipelineDeals
PJ Nisbet & Associates, Ltd
Purchasing Power, LLC
Purpol Marketing
Purpol Marketing Limited
Pushpay
QNB Finansbank
Quantum Workplace
RAIN Group
Rakuten
ReceptionHQ
Regalix
Revenue Storm
Ricoh USA, Inc
RxBenefits, Inc.
Sales Partnerships
SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited
SCAN Healthplan
ServiceNow
SIBME
SIMONA Boltaron
Sisense
Sitel Group
SoftPro
SolarWinds
SolarWinds MSP
Strikedeck
Sun Basket
Support Services Group
Support.com
SurePayroll
Sydney and West Painting and Rope Access Pty Ltd
Tata Consultancy Services
Teachable
Tealium
The Crypsis Group
The Western & Southern Life Insurance Company
TIAA
Tivity Health
Travelzoo
TTEC
Tyson Group
UPMC Health Plan
UserTesting
V Digital Services
Valley Forge Fabrics
ValueSelling Associates
Veeam
Vengreso
VENZA
Verimatrix
VIPKid
Visualize, Inc.
Vodafone Turkey
Vpay
VXI Global Solutions
Wells Fargo Treasury Management Client Delivery
Wheels Inc.
Willis Towers Watson
Wolters Kluwer's ELM Solutions
Wolverine Worldwide Contact Center
World Travel Holdings
xneelo
Xvoyant

The travel market is constantly experiencing change. Find out how Xuan Tinh Herfort, founder of Stevie-winner Indochina Travels, has learned to compete with major online booking platforms while meeting the growing demands of discerning travelers.

In May 2019, the founder and director of Indochina Travels, Xuan Tinh Herfort, received a Gold Stevie Award for Entrepreneur of the Year in the Leisure and Hospitality Industry category in the German Stevie Awards. Her company, a travel operator specializing in guided tours of Asia with a focus on the Indochinese Peninsula, also won a Bronze Stevie for Company of the Year in the same category.  

But what brought the successful Vietnamese businesswoman to Frankfurt? And what’s her recipe for success in the ever-changing travel sector?

“Love at First Sight”

Xuan Tinh Herfort first came to Germany in 2002. After completing her economics degree at the University of Hanoi and gaining some professional experience, the young Vietnamese entrepreneur grabbed her backpack and set out on a European tour, where she would also stop in Germany. She still describes her encounter as “love at first sight.”

She was so impressed by the land of poets and philosophers that she decided to apply for a scholarship from the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development as soon as she returned to Hanoi, and it wasn’t long before she was accepted onto a 14-month program with stages in Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt.

And of all the places, she was captivated by the Main metropolis. This is where she teamed up with Euvibus GmbH in 2004 to found a consultancy firm that took care of business interactions between German and Vietnamese companies and held events in Germany on behalf of the government in Hanoi. This also involved organizing business trips, which laid the foundations for her next business concept: Indochina Travels. 

Since 2008, Herfort has been creating and selling tour packages to South-East Asia from her office in Frankfurt, putting German holidaymakers in touch with her homeland. Her company has become one of Germany’s leading tour operators for Indochina.  

The Changing Face of Travel

The travel market is characterized by constant and sometimes rapid change. Medium-sized companies like Indochina Travels have to face competition from major online booking platforms while meeting the growing demands of discerning travelers. That’s why Indochina Travels has developed numerous innovations over the past two years to improve the experience of its direct customers and B2B partners.

“The behavior and demands of travelers are constantly changing – and they’re often highly diverse. For example, if you book a hiking trip to the Alps this year, you might be looking for a luxury beach holiday in the Caribbean next year”, explains Herfort. However, one incredibly important trend is the growing digitization of the sector, which is a tremendous challenge for smaller tour operators looking to compete against the major companies. “We see this trend as a challenge, but it’s also a great opportunity for our company. We’ve made quite an effort over the past two years, including the relaunch of our website and the introduction of a tour operator system to automate the booking process and improve our customer experience in the B2B sector”, says Herfort.

The relaunched website (www.indochinatravels.com/) allows the company to clearly and attractively present its wide range of package deals, which can now be booked in just a few clicks. Customers can check the availability and prices of over 300 different tours before making a quick and easy booking. The website came in second place at the Hessian Website Awards in September 2018 for its innovative design and presentation.

Authentic Trips with Exceptional Service

“We find it very important that our trips are authentic”, says Herfort. That’s why the company handpicks all accommodation and meticulously plans its itineraries.

The company is supported by Indochina Pearl, an inbound tour operator founded specially by Herfort in 2010. It’s based in Hanoi with offices in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. What else makes Indochina Travels so special? “Indochina Travels is one of the few tour operators in Germany with its roots in the region. We work with our own local subsidiaries to purchase and operate the trips”.

The businesswoman also appreciates her employees’ personal connection to the travel destinations. “Each of our trained advisors has traveled around Indochina on many occasions or even lived there!”, continues Herfort.

The ingenuity of Herfort’s business idea is reflected by her company’s sustained growth. In November 2018, Indochina Travels moved to a larger office building directly opposite the famous Goethe House; its relocation was necessary, as the company had steadily increased its workforce to 17 people and wanted to continue growing in the years to come.

A Businesswoman with Heart

Outside the work that she puts into her own travel brand, Herfort also acts as the Director of Indochina within the Diplomatic Council, a UN-recognized NGO that promotes international understanding through successful business diplomacy. 

As part of her role, Herfort is committed to improving the education of disadvantaged children in Vietnam. Her company makes regular charitable donations in the Indochinese Peninsula. “We see ourselves as sponsors of the region. We support low-income families and promote the education of children in poorer countries. We’re constantly looking for partners to achieve our goals together. We’re also working hard to protect and preserve Hạ Long Bay”.

In 2016, Herfort was recognized by the City of Frankfurt as an “Outstanding Person from a Migrant Background”. Within the travel sector, the 40-year-old has also chaired the Committee for Travel Operators at the asr Alliance of Independent Travel Traders and currently sits on the advisory board at the Travel Industry Club (TIC).

Interested in entering the 2021 German Stevie Awards?