Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service Announce Finalists in 10th Annual Competition

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Thu, Jan 21, 2016 @ 11:00 AM

Finalists in the 10th Annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in disciplines that are crucial to business success, were announced today.    

Deutsche-Post-DHL.jpgA 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. Organizations with five or more Finalist nominations include Carbonite, Inc., Cisco Systems, Delta Air Lines, DHL Express, Digital Risk, eMoney Advisor, LLC, GuideWell Connect, HomeServe USA, Human Resources Development Fund, iHeartMedia, Inc., John Hancock Financial Services, Lennox Industries, Inc., LiveWatch Security LLC, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, MTM Inc., Nuance Communications, Odeabank, Revana, Sales Partnerships, Inc., SoftPro, SurePayroll, Inc., Turkiye Is Bankasi A.S., Visualize, VIZIO, Inc., Wells Fargo, WePay Inc., 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, March 4 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel 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 2,100 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition, an increase of 11% over 2015. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 115 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges. Entries were considered in 59 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Consulting Practice of the Year; more than 50 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Business Development Achievement of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers.

More than 60 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 25.

Beginning today through February 12, 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 March 4.

Sponsors of the 10th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include Sales Partnerships and ValueSelling Associates.

 

Topics: customer service awards, Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, sales awards, stevie awards for sales and customer service, contact center awards, business development awards, Finalists

Identifying Challenges in the Asian Century: Profile of a Stevie Awards Judge

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Tue, Jan 12, 2016 @ 02:55 PM

Jim Wagstaff is the Managing Director of Jam Factory Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based consulting and education technology firm. He is also an active judge for the 2016 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. In 2015, he participated in judging for the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

The 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards is currently accepting entries. Find out how to enter here.

We asked Jim about the Stevie Awards judging process, what it is like running a business in Singapore, and for his insight into the contrasts between working in Asia-Pacific and the West.

1512jamfactory.jpgA Strong Endorsement

Jim would most definitely recommend being a Stevie Awards judge to others. As he told us: “I was initially invited to be a judge by someone who is a friend and colleague. The judging process really gives you a sense of the variety and creativity in how companies are approaching business challenges and opportunities in various parts of the world.”

Jim Wagstaff has called Singapore home since 2007. He had been living and working in Shanghai for a number of years when an opportunity to relocate to Singapore with Hewlett-Packard came up. Since 2010, he has been the Managing Director of Jam Factory in Singapore. We asked him about his decision to relocate to Singapore.

There were a number of professional reasons I chose to move to Singapore,” Jim explained. “The job, the breadth of the role, and a promotion … but also, from a personal perspective, I really enjoy the quality of life in Singapore: the year-round warm weather, the food, the location, and the concentration of so many businesses’ regional headquarters in one city.”

The Asian Century

Jim is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in business administration with a research emphasis on cross-cultural leadership and organizational development. We asked him if he could provide us with some insight into differences between the ways companies operate in the Asia-Pacific region that Western businesses should be aware of (and vice versa).

Commented Jim: “As an American who has spent half my career in various cities in Asia, the need for cultural intelligence and cross-cultural leadership skills has been close to my heart for quite some time.”

“As a source of research, study, and practice during my doctoral studies, there are a few important points for anyone looking to do business internationally … but especially in Asia, or moving out from Asia,” continued Jim. “The twenty-first century has often been characterized as the ‘Asian Century.’ Rapid economic growth in East Asia has created opportunities and challenges for multinational corporations, particularly Western multinationals. Western businesses have largely been predisposed to using a “one-size-fits-all” approach to management in their international locations. This strategy can pose a number of particular cultural contradictions for team members in East Asia.”

Working Outside the Cultural Comfort Zone

“My research has uncovered a number of specific areas that can be used as a model for leadership development by local, regional, and global managers,” Jim explained. “The model centers on the knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to align, relate, and communicate more effectively by anyone who needs to work within and outside their own cultural ‘comfort zone’ in a multinational environment–particularly as a local subsidiary of a Western multinational company.”

Solving the Tough Issues

With the start of a new year, we asked Jim what he most looked forward to in the year ahead. “I love working with my clients,” he told us. “Since moving out of HP, I have become an entrepreneur and an active board member in a number of companies. The variety of work and its challenges really keeps me motivated. I am constantly looking for opportunities to help my clients solve their toughest issues … cost, complexity, process, organization, leadership … and to put them in a better position to be successful in their markets.”

About Jim Wagstaff:

Jim Wagstaff is the Co-Founder, Managing Director, and Content Guru of The Jam Factory in Singapore. Jim leads the consulting part of the business, and has a wealth of experience in executive roles in various companies. He loves working with clients to help them identify their learning needs and map their plans so as to positively impact their business. He also leads content development, and has designed many training programs for different customers and industries.

Jim also serves as Managing Director of Renewtrak Asia, a fully managed, white-label renewals platform-as-a-service where the business model is 100% focused on helping clients increase their service contract renewals at no additional operational cost to the client. In addition, Jim is an active board member at Up 2 Speed Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based organization focused on crafting customized learning and development approaches for multinational and global companies.

Jim was previously Vice-President and General Manager of the StorageWorks Division for Hewlett Packard in Asia Pacific and Japan. His responsibilities while leading this business unit encompassed all aspects of the organization including sales, marketing, finance, operations, public relations and analyst relations, delivering around $800 million in revenue annually.

Prior to HP, Jim was at Dell in Shanghai, where he was General Manager of the server and storage business for China and Hong Kong. Jim was also responsible for Dell's alliance with EMC across Asia Pacific and Japan.

Jim has a BSc, an MBA, and is currently a doctoral researcher in the management school at the University of Liverpool with emphasis on the practical application of cross-cultural leadership approaches in multinational corporations. He is a runner and loves to travel.

About Jam Factory:

The Jam Factory enables businesses to enhance their workforce through training and development. Jam Factory provides learning and enablement solutions to businesses and professionals. The company believes in an integrated learning approach that is interactive and engages learners. It enables businesses to leverage technology to enable employees to learn, experience and engage. For more information, go to: www.jamfactory.net

Topics: best customer service, customer service awards, technology awards, sales awards, judges, Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards

Last Chance to Enter the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service

Posted by Michael Gallagher on Wed, Jan 06, 2016 @ 01:41 PM
 
Final Entry Deadline Is January 12

The countdown is on. The final entry deadline of the 10th annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service is less than a week away. Organizations and individuals worldwide have only a few days left in which to compete for the Stevie, the highest honor in the business world. The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service attract more than 1,100 nominations from organizations in more than 30 nations and territories each year.

sascsentrykit.gifAll companies, organizations and individuals worldwide may participate: public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. Participants may choose from a wide variety of categories for excellence in sales, business development, contact centers, and customer service.  “The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service offer more than 100 awards categories,” explains Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher. There are several new categories this year. “For example, we have an entirely new set of categories to recognize organizations that provide great customer service yet don't have a formal customer service department.  We've named these Customer Service Success categories.  We also have a new set of Sales Distinction categories.”

Gallagher emphasizes that it’s possible to create high-quality nominations in the time remaining to entrants. Interested organizations may get the entry kit and other details at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales and select the categories suitable to their achievements. “The heart of each entry is an essay of up to 650 words, describing the nominee’s achievements since the beginning of July 2014. The more precise and compelling the story of those achievements, the better.” advises Gallagher. 

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be selected during the judging process by more than 200 professionals worldwide. Finalists will be notified the week of January 18, and the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners will be announced on March 4, during a gala awards ceremony at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. The Stevie Award trophy, designed by the same company that manufactures the Oscar, is one of the world’s most coveted prizes.

Learn more about Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the benefits of entering in a short video interview with Michael Gallagher.

Categories are available in the awards to recognize

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

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German 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. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. 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 http://www.StevieAwards.com.

 

Topics: customer service awards, sales awards, stevie awards for sales and customer service, business development awards

New Customer Service Success Categories in the Sales & Customer Service Awards

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Tue, Dec 22, 2015 @ 03:00 PM

Does your organization do a great job of addressing customers concerns in a timely manner, but doesn’t have a formal customer service department? The 2016 (10th Annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service has created a category group just for you – Customer Service Success.

These new categories have been designed to complement the longstanding Customer Service Department of the Year categories. Rather than focus on the performance of a named customer service department, the customer service success categories recognize customer service-related achievements across your entire company or organization. You choose the successes you wish to highlight.

sascslogo.gifREVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the top awards for customer service, contact center, business development, teams and professionals worldwide. All organizations are eligible to be nominated, in addition to the new products and services used by those professionals.

Complete details are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCCESS CATEGORIES

If your organization doesn't have a formal customer service function - if "everyone here works in customer service" is your motto - then these are the categories for you. If your organization has a formal customer service function, don't enter these categories - enter the Customer Service Department categories instead.

Information required for entries in these categories include:

(a) An essay of up to 650 words describing your organization's customer service-related accomplishments since July 1, 2014.

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

  1. Customer Service Success - Business Service Industries
  2. Customer Service Success - Financial Service Industries
  3. Customer Service Success - Other Service Industries
  4. Customer Service Success - Technology Industries
  5. Customer Service Success - All Other Industries

Topics: best customer service, customer service awards, Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, stevie awards for sales and customer service, Sales & Customer Service, favorite customer service, customer service success

10th Annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service Issues Call for Entries

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Mon, Sep 21, 2015 @ 10:24 AM

The Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service has issued its 2016 (10th annual) call for entries. All customer service, contact center, business development, and sales departments, teams and professionals worldwide are eligible to be nominated, in addition to new products and services used by those professionals. Complete details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

The 2016 awards will recognize achievements since July 1, 2014. The entry kit lists all of the categories and complete instructions on how to prepare and submit entries.

SASCS-call-for-entries-1-1October 21, 2015 is the early-bird entry deadline with discounted entry fees. The final entry deadline is November 18, 2015, but late entries will be accepted through January 12, 2016 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the tenth annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on March 4 at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas.

New categories for 2016 include:

Sales Distinction Awards Categories: These have replaced the Sales Department categories. Rather than focus on the performance of a named sales department, these new categories recognize sales-related achievements across an entire company or organization. Successes to highlight can be related to revenue growth, customer acquisition, lead development, training, enculturation of product knowledge, and more.

Customer Service Success Awards Categories: If an organization doesn't have a formal customer service function - if "everyone here works in customer service" is their motto - then these new categories have been developed to focus on spotlight on their achievements.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service feature more than 140 sales awards, customer service awards, business development awards, new product awards, and call center awards categories. Entrants may submit any number of nominations to any number of categories.

Winners of the 2015 edition of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service included 60K Ltd., Avea Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., DenizBank, DP DHL, Delta Air Lines, Fastjet, FedEx TechConnect, Informatica Corporation, John Hancock Signature Services, Kohl’s Department Stores, Revana, Revenue Storm, and Time Warner Cable, among others.

The 2016 awards will see the return of a the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service, a popular feature in which the general public worldwide will vote for their favorite providers of customer service. All Finalists in the Customer Service Department of the Year categories will be included in people’s choice voting.

The 2016 competition will be judged by more than 200 professionals around the world.

Review the Entry Kit Here

Topics: customer service awards, sales awards, biz del awards

Who's Coming to the Sales & Customer Service Awards on Friday?

Posted by Michael Gallagher on Sun, Feb 22, 2015 @ 08:15 PM

A record-setting crowd of more than 500 executives from around the world will gather at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on Friday, February 27 for the 9th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top sales awards, business development awards, contact center awards and customer service awards.  Tickets for the event are still on sale.

The presentations will begin at 5:15 pm with the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards in the business development, new product, and solution provider categories.  After cocktails and dinner, the awards will continue at 7:40 pm with awards in the sales and customer service categories.  The evening will conclude with the presentation of Grand Stevie Award trophies to the 10 organizations that submitted the best body of entries to the 2015 competition.

More than 1,900 entries were submitted for consideration in this year's competition, a 27% increase over 2014.  Entries to the competition have more than doubled over the past three years.

So who's coming to the event in Las Vegas on Friday?  Here's the list of organizations that have already confirmed their participation.

(mt) Media Temple Culver City CA
60K Ltd. Sofia Bulgaria
Access One Inc Chicago IL
Acquia Inc. Burlington MA
Active Digital Tonbridge Kent United Kingdom
Adobe Systems San Jose CA
Allianz Global Assistance Richmond VA
Artificial Solutions Stockholm Sweden
Asurion Nashville TN
Avea Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. Istanbul Turkey
BDNA Mountain View CA
Beeline.com Jacksonville FL
Billhighway Troy MI
Black Knight Financial Services Jacksonville FL
Blacklane GmbH Berlin Germany
Blinds.com Houston TX
Blizzard Entertainment Irvine CA
Bluebeam Software Pasadena CA
Box Inc. Los Altos CA
BTC Bahamas
BuildASign.com  Austin TX
Buildium Boston MA
Carbonite Boston MA
Cars.com Chicago IL
Cisco Systems Inc San Jose CA
Clean Power Finance San Francisco CA
ClearSlide San Francisco CA
Code42 Minneapolis MN
Comcast Cable Philadelphia PA
Common Sense Solutions Shreveport LA
Competence Call Center Vienna Austria
Comview Corporation Huntington Station NY
Constant Contact Waltham MA
Core BTS Carmel IN
Corporate360 Pte Ltd Singapore
CubeSmart Malvern PA
DataCore Software Fort Lauderdale FL
Delta Air Lines Atlanta GA
Delta Defense West Bend WI
DenizBank Istanbul Turkey
DHL EXPRESS ARGENTINA Buenos Aires Argentina
DHL Express Mexico
DHL EXPRESS NZ LTD Auckland New Zealand
DHL Express U.S. Plantation FL
DHL Global Forwarding Miami FL
Digital Risk  Maitland FL
Donlen Corporation Northbrook IL
EFG Companies Irving TX
EMKAY Inc Itasca IL
eMoney Advisor  LLC  Conshohocken  PA
eMoney Advisor LLC Conshohocken PA
fastjet  Gatwick  United Kingdom
FedEx TechConnect Memphis TN
Findasense Madrid Spain
FLOW Jamaica Kingston Jamaica
Fujairah Police General Head Quarters Al Fujairah United Arab Emirates
Gaggle Bloomington IL
GoDaddy.com Scottsdale AZ
GraduationSource Port Chester NY
GuideWell Connect  Jacksonville FL
Halyard Health Irvine CA
HomeAway Inc. Austin TX
HomeServe USA Norwalk CT
HotelTonight San Francisco CA
IBM Corporation Armonk NY
Imparta Inc Austin TX
IMVU Inc. Mountain View CA
Infinite Conferencing Springfield NJ
Informatica Corporation Redwood City CA
INTERTECH A.S. Istanbul Turkey
Invenio Solutions Austin TX
ISN Dallas TX
j2 Global Inc. Ottawa ON Canada
Janek Performance Group Las Vegas NV
Kohl's Department Stores - Credit Division Menomonee Falls WI
Lennox Industries Inc. Richardson TX
LivingSocial Inc. Washington DC
Lucernex Technologies Plano TX
Magnolia HVAC Riverside CA
MaintenanceNet  Inc.
MarketBridge Bethesda MD
Marriott Intermediary Partner Care Omaha NE
Marriott International Inc. Bethesda MD
Marriott Vacation Club International Orlando FL
MassMutual Life Insurance Company Springfield MA
Mastercard Miami FL
Measat Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
MedCost LLC Winston-Salem NC
Mercury Payment Systems Durango CO
MetTel New York NY
Microsoft Corporation  Redmond  WA
Ministry of Interior Sharjah Police HQ Sharjah United Arab Emirates
Mozy by EMC Pleasant Grove UT
Network Alliance Reston VA
Nuance Communications Burlington MA
Nudge American Fork UT
NYCM Insurance Edmeston NY
Oi  Rio de Janeiro  Brazil
OmniUpdate Camarillo CA
OnTarget Partners Frisco TX
OptumRx Irvine CA
Paycor Cincinnati OH
PCCW Teleservices  Dublin OH
Photodex Austin TX
Picore International Calabasas CA
Police Attache  Washington DC
PrimePay West Chester PA
Pronq-by HP Sunnyvale CA
PSCU St. Petersburg FL
Rackspace San Antonio TX
Revana Tempe AZ
Revenue Storm Schaumburg IL
Richardson Philadelphia PA
Rocket Matter Boca Raton FL
Salesforce  San Francisco, CA
SalesStaff LLC  Houston TX
Service Express Grand Rapids MI
Sharegate Montreal QC Canada
ShopKeep New York NY
Sofica Group JSC Sofia Bulgaria
Sparkcentral San Francisco CA
Statewide Intake Austin TX
SugarCRM Cupertino CA
Sundance Vacations  Wilkes-Barre  PA
Swiss Reinsurance Company Zurich Switzerland
Telerx Horsham PA
Telogis Aliso Viejo California
Texas.gov Austin TX
The Coca-Cola Company Iberia + Findasense Madrid Spain
The Efficiency Sales Professional Institute San Francisco CA
Time Warner Cable New York NY
Trupanion Seattle WA
Turner Industries Group LLC Baton Rouge LA
TweetMyJobs Burbank CA
United Credit Consultants Burnsville MN
United States Equestrian Federation Lexington KY
UnitedHealthcare Minnetonka MN
UPMC Health Plan Pittsburgh PA
USANA Health Sciences Salt Lake City UT
USHEALTH Advisors L.L.C. Grapevine TX
ValueSelling Associates Rancho Santa Fe CA
WCCT Global Cypress CA
Webs  Reston VA
Wells Fargo San Francisco CA
Wheels Inc. Des Plaines IL
WP Engine Austin TX
Wyndham Vacation Ownership Orlando FL
XDBS Corporation Hawthorne CA
Ytel Foothill Ranch CA
Zions First National Bank Salt Lake City UT

It's too late to submit nominations to the 2015 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, but it's the right time to plan for the 2016 competition.  Join the mailing list and you'll be emailed the 2016 entry kit as soon as it's available in July.

Join the Mailing List

Topics: customer service awards, sales awards, business development awards

Final Judging Chairs Named for Sales & Customer Service Awards

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Wed, Jan 28, 2015 @ 05:23 PM

The Stevie® Awards have announced the seven executives who are chairing the specialized final judging committees for the 9th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top sales awards and customer service awards program.

Final judging began last week and will continue through February 4.  Finalists in the competition were announced last week.  Final judging committees are reviewing and rating the Finalists, and their average scores will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements that will be announced during a gala event at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on February 27.

The seven committee chairs have worked with the Stevie Awards to recruit and brief the members of the final judging committees, who will be named in a separate article next week.

So let's meet our seven final judging committee chairs.

SALES INDIVIDUAL/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CHAIR
Ric Riddle, VP, Demand Generation

SalesStaff LLC, Stafford, Texas, USA

SA_SI-Chair-Riddle2

Ric Riddle serves as the vice president of Demand Generation at SalesStaff. He is responsible for global demand for the fast-growing SalesStaff revenue acceleration platform. He leads a team that integrates a variety of functions and has a material influence on the strategy and performance of the company. Ric oversees demand generation, market response, content marketing, social outreach, product marketing, and sales enablement.

Ric brings more than twenty years of experience and energy in driving demand and stewarding customer success. He is a recognized thought leader and has served as a senior executive at some of the most well-known enterprise brands, bringing a dynamic blend of creativity, ground level execution, and scalable best practices. Ric’s integrated approach to engaging target audiences, shaping brand attitudes, and generating qualified pipeline for sales teams makes him a valuable contributor to the SalesStaff executive team.

Ric lives in Austin, Texas yet remains passionate about the University of Houston and his beloved Astros. His favorite activities are those spent with his wife and three children.

SALES DEPARTMENT/SOLUTION PROVIDER CHAIR
Cigdem Wondergem, Global Head of Sales Training 

DHL Global Forwarding, Global Head Office, Bonn, Germany

SD-Chair-Wondergem2

Cigdem Wondergem has worked for the past 18 years at DP DHL Group in different business units, and has held roles within marketing and sales for regional and global teams. She loves working in a multinational environment with colleagues from different cultures. Her personal motto is: “Dream, act, and enjoy!.”

Cigdem was born in Istanbul, Turkey. After graduating from the Sankt George College in Istanbul, she went to study in Austria, and after leaving university completed her studies with an MBA in International Management from UBI Brussels. While studying in Austria, Cigdem worked actively for the international student organization AIESEC, both as Local Committee President of Innsbruck and as National Committee President of Austria.

Now based in Bonn, Germany, Cigdem is married with a young son and daughter. Her family is multilingual and can communicate in four languages.

SALES TEAM/SALES ACHIEVEMENT CHAIR
Todd E. Quarfot, EVP, Chief Sales Officer

PrimePay, West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA

ST-Chair-Quarfot2

Todd Quarfot joined PrimePay in 2001 as vice president, Sales and Marketing. As the Chief Sales Officer, he is currently responsible for all sales groups and regions across the U.S. In addition, he leads a corporate team with responsibility for sales training, sales operations and enablement, and product group management.

Before joining PrimePay, Todd spent about seven years with Gartner, Inc., based in Stamford, Connecticut. While at Gartner, he served in several leadership positions in sales and marketing that culminated in the role of vice president, Sales Process, focused on worldwide sales technology adoption and sales management process.

Prior to joining Gartner, Todd spent more than 12 years with the Eastman Kodak Company. Todd graduated from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, in 1982.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER INDIVIDUAL CHAIR
PeggyPeggy Heafey, Director of Intermediary Partner Care,
Marriott International, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Peggy Heafey has been with Marriott International for 26 years. Her background includes experience in Reservation and Group Sales, Training and Development, and Customer Care. Under her leadership, the department has grown from providing primary services for travel agents, to 8 desks and functions supporting all travel, group, wholesale, and OTA intermediary partners and over 4,000 Marriott properties globally.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER TEAM CHAIR
David Graffia, Vice President, Sales

dinCloud, Gardena, California, USA

CST-Chair-Graffia2

David Graffia has over 20 years of channel experience in the area of IT sales and consulting.  He has expertise in cloud services, infrastructure and asset management, electronic procurement, software licensing, and services (both managed and professional). As vice president, Sales for dinCloud, David has established relationships and built partnerships with some of the industry’s largest global aggregators and Value Added Resellers including Ingram Micro, En Pointe Technologies, CDW, Insight Enterprises, and Tech Data.

Prior to joining dinCloud, David spent nearly a decade at En Pointe Technologies, one of the largest Microsoft Licensing Solution Providers, where he served as vice president of Sales. In addition to sales and marketing, his responsibilities included managing the corporate strategy and the development of emerging technologies. David has also worked in executive management at PC Mall and Hartford Computer Group.

David has served on numerous advisory councils and is currently a member of the Technology Executives Club, IT Leaders Circle, and IT Marketing Institute. He enjoys building partnerships and broader business relationships, and is always willing to provide guidance and support.

CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT & NEW PRODUCT/SERVICE CHAIR
Rosa M. Moreno, SVP, Treasury Services Manager

Wells Fargo & Co,Treasury Management Client Delivery, El Monte, California, USA

CSD-Chair-Moreno2

As senior manager for the Technical Services and Research teams, Rosa Moreno oversees second-level support to treasury management clients who use the
Commercial Electronic Office® portal, and supports the customer service officers (CSOs) on complex research transactions. Rosa’s teams are located in three sites: Los Angeles, California; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jacksonville, Florida.

Previously, Rosa managed the Los Angeles Treasury Management Customer Service (TMCS) team, responsible for CSOs supporting Wholesale clients, and spent time as a product implementation manager. Prior to joining TMCS, Rosa worked with retail banking as a customer service manager, where she gained a keen understanding of customer needs and expectations.

In 2014, Rosa received the Bronze Stevie® for Women in Business in the Category of Female Executive of the Year/Accounting and Financial Services. Rosa’s training includes Managing for Excellence, Achieving Extraordinary Customer Service, and Frontline Leadership.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER ACHIEVEMENT CHAIR
Tim Taylor, Chief Client Success Officer
Telogis, Aliso Viejo, California, USA

CSA-Chair-Taylor2

Tim Taylor has extensive experience in senior leadership positions with start-up and fast-growth companies on an international scale. As founder and CEO of Tycom Corporation (now Kyocera Tycom Corp.), CEO of Tycom Dental Inc. (now SybronEndo Corporation, a division of Sybron Dental Specialties), and CEO of Tulon Inc., Tim has a track record of successful product development and company leadership in a variety of markets. Prior to joining the team at Telogis, he had been the director of Liquidmetal Saga Italy, a technology start-up company in the Veneto region of Italy aimed at the European luxury goods market.

Tim earned a Bachelor of Arts in Russian Language and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Southern California.

Topics: customer service awards

Entry Deadline Extended for First Annual German Stevie® Awards

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Thu, Dec 11, 2014 @ 10:59 AM

Newest Stevie Awards Program Recognizing the Best in Business in Germany Now Accepting Entries through February 11

GSABy popular demand, the Stevie Awards have announced a general entry deadline extension for its new German Stevie® Awards.  Entries will now be accepted through February 11.

All organizations operating in Germany are eligible to submit nominations to the 2015 German Stevie Awards. The awards will recognize achievements made since July 1, 2013.  Complete information about the awards process is available at www.StevieAwards.com/Deutschland.

The Stevie Awards are widely considered to be the world’s premier business awards, conferring recognition over the past 12 years in programs such as The International Business Awards and The American Business Awards.  Stevie Awards programs attract more than 8,000 nominations each year from organizations in more than 60 nations.  The Stevie Award trophy is among the world's most coveted prizes.

The German Stevie Awards welcome nominations from all organizations operating in Germany – large and small, for-profit and non-profit, publicly-held and privately-held - with a wide range of categories to choose from, including

Judging for the competition will be conducted in two rounds by dozens of executives across Germany.  The first round will take place the week of February 16 and will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in each category.  Those winners will be announced the week of February 23.  All of the Gold Stevie Award winners will then compete in the second round of judging for the right to be named the Grand Stevie Award winner in their category groups.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners will be honored, and Grand Stevie Award winners announced, at a gala awards banquet in Berlin on March 27.

Many German companies have been recognized in Stevie Awards programs over the years, including adidas Group, Bertelsmann AG, DP DHL, Lufthansa, and Siemens AG, among the more prominent winners.  “With the German Stevie Awards, we are able to recognize the achievements of many more German companies and executives,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. “This will mean that many more German businesses will be able to benefit from the brand-building and employee-recognition benefits of winning the major business award, the Stevie Award.”

Questions about the German Stevie Awards?  Contact us at help+deutschland@stevieawards.com.

Topics: customer service awards, business awards, marketing awards, it awards, germany, management awards, public relations awards, German Business

How a Stevie Award Winner’s Strategy Contributed to DHL’s Success

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Thu, Nov 20, 2014 @ 09:53 AM

Strategy to Revenue, a global sales performance company, won a Gold Stevie® Award in the Sales Awards categories of the 2014 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top sales and customer service awards program. The 2015 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are currently accepting entries. 

GET THE ENTRY KIT HERE.  

Strategy to RevenueStrategy to Revenue’s Stevie Award winning nomination outlines how they worked with DHL Global Forwarding to achieve sales excellence. We talked with Matt Downes, Executive Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing, about what his company is doing to help its clients, and what he brought back from his experience at the Sales & Customer Service Awards in Las Vegas last February.

To provide some background on his company’s mission and vision, Matt explained that the company was established in 2008 and named Strategy to Revenue (STR) in order to telegraph that sales training should be deployed both to support the implementation of a company’s go-to-market strategy and to deliver revenue in line with the business plan. Said Matt: “We believe sales training is important only if it improves aligned sales performance and accelerates revenue.”

The founders of STR had many years of experience in leading premier sales training companies that provided sales effectiveness solutions to global organizations in transformation. “Our collective experiences have directly informed our point of view and our approach,” Matt told us.

A True Partnership

We asked Matt what winning a Gold Stevie® Award had meant to his company.  He told us that it had been a tremendous accolade for STR.  “The award is recognition that our innovative thinking and our approach to tackling the sales performance challenge head on is working,” he said. “What makes it extra special is winning this award in collaboration with our client DHL, as we have managed to develop a true partnership in supporting their growth strategy where the sales organization is at the heart of this success.”

He added: “Without doubt, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is one of the most respected and well known awards in the sales training and performance industry, so to be ranked up alongside other leading companies is fantastic for STR.”

Innovative Thinking

We asked Matt for some insight into his company’s innovative thinking. “We think few sales enablement or training programs have delivered the intended business impact because most training providers have failed to address obstacles in sales performance improvement,” he told us.  The examples he cited include:

- a lack of individual and team motivation to learn;

- inability to transfer learning into behavioral change in the field;

- difficulty in integrating new marketing collateral and product/service information into sales activity;

- poorly implemented tools supporting misaligned processes;

- inability to adapt to different customer requirements and situations; and

- lack of sales organizational/cultural alignment. 

Collaboration is Key

Continued Matt: “We also recognize the changing role of the Salesperson and, perhaps more importantly, the Sales Manager, as well as the increasing contribution that technology makes to learning. These obstacles present challenges to be resolved. This is our mission: to accelerate revenue by addressing these issues head on and resolving them. We can only do this in collaboration with our clients and other suppliers, so collaboration is key.”

A Source of Competitive Advantage

“Our continued focus is to work with our global clients to create sales performance programs that are motivating, embrace the culture of the organization, and are seen by the Sales team as a source of competitive advantage,” Matt explained. “In the right circumstances, we believe that Salespeople will take responsibility for improving their performance and see learning as a formidable tool to help them.”

Improving Sales Performance

We asked Matt for some tips on how companies can improve their sales performance.  Following are some of his suggestions:

“Making a shift in sales behavior and productivity in the sales organization continues to be one of the hottest topics for every company out there.” suggested Matt. “What has become absolutely evident over recent years is that without sales leadership and first-line sales management alignment and com-mitment to any sales training initiative, the chances of a successful impact on sales performance are slim. 

“We have seen this happen all too often at companies that invest in high profile programs such as value-selling methodologies, value-proposition messaging, sales skills, or business acumen.  When they review the impact 12 months later, they recognize that it didn’t move the needle.”

Pipeline Management

According to Matt, there are two things that STR is absolutely focused on and which the company believes will help tackle this: 

“Firstly, investment into the sales management to ensure a consistent cadence and approach to pipeline management, and performance coaching aligned to the business metrics driving revenue and margin.  Sales Managers need to be able to anticipate potential issues in the pipeline before it’s too late, and then translate that into positive action through coaching. 

“Secondly, a ‘Certification’ approach to any sales training program that hits the field and a focus on evi-dence and observation that a change in sales behavior is taking place.”

Comments Matt: “I would argue that for every training dollar you spend, 30% should be focused on ensuring it is adopted in the field, otherwise the other 70% is being wasted. If companies can get these two things right–and at the same time ensure they have a solid customer-aligned Sales Process, sales tools automated inside the CRM, skills curriculum and effective proposition messaging, and collateral from marketing–then the chances of success are significantly improved.”

A Perspective on Sales Performance

We asked Matt if there were any online tools he found particularly useful in his work. “There are so many blogs out there right now covering thought leadership, insights, and opinions on the sales performance challenge,” Matt told us.  “I find the Top Sales World website very good as it brings together a number of thought leaders and blogging sites that all have good perspectives.  We also have our own STR Google+ site, where we comment on interesting blogs and post our own insights.  Check it out!”

Making A Difference

Finally, we asked Matt what personally motivated and inspired him about his work. “What keeps us all inspired is constantly looking to push the envelope when it comes to motivating sales organizations to improve their performance,” he told us. “The combination of talent inside STR–including our sales best practice experts, our content and creative designers, and our multimedia and learning technologies team–means we have all the ingredients to bring new thinking to market quickly and to execute these solutions with our clients to make a difference.  Not many companies can do that!”

About Matt Downes

Matt is one of the founders of STR and leads Global Sales & Marketing for the company.  Prior to STR, Matt spent eight years working for other global sales training and performance companies engaging with Fortune 500 companies.  During that time, Matt lived in the US and led a sales transformation practice before returning to the UK to launch STR in 2008. 

Outside of work, Matt is passionate about sport and is kept busy enjoying life with his wife Rosie and their three children Joe, Olly, and Bella.  Matt holds a BSc in Business Information Technology Manage-ment.

About Strategy to Revenue

Strategy to Revenue designates itself the 'Revenue Acceleration' company, delivering strategic consultation and sales execution programs that help businesses transform the way their sales forces sell. STR has created a unique position in the sales training industry by combining sales and management best practice, instructional and creative design expertise, and technology and broadcast media to make sales performance programs engaging and motivational for the sales force. For more information, go to: www.strategytorevenue.com

Topics: customer service awards, business awards, sales awards, contact center awards, business development awards

Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service Issues Call for Entries

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Mon, Nov 03, 2014 @ 11:13 AM

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, has issued a call for entries for the 2015 (9th annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service

Stevie Award WinnersGET THE ENTRY KIT HERE.   

All customer service, contact center, business development, and sales departments, teams and professionals worldwide are eligible to be nominated, in addition to new products and services used by those professionals. The 2015 awards will recognize achievements since July 1, 2013.

The entry deadline is November 19, but late entries will be accepted through January 13 with payment of a late fee. Winners of the ninth annual competition will be announced at a gala awards banquet on February 27 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

The 2015 program offers new categories for business development professionals including Business Development Executive of the Year, Business Development Professional of the Year (for non-executive professionals), and Business Development Achievement of the Year.

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

  •     Sales Individual categories such as Senior Sales Executive of the Year and Sales Operations Professional of the Year
  •     Sales Team categories like Global Sales Team of the Year and Field Sales Team of the Year
  •     Sales Achievement categories such as Sales Turnaround of the Year and Outbound Marketing Program of the Year
  •     Sales Department of the Year categories in 13 industry groupings
  •     Customer Service and Contact Center Individual categories such as Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year and Customer Service Leader of the Year
  •     Customer Service and Contact Center Team categories like Contact Center of the Year and Customer Service Management Team of the Year
  •     Customer Service and Contact Center Achievement categories such as e-Commerce Customer Service Award and Award for Innovation in Customer Service
  •     Customer Service Department categories in 11 industry groupings
  •     New Product and Service categories like Best New Business Intelligence Solution and Best New Relationship Management Solution
  •     Solution Provider categories such as Sales Consulting Practice of the Year and Incentive, Rewards, or Recognition Provider of the Year

2015 will see the return of a popular feature of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. All Finalists in the Customer Service Department of the Year categories will be included in the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service voting.

Winners of the 2014 edition of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include Cars.com, Comcast, CubeSmart, Delta Air Lines, Etiya, eZCom Software, FedEx, HubSpot, Kohl’s Department Stores – Credit Division, OfficeDepot, SAVO, ShopKeep POS, Vestmark, and VIZIO, Inc., among others.

The 2015 competition will be judged by more than 200 professionals around the world.

The 2015 entry kit and a complete history of the awards program are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

About The Stevie Awards:
The Stevie Awards are conferred in six programs: The American Business Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards. 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 http://www.StevieAwards.com, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards.

Sponsors of the 2015 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include ValueSelling Associates.

Topics: customer service awards, business awards, stevie awards, new product awards, sales awards, contact center awards