Boeing, FedEx, Groupon, OnStar and Twitter Are Among Gold Stevie Winners

LAS VEGAS, NV – February 28, 2012 – Winners in the Sixth Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in disciplines that are vital to business success, were unveiled last night at a gala ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is the world’s leading sales awards, customer service awards, and contact center awards program.  For the first time, Stevie Awards were conferred in three levels of distinction: gold, silver and bronze.  Previously, only overall category winners have received Gold Stevie Awards.

Zions First National Bank won three Gold Stevie Awards, more than any other organization in the competition. Winners of two Gold Stevie Awards are Avaya, Cloud9 Analytics, Direct Alliance, ING Direct USA, iolo Technologies, and PetRays Veterinary Telemedicine Consultants. Other notable gold winners included Boeing Commercial Airplanes, FedEx, Groupon, OnStar, Twitter, UPS, and Warner Bros. International Television Distribution. 

Winners of the most Stevie Awards in all levels included John Hancock Signature Services with 14, DeVry University with 11, and Marriott Vacation Club International and Coloredge Los Angeles * New York with 10 each. A complete list of all honorees by category is available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales. 

Winners in the third annual People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service, as determined by more than 250,000 public votes, were also awarded at the event to organizations including Apple Inc./Apple Stores, Amazon.com, eCornell, Finding Freedom Team, InterContinental Hotels Group, Photodex, SquareTrade, Rosetta Stone, India’s TATA Motors Ltd., and Vodafone Turkey.

The presentations were broadcast live by the Business TalkRadio Network (http://www.businesstalkradio.net), and the recording will be available online in the coming weeks.

The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business award shows including the prestigious International Business Awards.   More than 350 professionals from around the world attended the event. 

More than 1,000 entries from organizations worldwide were submitted to this year’s competition, an increase of almost 30% over 2011. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 93 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges.  Entries were considered in 27 categories for customer service professionals, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 38 categories for sales professionals, 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 determined Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, January 30 - February 10, 2012. 

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  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 6^th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include American Support, Coloredge Los Angeles * New York, Competence Call Center, SDL and ValueSelling Associates.

We're expecting a record attendance - a sellout of 360 - for the 6th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service on Monday, February 27 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.   These are the world's top sales awards, contact center awards, and customer service awards.

This will be the historic first-ever ceremony at which Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced.  We've introduced Silver and Bronze Stevies this year as part of our celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Stevie Awards movement.  Henceforth all honorees in Stevie Awards programs will be Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie winners.

So who's coming to Las Vegas next week?  Here's the list of organizations that will be represented at the gala, as of this morning:

ABF Freight System, Inc., Fort Smith, AR
Achievers  San Francisco  CA          
Aditya Birla Minacs  Moncton  New Brunswick Canada   
Agility Recovery  Charlotte  NC            
Air National Guard Recruiting and Retention  Arlington  Virginia               
American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company, West Des Moines, Iowa
American Support, Chapel Hill NC
APAC Customer Services  Bannockburn  IL            
Archipelago Learning  Dallas  TX             
Arizona Public Service (APS)  Phoenix AZ            
Avaya, Basking Ridge, NJ                
CenturyLink   Monroe  LA                   
Bluegreen Corporation, Boca Raton, Fl                 
Bombardier Aerospace  Toronto  ON  Canada         
Borro  London  United Kingdom             
Brooks Group  Greensboro NC             
Bulldog Solutions, Austin, TX
CenterBeam  Inc.  Sunnyvale  CA               
CHEP USA  Orlando  FL                
Coloredge New York • Los Angeles  New York  NY        
Comcast Cable   Philadelphia PA                  
Constant Contact, Waltham, MA                  
Con-way Freight  Ann Arbor  MI  
Datapipe, Jersey City, NJ              
DeVry University  Downers Grove  IL             
DHL Express  Tempe  AZ               
DHL Global Forwarding  Columbia  SC            
DiCentral  Houston TX  
Dubai First, Dubai, United Arab Emirates            
eCornell, Ithaca, NY                    
Enterasys  Andover  MA                 
Enterprise Fleet Management  St. Louis  MO       
Envision   Seattle WA                   
Everything Everywhere  Hatfield  Hertfordshire United Kingdom 
Family Heritage Life Insurance Company of America   Cleveland  OH   
FedEx, Memphis, TN / Nuance Communications        
Force 3  Inc.  Crofton  MD                   
GES- Global Experience Specialists, Las Vegas, NV    
GoDaddy.com  Scottsdale  AZ    
Groupon, Chicago, IL              
Heartland Payment Systems  Princeton  NJ  
HomeAway, Austin, TX             
IDentity Theft | 911  Scottsdale AZ                
IHG  Salt Lake City  UT                        
Imparta Ltd  London  England                       
inContact  Salt Lake City  UT                       
ING Direct USA  Wilmington DE                     
International Checkout Inc.  Van Nuys  CA             
iolo technologies  Los Angeles  CA            
ISOdx Solutions, LLC, Columbus, OH            
iSpeak  Inc.  Round Rock  TX              
John Hancock  Boston MA               
kCura, Chicago, IL                  
Language Services Associates, Horsham, PA           
L-com Inc., North Andover, MA               
LifeLock, Tempe, AZ                    
Macy's  Inc.   Cincinnati  OH                
MaintenanceNet  Carlsbad  CA                 
MarketBridge  Bethesda MD                    
Marriott Intl  Inc.  Bethesda  MD                    
Marriott Vacation Club International  Orlando  FL       
Marsh U.S. Consumer  Urbandale IA               
MBX Systems  Wauconda IL                  
Merchant e-Solutions  Redwood City  CA                 
Merchant Warehouse  Boston  MA                
Métier  Ltd.  Santa Rosa  CA                
Nationwide Bank  Columbus  Ohio                
Nationwide Financial  Columbus  OH                
NEW Customer Service Companies, Sterling, VA       
New York Community Bancorp, Inc.   Cleveland OH       
nFocus Solutions, Phoenix, AZ               
NYCM Insurance, Edmeston, NY              
Office Depot  Boca Raton  FL                
OnStar  Detroit  MI                 
OppenheimerFunds Inc.  Englewood  CO             
PacketVideo, San Diego, CA                     
PaySimple  Denver  CO               
Photodex  Austin  TX                
Prescription Solutions by Optum Rx  Costa Mesa CA   
ProShares & ProFunds  Bethesda MD
PSAV Presentation Services, Long Beach, CA           
QBE FIRST  Atlanta GA               
Rackspace Hosting  San Antonio TX             
Reputation.com  San Francisco  CA               
Rosetta Stone  Arlington  VA               
Salt Lake County Government  Salt Lake City  UT       
Schedulicity  Bozeman  MT                   
SDL  Superior CO                 
SecurityMetrics  Orem  UT    
Siemens Enterprise Communications  Munich Germany               
Smith & Nephew Biologics Division, Durham, NC   
SquareTrade Inc, San Francisco, CA      
SurePayroll,  Glenview, IL                
The Knowland Group  Lewes  DE                   
Tracker Corp  San Francisco  CA               
TRX  Inc.  Atlanta  GA                 
Turkiye Ekonomi Bankasi  Istanbul Turkey          
UPC Austria, Vienna, Austria                       
UPS Social Media Customer Service Team  Salt Lake City  UT      
USHEALTH Advisors, L.L.C.   Grapevine TX            
Valerus,  Houston, TX                    
ValueSelling Associates, Rancho Santa Fe, CA          
VerticalResponse  San Francisco CA               
Vestmark  Wakefield  MA                  
Visualize,  Birmingham, MI                    
VIZIO  Inc.  Irvine  CA                
Vodafone Turkey  Istanbul Turkey                    
Volkswagen  Herndon VA                 
Wheels, Inc.,  Des Plaines, IL              
Zions First National Bank  Salt Lake City UT               
ZocDoc  New York  NY           

The Stevie® Awards is pleased to show you the first photo of the real Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards trophies which have been introduced as part of our 10th anniversary celebration of the start of the Stevie Awards movement. The new awards are manufactured by R.S. Owens in Chicago, the longtime manufacturer of the Stevie and other major awards including the Oscars and the Emmys. 

The Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards will be introduced at the 6th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, which recognize the achievements of call center, customer service, and sales professionals worldwide, on February 27 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.  The business awards banquet, which will confer sales awards and customer service awards, will be the first Stevie Awards program in which Silver and Bronze winners will be named. (Tickets are still available; support your organization's good customer service and sales excellence by reserving a table today.) Henceforth, all honorees in Stevie Awards programs will be Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award winners. 

Finalists that receive the top scoring qualifying entry in each category will receive a Gold Stevie Award. Finalists that receive a final average score of at least 8.0 out of a possible 10 will be named Silver Stevie Award winners. All other Finalists will be designated as Bronze Stevie Award winners.

Gold Stevie winners will automatically receive a Gold Stevie trophy.  Silver and Bronze Stevie winners will automatically receive a Silver or Bronze medal and will have the option to purchase their Stevie trophy. With the introduction of our new corporate awards distinctions, there will no longer be Finalist certificates.

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think about the new Silver and Bronze Stevie Award trophies!

Finalists in the 6th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in disciplines that are crucial to business success, were announced today.    

Organizations as diverse as E*Trade, Dubai Bank, Japan’s Lifenet Insurance Company, and ZocDoc are among those recognized in the customer service awards, call center awards, and sales awards categories.  Organizations with Finalists in multiple categories include DeVry University, the UK’s Everything Everywhere, GoDaddy.com, Nationwide Bank, PetRays, Rosetta Stone, UPC Austria, and Vodafone Turkey, among others. For a full list of Finalists, visit www.stevieawards.com/sales. 

Stevie Award winners will be announced during a gala banquet on Monday, February 27 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Tickets are now on sale.  The awards are presented by the Stevie® Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards. The Stevies are widely considered to be the world’s premier business awards.

For the first time, Stevie Awards will be conferred in three levels of distinction: gold, silver and bronze.  To date, only overall category winners have received gold Stevie Awards.

More than 1,000 entries from organizations worldwide were submitted to this year’s competition, an increase of almost 30% over 2011. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 93 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges.  Entries were considered in 27 categories for customer service professionals, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 38 categories for sales professionals, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year to Sales Department of the Year 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 Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, to take place January 30 - February 10.  

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 27. 

About The Stevie Awards
The Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  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 and supporters of the 6^th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include American Support, Coloredge Los Angeles * New York, Competence Call Center, SDL and ValueSelling Associates.

Press Contact:  Amy Nizwantowski, amy@mediashoppr.com
Mediashop PR, (212) 867-8778 x232

 

Today, January 18, is the final entry deadline for the 2012 (6th annual) Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's premier customer service awards, contact center awards, and sales awards.

If you have not yet requested your 2012 entry kit, you can download your entry kit here. For your convenience, we have also made a helpful video tutorial on how to successfully enter submissions here. 

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service has over 90 categories to honor sales excellence  and good customer service for individuals, teams, and departments. We also have new categories this year for products, service, and solution providers. Types of business awards categories include:

• Sales Individuals
• Sales Team
• Sales Achievement
• Sales Department
• Customer Service & Contact Center Individual
• Customer Service & Contact Center Team
• Customer Service & Contact Center Achievement
• Customer Service Department
• New Product & Service
• Solution Provider

All 2012 sales awards and customer service awards Finalists will be notified on January 25th. As part of our 10 year anniversary celebration, Finalists will be recognized as Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie Award winners. Winners will be announced at the 6th annual sales and customer service awards banquet at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas on February 27th.

If you have questions about the 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, please email us at help@stevieawards.com or call us at +1 703-547-8389.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the start of the Stevie® Awards, we will introduce Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards at our 6th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service banquet. Henceforth, all honorees in Stevie Awards programs will be Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award winners. (Entries for our 2012 sales and customer service awards, which honor good customer service and sales excellence, are still being accepted. The last day to submit entries is this Wednesday, January 18; download your entry kit here.)

Finalists that receive the top scoring qualifying entry in each category will receive a Gold Stevie Award.  Finalists that receive a final average score of at least 8.0 out of a possible 10 will be named Silver Stevie Award winners. All other Finalists will be designated as Bronze Stevie Award winners.

Gold Stevie winners will automatically receive a Gold Stevie trophy.  Silver and Bronze Stevie winners will automatically receive a Silver or Bronze medal and will have the option to purchase their Stevie trophy. With the introduction of our new business awards distinctions, there will no longer be Finalist certificates.

Finalists at The 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service banquet will be the first to receive our new corporate awards distinctions. The annual banquet will be held on February 27 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

How will your organization strive to win a Gold Stevie Award?

The final day for submitting entries to the 2012 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service is January 18. Showcase your organization's sales excellence and customer service excellence by submitting your entries today. (Request your entry kit here.)

Organizations and individuals worldwide are invited to submit entries. There are dozens of opportunities to win for both private and public organizations, small and large organizations, and non-profit and for profit organizations. The 2012 competition will recognize achievements since July 1, 2010.

How the submission process works:

1. Get your entry kit here.
2. Review all of our sales awards and customer service awards categories. We have more than 90 categories honoring sales excellence and customer service excellence for individuals, teams, and departments, plus new categories this year for products, service, and solution providers.
3. Select the categories you wish to apply for, write your submissions according to the instructions, and submit your entries.

Benefits of submitting a Sales and Customer Service entry:

1. More chances to win
   All Finalists in the Customer Service Department of the Year categories will automatically be included in the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service, a worldwide public vote that will commence on January 26.  Finalists in the Customer Service Department of the Year categories will have an opportunity to win two awards: a Stevie Award, as voted by your peers, and a crystal People's Choice Stevie Award, as voted by your customers.
2. New award distinctions
   The Sales and Customer Service awards banquet will be the first to showcase our three levels of award distinction: gold, silver and bronze Stevie Awards. You can learn more about the new awards here.
3. Know your finalist status right away
   There's only a short wait to find out if you and/or your organization is a finalist. All Finalists will be notified on January 25.

Helpful resources to make your submission process easier:

1. Watch our helpful video tutorial on how to successfully enter submissions here. 
2. Review past winners' entries here.  These are great examples of entries that were judged highly in the 2011 awards.
3. Make your entries count:  learn how to submit winning entries here.

Still have questions? Call us at + 1 703-547-8389 or leave us a comment and we'll get back to you right away.

With the holidays upon us, give a gift of appreciation by submitting entries to The 2012 American Business Awards and Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  (You can get the entry kit for the ABAs here and an entry kit for Sales & Customer Service awards here.)

Why Give the Gift of the Stevie Awards?
The Stevie Awards are the world's premier business awards.  Not only does a nomination represent appreciation and a recognition of success, but all Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be recognized on a national and international scale- an invaluable gift!

What is the nomination process?
The nomination process is simple:

1. Get your entry kits for the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and/or The American Business Awards.  The Sales & Customer Service awards are open to all organizations and individuals worldwide, with an entry deadline of January 18.  The ABAs are open to all organizations and individuals in the U.S.A., with an entry deadline of March 28.
   
   
2. Review all of our awards categories. We have scores of sales awards and customer service awards categories as well as hundreds of business award categories.
   
   
3. Select your categories and write your nominations according to the instructions.

Need more resources?

1. Understand the value of your gift: Learn more about the importance of corporate awards.
   
   
2. Make your nomination a winning one: Read How to Submit Winning Entries.
3. Know what to say: Review past Sales and Customer Service awards winners' entries here and past American Business Award winners' entries here.

Still have questions? Call us at 703-547-8389 and we'll help you get started!

Happy holidays to you and yours, and best wishes for continue success in the New Year!

How will you use a Stevie Award nomination to reward those in your organization?