The following professionals participated in the preliminary judging of the 2012 (6th annual) Stevie® Awards for Sales and Customer Service, the world's premier customer service awards, contact center awards, and sales awards, in November-January. Their average scores determined the Finalists. We thank them for their dedication, time, and insights. This year's Stevie Awards winners will be announced at our annual awards ceremony at Caesar's Palace resort in Las Vegas, NV, on Monday February 27. Learn more about the event and reserve your table today.

Kenneth Amormino, Director of Call Center Operations, GAW, Enfield, CT, United States
Johnny Anderson, Vice President, Bulldog Solutions, Austin, TX, United States
Jeff Billado, Sales Consultant - Customer Interactive Solutions, Dimension Data, Herndon, VA, United States      
Paul Bilodeau, VP Sales & Marketing, The Brooks Group, Greensboro, NC, United States
Jane Blackwell, Community Outreach Manager, High Point Bank & Trust, High Point, NC, United States
Jill Blankenship, CEO, Frontline Call Center, Eastsound, WA, United States
Jeanne Bliss, President, CustomerBLISS, Pacific Palisades, CA, United States       
Bob Botelle, Exec VP. Merchant Services, Chief Customer Officer, Litle & Co, Lowell, MA, United States
Norm Bour, Community Development Director, OPIS Network, Newport Beach, CA, United States
Johnny Bravo, Account Executive, PolyPak America Inc., Sales, Loas Angeles, CA, United States
Patrice  Bryon, Head of Client Services, ProFund Advisors, LLC, Financial Services, Bethesda, MD, United States
Elaine Buxton, President, Confero Inc, Cary, NC, United States
Jon Byers, Manager of Client Relationships, Covisint, Client Satisfaction, Healthcare, Durham, NC, United States
Andrew Christofferson, Customer Service Manager, Cargill, Inc, Feed Products, Blair, NE, United States
Chadwick Collier, CEO, Consumer Driven Solutions and Group Cars, Memphis, TN, United States
Ryan Consigli, CEO, Zoom Technical Services, Inc., Woburn, MA, United States
Tom  Cross, Editor, TECHtionary, Boulder, CO, United States
Kelly Dantas, Media Director, SDI Distributor, Yonkers, NY, United States
Robyn Davis, Owner, When I Need Help, Columbus, OH, United States                 
Brent Dierking, Director, Business Development/Strategic Planning, NorthStar EMS, Birmingham, AL, United States
Kevin Domingue, VP, Customer Services, TRUMPF, Inc., Customer Service, Farmington, CT, United States
Alan Dowler, Customer Service Officer, Hamilton Jewelers, Princeton, NJ, United States
Carolyn K Edwards, AT&T and  WATCh?, San Diego, CA, United States    
Annette Eland, Claims Customer Service Manager, Esurance, San Francisco, CA, United States                   
Evren Erbasol, Phone Banking Manager, AKBANK, Alternative Delivery Channels Management, Istanbul, Turkey
Ron Essig, VP, Products & Services, Marriott Vacation Club, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Meredith Estep, Vice President Client Services, Unitiv, Inc., Alpharetta, GA, United States
Paul Evans, President and CMO, Evans Media Group, Overland Park, KS, United States
Franck Fielemon, Manager Direct Sales, DHL Express, International, Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Will Garrick, Senior Director, Prescription Solutions/  A United Health Care Company, Customer Service, Costa Mesa, CA, United States
Gina Giordano, VP, Customer Feedback, Macy's, New York, NY, United States
Barb Girson, Principal, My Sales Tactics, New Albany, OH, United States
Jaki Glenn, Regional Sr. Sales Rep., Taleo Learn, Taleo, Belton, SC, United States
Bob Gooderl, Product Manager/AVP, Symetra Financial, Life Division, Bellevue, WA, United States
Justin Grenier, Support Team Manager, Listrak, Lititz, PA, United States
Jimmy Griffith, Director, Solution Center Operations, Assurant Solutions, Extended Protection Solutions, Lawton, OK, United States
Judy Guffee, Senior Manager Customer Service, med fusion/ ClearPoint Diagnostic Laboratory, Lewisville, TX, United States
Josh Hatala, Marketing Specialist, AIReS, Marketing, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Peggy Heafey, Director - Intermediary Partner Care, Marriott Intl., Inc., Marriott Sales and Customer Care, Omaha, NE, United States
Arne Henrickson, SR Director Client Services, Coinsar/Redbox, Corporate, Bellevue, WA, United States
Greg Ives, Director of Global Services, ChannelAdvisor, Morrisville, NC, United States
Jeanne Jalufka, Sales Marketing Consultant, Pearson, Corpus Christi, TX, United States
Robert Jeppsen, Vice President, Commercial Sales, Zions Bank, Commercial Sales, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
David Johnston, President, Sales Resource Group Inc., Oakville, Canada
Rebecca Jones, Senior Marketing Manager, The Retail Outsource, Coral Gables, FL, United States
Christine Kazor, Customer Service Manager, Bright House Networks, Riverview, FL, United States
Rafal Kucharski, Advertising Manager, Wytwornia Mebli, Swarzedz, Poland
Rebecca Lane, Epitome Health and Beauty, Bushey Heath, United Kingdom
Howard  Lewis, President, Family Heritage Life Insurance, Cleveland, OH, United States
Shane Lewis, Asst VP of Sales, Sundance Vacations, Sales, Kennett Square, PA, United States
Angie  Marchant, CEO / Client Management, Millennium Benefits Consulting, Sandy Springs, GA, United States
Frank Maylett, EVP Sales and Global Alliances, inContact, Midvale, UT, United States
Colin  McKillop , Chief Executive Officer, Butcher Enterprises, Windsor, Canada
Curtis McLaughlin, Customer Support Manager, Debix Inc., Customer Support, Austin, TX, United States
Sharon Metzung, Publications & Graphics Manager, Lake Metroparks, Concord Township, OH, United States
Tiffany Mittal, Director of Sales and Marketing, Multifamily Utility Company, San Diego, CA, United States
Simona Mollova, CEO, Investmen JSPK credit consult - jsk, Sofia, Bulgaria
Stacy Muentzer, Project Manager, Bankers Life and Casualtyy Company, Chicago, IL, United States
Mark O'Toole, Managing Director, Public Relations & Content Marketing, H|B, Newton, MA, United States
Steve Pappageorge, Sr. Director, Business Services, DeVry Inc., DeVry University, Downers Grove, IL, United States
Donald Pillai, International Marketing Executive, Bumbo International, Pretoria, South Africa
Melanie Pope, Director, Australian National Paramedic Support Foundation, Aspley Qld, AL, Australia
Janine Popick, CEO, VerticalResponse, San Francisco, CA, United States                
Amy Pulaski, Manager, UPS, Global Customer Service Group, Richmond, VA, United States
Jesintha Rajaratnam, Partner, Joje India Consultants - Finance HR FZC, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
Dennis Reno, Vice President, Global Customer Service, Oracle, San Francisco, CA, United States
Nancy Reynolds, Global Customer Service Manager, Braiform, Asheville, NC, United States
RJ  Riemer, Director - Training & Process Improvement, VIZIO, Inc., Irvine, CA, United States                     
Bruce Rosenblatt, VP of Sales, ITG Holdings, LLC, Bonita Springs, FL, United States
Amanda Running, PR Manager, SecurityMetrics, Orem, UT, United States
Brillian S K, Head - Talent Engagement, AIL, Human Resources, Mumbai, India
Anita Samojednik, VP, Customer Operations, TheLadders.com, New York, NY, United States
Russell Sarder, Chairman and CEO, NetCom Learning, New York, NY, United States
Harry Schechter, CEO, Temperature@lert, Boston, MA, United States
Stu Schlackman, Owner, Competitive Excellence, Richardson, TX, United States
Paula Seeger, Supervisor-Customer Service Hotline, University of Minnesota, Office of Classroom Managment, Minneapolis, MN, United States
Randy Selleck, Sr. Director, Call Center Operations, Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, GA, United States
Bill Shelton, Vice President, USHEALTH Advisors, Insurance, Grapevine, TX, United States
Donnovan Simon, Director, Sales Support, SMART Technologies, Calgary, Canada
Peter Smith, CEO, SDL, Superior, CO, United States
Cate Sommervold, Dr., pharmaCline, Development and Patient Outreach, Sioux Falls, SD, United States
Alec Stern, VP, Strategic Market Development, Constant Contact, Waltham, MA, United States
Will Tarrant, Project Director, FreemanGroup, Richardson, TX, United States
Lucas Tennant, Sr. VP of Sales, CompuPay, Miramar, FL, United States
Dwayne Tharp, Director of Sales, Networking Technologies and Support, Inc., Midlothian, VA, United States      
Kathy Townend, Marketing Manager, Europ Assistance, CSA Travel Protection, San Diego, CA, United States
Heather Valentine, Vice President Global Sales, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Manakin Sabot, VA, United States
Laura Walter, Corporate Marketing Manager, Enterprise Holdings, Inc., St. Louis, MO, United States
Jerry Weinberger, Director, Customer Service Retention Webs, Inc., Silver Spring, MD, United States
Uriel Weisz, Customer Experience Manager & Researcher, Strativity Group, Rochelle Park, NJ, United States
Patrick Williams, Hit-Maker, YOU ROCK!®, Gig Harbor, WA, United States
Pam Young, President, Unique Innovations Inc., Lancaster, PA, United States
Julia Zamorska, VP of Corporate Communications, iolo technologies, Los Angeles, CA, United States       

The following professionals have been named committee chairs for the final judging of the 2012 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Finalists will be notified on January 25 and announced on January 26.

Final judging will begin on January 30 and run for two weeks. 2012 winners will be announced at the 6th annual sales and customer service awards banquet on February 27 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

In total, more than 100 judges will participate in this year's final judging for the sales and customer service awards. Thank you to all of our judges for their participation.

Sales Achievement Chair: 
Jason Copeland, Senior Manager, National Sales Group, SurePayroll, Inc., Glenview, Illinois

 

Sales Department & Sales Team Chair:
Raj Hajela, Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer,  Salesify,
Redwood City, California

 

Sales Individual & Solutions Provider Chair: 
William Binch, SVP Sales, Marketo,
San Mateo, California

 

 

 

Customer Service/Call Center Individual & Customer Service/ Call Center Team Chair:
Carita Vallinkoski, Expansion Management, Competence Call Center AG,
Vienna, Austria

 

 

Customer Service/ Call Center Department Chair:
Susan Cloutier, Operations Manager, Mayo Medical Laboratories,
Rochester, Minnesota

 

Customer Service Achievement Chair:
Cameron E. Hurst, Vice President, Assurant Solutions,
Asheville, North Carolina

 

New Product & Service Chair:
Ben Saren, Vice President, Marketing, Litle & Co,
Lowell, Massachusetts

 

 

Next week we will publish the names of our committee members.

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?

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

All organizations and individuals worldwide are invited to submit entries.  The 2012 competition will recognize achievements since July 1, 2010.

To start your submission process, you should:

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. Watch our helpful video tutorial on how to successfully enter submissions here. 
   
   
4. Review past winners' entries here.  They're examples of entries that judges scored highly.
   
   
5. Make the most out of your submissions and learn how to submit winning entries here.

Still have questions? Contact us at help@stevieawards.com; we'd love to answer your last-minute questions!

More than 200 professionals worldwide will participate in the 2012 judging process.  Finalists will be notified on January 25.  Starting in 2012, all Finalists will be recognized as Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie Award winners.  Results will be announced at the sixth annual awards banquet on Monday, February 27 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

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.  (Last year more than 150,000 votes were cast.)  So 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.

Leave a comment and let us know which Sales or Customer Service award your organization deserves most!

The awards banquet of the 6th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's premier sales awards and customer service awards program, will take place on Monday, February 27 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The Stevies for Sales & Customer Service return to Las Vegas after two years in Miami Beach.  The first three editions of the awards were held in Vegas.

Tickets for the event will go on sale in late January when Finalists in the program are announced.  The entry deadline is tomorrow, November 18, but late entries will be accepted through January 18 with payment of a late fee.

Get the entry kit here, and when you're ready to submit your entries, start here!

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service have dozens of sales awards and customer service awards categories to choose from, recognizing individual performs, entire departments, and specialized team for their achievements since mid-2010.

Will your organization be entering the 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service?

The Stevie Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, has issued a call for entries for the 2012 (6th annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Entry kits and complete details on the competition are available at www.stevieawards.com/sales/.   

All customer service, contact center, and sales departments, teams and professionals worldwide are eligible to be nominated, in addition to new products and services used by those professionals.

The early-bird entry deadline is October 12 and the final deadline is November 18.  Winners of the sixth annual competition will be announced at a gala awards dinner on in February 2012 in Las Vegas.

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

2012 will mark the 10^th anniversary of the Stevie Awards movement, and to mark the occasion  the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service will be the first to present awards in three levels of distinction: gold, silver and bronze.  To date only overall category winners have received (gold) Stevie Awards.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service feature more than 125 sales awards, customer service 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 Worldwide VP of Sales 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 Manager 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

Winners of the most recent edition of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service included Apple Inc., Bulldog Solutions, CIGNA Government Services, Competence Call Center AG, L.L. Bean, Marsh U.S. Consumer, Overstock.com, Rosetta Stone, salesforce.com, SMART Technologies, SuiteAmerica Corporate Housing, and T-Mobile. A complete list of the fifth annual honorees is available at http://www.stevieawards.com/sales/.

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 of the 6th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include InfoGroup, ValueSelling Associates, and SDL.

Tweet

Excelling in sales and customer service is essential for success in business, and the Fifth Annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, which were presented last night at the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, recognized organizations and individuals for their recent achievements in these disciplines. 

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is the world's leading sales awards, customer service awards, and call center awards program. The awards were presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes several of the world's leading business awards shows including the prestigious American Business Awards. 

Winners of multiple Stevie Awards this year include Bulldog Solutions, CIGNA Government Services, Marsh U.S. Consumer, Overstock.com, Rosetta Stone, salesforce.com, Canada's SMART Technologies, and SuiteAmerica Corporate Housing. Other notable Stevie Award winners include Apple, L.L. Bean, the United Kingdom's T-Mobile, and Zappos.com. A complete list of all honorees by category is available at www.stevieawards.com/sales. 

Finalists and Stevie Award winners in the competition were determined by more than 125 judges over a three-month period.

Winners in the Second Annual People's Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service, as determined by more than 177,000 public votes, were also awarded at the event to organizations including Archipelago Learning, Macy's, Marriott Vacation Club, PetRays, and India's TATA Motors Ltd.

The event, attended by more than 200 executives from the U.S.A. and several other nations, benefited Camfed (www.camfed.org), which supports the education of girls and women in Africa.

More than 800 entries from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted to this year's competition, an increase of more than 60% over 2010. There were 25 categories for customer service professionals, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; as well as 40 categories for sales professionals, ranging from Global Sales Leader of the Year to Sales Training Program of the Year to Sales Department of the Year. New this year were categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers. 

The Business TalkRadio Network will broadcast the awards presentations from 8:00 pm ET on Thursday, February 24 across the U.S.A. The broadcast may be heard worldwide on their web simulcast, at http://www.businesstalkradio.net. 

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 http://www.stevieawards.com.

Sponsors of the 5th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include American Support, the Business TalkRadio Network, Competence Call Center, Infogroup, the Sales Management Association, and ValueSelling Associates.