More than 500 executives from around the world will converge on the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada later this week for the presentation of the 10th annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top honors for business development, customer service, contact center, and sales professionals.   Tickets for the gala event are still on sale.  This year's Grand, Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced and celebrated.

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 determined the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging earlier this month.  

DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM BOOK FOR FRIDAY'S GALA EVENT

Here is the list of organizations that are currently scheduled to attend Friday's gala.

Access One Inc Chicago IL
Acquia Boston MA
Adobe Systems Incorporated San Jose CA
Albridge an affiliate of Pershing Lawrenceville NJ
AllClear ID  Austin  TX
Alliance Laundry Systems Ripon WI
Ally Bank Detroit MI
American Express Global Business Travel  New York  NY
Amica Mutual Insurance Company Lincoln RI
AWeber - Email Marketing Chalfont PA
Beepi  Los Altos  CA
BenefitMall  Dallas  TX
BetterCloud  New York  NY
Beyond Codes Inc. Simi Valley CA
Black Knight Financial Services Data & Analytics Jacksonville FL
Blackbaud Charleston SC
Bloom Health Minneapolis MN
Box Inc. Los Altos CA
Buildium, Boston, MA
Bupa Global Miami FL
Carbonite Inc. Lewiston ME
CareerArc Burbank CA
Carew International Inc. Cincinnati OH
Cisco Systems Inc. San Jose CA
ClearSlide San Francisco CA
ClearVision Optical Company  Hauppauge  NY
Clio - Practice Management Software Vancouver BC Canada
Code42 Minneapolis MN
Concentrix  Fremont  CA
Conectys Bucharest Romania
Consolidated Edison  New York NY
Convergys Cincinnati OH
Coveo  San Mateo  CA
Cricket Wireless  Atlanta  GA
CubeSmart Malvern PA
DataCore Software Fort Lauderdale FL
Daxko  Birmingham  AL
Dell  Hyderabad  India
Delta Air Lines  Inc.  Atlanta  GA
Delta Defense  West Bend  WI
DHL Express (Canada) Ltd Brampton ON Canada
DHL Express U.S. Planation FL
DHL Global Forwarding Miami FL
Digital Risk  Maitland FL
DONAN  Louisville  KY
Donlen Fleet Leasing & Management  Northbrook  IL
Druva Inc. Sunnyvale CA
EFG Companies Irving TX
Elephant Insurance Richmond VA
EMKAY Inc Itasca IL
eMoney Advisor LLC Conshohocken PA
EXTRA Loyalty Solutions Co.  Istanbul  Turkey
ezCater Boston MA
FedEx TechConnect Memphis TN
Fidelity Investments Boston MA
FIS Jacksonville FL U.S.A
Forrest Performance Group Ft. Worth TX
FreeConferenceCall.com Long Beach CA
Frontline Technologies  Malvern  PA
G2A Rzeszow Poland
GoDaddy Scottsdale AZ
GoodData San Francisco CA
GPS Insight Scottsdale AZ
Gratis Istanbul Turkey
Grovo New York NY
GuideWell Connect  Jacksonville FL
Halyard Health Irvine CA
HCA IT&S Nashville TN
HealthEquity Draper UT
HGS  Lisle  IL
HomeServe USA Norwalk CT USA
Human Resources Development Fund  Riyadh  Saudi Arabia
IBM Armonk NY
iHeartMedia Inc. New York NY
Imparta Inc. Austin TX
Informatica Corporation Redwood City CA
Interactive Intelligence Indianapolis IN
Intronis Chelmsford MA
ISN Dallas TX
iSpeak Inc. Round Rock TX
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Logistic Support Center  Istanbul  Turkey
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Youth Assembly  Istanbul  Turkey
j2 Global Inc. Ottawa ON Canada
Janek Performance Group  Las Vegas  NV
Legacy.com Evanston IL
Lennox Industries Inc. Richardson TX
Lionbridge onDemand  Waltham  MA
Listen Up Español  Portland  ME
LiveWatch Security LLC  Evanston  IL
MarketBridge  Bethesda  MD
Marriott International Inc. Bethesda MD
Marriott Vacation Club International Orlando FL
Moody's Analytics New York NY
MTM Inc. Lake St. Louis MO
Nationwide Columbus OH
Navicure Duluth GA
Netchex Mandeville LA
Network Alliance Reston VA
NextAce  Orange  CA
Novus Global Solutions LLC
Nuance Communications  Inc.  Burlington  MA
Ofisim.com Istanbul Turkey
OmniUpdate Camarillo CA
OneSource Virtual Irving TX
OptumRx Irvine CA
Paycor  Inc.  Cincinnati  OH
Photodex Austin TX
Provident Financial Bulgaria  Sofia  Bulgaria
Pushpay Holdings Limited Redmond WA
Qorus Software Seattle WA
Revana  Tempe  AZ
Rimini Street Inc. Pleasanton CA
SalesBox Houston TX
SAVO Chicago IL
ServiceMax  Pleasanton CA
Sharegate Montreal QC Canada
SiriusDecisions  Wilton CT
Sitel Nashville TN
SmartLinx Solutions Edison NJ
Social Sentinel Inc. Burlington VT
Sofica Group  Bulgaria
SoftPro  Raleigh  NC
SomethingNew LLC Madison CT
SquareTrade San Francisco CA
Steton Salt Lake City UT
SurePayroll, Inc. Glenview IL
Synchrony Financial  Stamford  CT
Telerx King of Prussia PA
Telogis Aliso Viejo CA
The Brooks Group Greensboro NC
Thought Bubble Brisbane Australia
TouchBistro New York NY
TTNLearning  Minneapolis MN
United States Equestrian Federation  Lexington  KY
UPMC Health Plan Pittsburgh PA
USHEALTH Advisors LLC Grapevine TX
ValueSelling Associates  Rancho Santa Fe CA
Varonis  New York NY
Victaulic Easton PA
Visualize  Birmingham MI
Vivint Provo UT
Vodafone Americas New York NY
Vonage Holdings Corp. Holmdel NJ
WACUL Inc. Tokyo Japan
Wayfair  Boston  MA
Wells Fargo San Francisco CA
WePay Inc  Redwood City  CA
Wheels Inc. Des Plaines IL
White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes Tarpon Springs FL
Wyndham Vacation Ownership  Orlando  FL

Join the mailing list for the 2017 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, which will open for entries in July 2016.

The Stevie Awards are delighted to announce the seven distinguished professionals who will chair the final judging committees of the 2016 (10th annual) Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service competition.

The Stevie Awardsfor Sales & Customer Service are the world's top sales awards, customer service awards, business development awards, contact center awards, and more.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie placements from among the Finalists will be determined in final judging, which is ongoing  Results will be announced at the 10th annual awards dinner in Las Vegas on March 4.  Tickets are on sale now.

The seven committee chair selections are based on the categories being judged. Final judging chairs helped to form their committees, each of which will be comprised of 5-20 other executives.  Here are this year's final judging committee chairs.

SALES TEAM/SALES ACHIEVEMENT/SERVICE PROVIDER
Chair: Rob Jeppsen, Senior Vice President & General Manager, HireVue Accelerate
HireVue, Inc., South Jordan, Utah

Rob Jeppsen is a senior executive at HireVue, a fast-growth technology company that is launching a game-changing tool for Sales Leaders worldwide, and aims to revolutionize how sales leaders coach their teams and develop the world's greatest sales teams. Prior to joining HireVue, Rob was the SVP of Sales at Zions Bank from 2005 to 2015, where he helped lead a team of about 300 commercial bankers in a full-service offering of products to help grow and manage businesses.

Rob loves moving the Sales needle and has worked for, and consulted with, many organizations on sales, sales processes, leadership development, and the commercialization of new products and services, with emphasis on the technology and financial services sectors. Rob also enjoys building and driving growth of emerging organizations. He sees relationship development, business development, marketing, and corporate strategy as key ways to engineer value in organizations.

Rob is invited to speak at over 100 events each year. His 6-course training series, The Business Performance Series, was recognized as "Sales Training Curriculum of the Year"​ in the 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and has been successfully taught to over 900 businesses. Since 2007, Rob has received 15 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service in categories such as Sales Team of the Year, Sales Coaching Program of the Year, Sales Process of the Year, Sales Director of the Year, and Senior Sales Executive of the Year.

SALES DISTINCTION/NEW PRODUCT & SERVICE
Chair: Mike Hart, Vice President, Sales, Lennox Residential
Lennox Industries, Inc., Richardson, Texas

Mike Hart serves as the Vice President of Sales for the residential division of Lennox International. Mike joined Lennox in 1994 and is responsible for leading the residential sales, business development, national account, and customer service teams in the United States and Canada.

Mike has over 30 years of experience in sales, sales leadership, brand management, distribution, retail, general management, M&A, operations, and coaching with multiple brands and channels in the heating and air conditioning manufacturing industry. Mike also volunteers as a board member of the Air Conditioning Heating Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) Education and Training Committee. He also contributes as a board member on the sales advisory board and the marketing advisory board at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Mike has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and Marketing from the University of Maryland, and a Master’s degree from the University of Texas at Dallas. He spends his time mentoring and developing his team, profitably growing and exceeding sales, margin, and earnings objectives, implementing effective people processes, creating a culture of growth, accountability and teamwork, improving productivity and efficiency, providing effective sales leadership and coaching, as well as exceeding market share objectives. His 762 member sales team is responsible for $1.65B in revenue.

CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCCESS & CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER ACHIEVEMENT
Chair: Jo Wimble-Groves, Business Support Director
Active Digital, Lamberhurst, Kent, United Kingdom

Jo Wimble-Groves is a Director of the successful Kent-based company Active Digital, an award-winning business mobile communications company. Jo has spent the last 20 years of her career working on customer experience and team strategy. Her commitment to delivering an exceptional level of service and building her successful team has led to a number of European and global awards.

Since starting the company aged just 16, Jo credits her success to an innate passion, dedication, and zeal for business, along with an intuitive ability to identify good opportunities. Jo was voted “35 under 35” in Management Today magazine in 2010. Active Digital also named one of the “Top 6 Customer Service Business Leaders in Europe” at the European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards in 2013. The company also won the Gold Stevie Award for Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year - Technology Industries in the 2015 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Established in 1996, Active Digital clients include Olympic teams and rugby clubs. Its core business is providing mobiles, tablets, fixed line, and apps to UK organizations of all sizes.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER INDIVIDUAL
Chair: Michael Anthony, Managing Director
OnForce (a division of Beeline), Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Michael D. Anthony is General Manager of OnForce, a strategic business unit of Beeline. He is an innovative leader with more than 20 years of experience in the technical services industry. He is a passionate customer advocate who believes that a client-focused culture is the key to growing a successful business.

Michael joined Beeline in 2005 and recently transitioned from his role as VP, Client Services with Beeline to lead the OnForce business unit. Michael is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematical economics from the State University of New York at Oswego.

SALES INDIVIDUAL/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Chair: Jackie Coffey, CHIE, Vice President, Telemarketing
GuideWell Connect, Jacksonville, Florida

As Vice President of Telemarketing, Jackie Coffey is responsible for the overall direct-to-consumer telesales capability serving numerous clients in the health care vertical for GuideWell Connect. Coffey leads the multi-channel sales contact center specializing in new acquisition, welcome programs and retention for Medicare, Under 65, small group, and ancillary products.

Prior to GuideWell Connect, Jackie worked with Florida Blue for 22 years holding leadership positions in sales, marketing, and communications with Florida Blue. Before Florida Blue, Jackie held advertising and marketing positions with Shepherd Advertising Group, Mease Hospital, and other health care companies.

Coffey holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Tampa, and she is a Certified Call Center Manager through Purdue University’s College of Call Center Excellence. Coffey is a Certified Health Insurance Executive (CHIE) and a 2013-14 graduate of the Executive Leadership Program sponsored by America’s Health Insurance Plans. In The 2014 International Business Awards, Jackie won the Bronze Stevie Award for Executive of the Year–Health Products & Services.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER TEAM
Chair: Kadir Mustafa Öztürk, Executive Vice President, Alternative Delivery Channels & Digital Banking Projects
Intertech A.Ş., Istanbul, Turkey

After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Istanbul Technical University in 2000, Kadir worked at various companies on website development. In 2003, he started at DenizBank A.Ş. as a software engineer. In 2005, Kadir joined Intertech A.Ş. as a software engineer, fulfilling his duties in Internet Banking and Web Projects at Alternative Distribution Channels Department. He was named ADC Department Head in July 2010. In this position he has led many successful projects in Internet/Mobile Banking and CRM fields.

In August 2012, Kadir was promoted to the position of Executive Vice President in charge of ADC and Digital Banking Projects at Intertech A.Ş. He is responsible for Channel Management, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, ATM and Kiosks, Call Center, User Experience, and Design Teams under the globally awarded inter-Vision product of Intertech A.Ş. He is currently running local and international banking projects.

Kadir is married with two children. He enjoys spending his leisure time on world cinema and history of moviemaking.

CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT
Chair: Rebecca V. Eclipse, Chief Customer Experience Officer, 
Globe Telecom, Inc., Bonifacio Global City, The Philippines

Rebecca V. Eclipse is the Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Experience Officer of Globe Telecom, Inc., and heads the Office of Strategy Management and Customer Experience.  

Responding to the speed of change and evolution of the telecommunications space, Rebecca draws wisdom and insight from 5 years in consulting and over 25 years of experience in the telco industry–from financial management, revenue assurance and fraud, internal controls, and business operations to strategy development and management, process and quality management,and, more importantly today, customer experience transformation.

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.    

A 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.

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.

A 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

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.

All 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.

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.

October 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.

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.