Behind every large commercial property, whether it is a university campus or a shopping mall, are countless moving parts that have to work in harmony. Throw off one of those parts, and you can create major headaches for employees and customers.
When it established its Customer Care Center (CCC) in 2015, Stevie-winner Grosvenor Services tried to ensure that issues would not occur for any of its commercial clients. By centralizing its customer support function, the facility services firm has been able to reduce complaints and resolve issues as quickly as possible.
The Dublin, Ireland-based company, which provides a range of services, including cleaning, security, mechanical, and electrical, built the center to follow through on its customer-first ethos. Employees in the center review processes and systems to eliminate potential conflicts and address client needs in an effective, timely manner.
“Clients require so much more from their supplier partners, and we must continue to deliver beyond the services we provide at the front line,” says Marianne Lambert, a business unit manager who oversees the CCC.
The center is an extension of Grosvenor’s core values, summed up in the acronym “PROACT”—Pursuit of Excellence, Reliability, Openness, Accountability, Customer Focus, and Teamwork. It has proven to be a sound business decision, with the company subsequently winning a number of bids based on its commitment to customer service.
Customer Care Pays Dividends
The initiative has paid off in other ways too. The company became a finalist for multiple local awards and in February earned a Bronze Stevie® Award for Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year in the 2018 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.
“When our CCC was initially formed, we began researching achievements and accreditations as a method of improvement and benchmarking,” says Lambert. “In doing so, I came across the Stevie Awards and immediately I felt this was extremely relevant and worth pursuing.”
The honor naturally brings a sense of considerable pride. “This is a huge personal achievement as the manager of the CCC,” Lambert says. “I really believe in what I do and this award acknowledges the work and commitment that has been invested so far.”
Founded in 1959, Grosvenor Services now serves clients throughout Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and employs more than 4,500 people. In addition to its core facility management services, the corporation has expanded to offer everything from reception and mailroom support to landscaping and pest control.
One constant throughout Grosvenor Services’ history is a focus on the needs of the customer. This family business has tried to distinguish itself from competitors by making clients feel like they are dealing with a much smaller organization.
The CCC has certainly helped them accomplish that goal, and now they have a Stevie Award to show for their efforts.
“This is a huge achievement and an honor for our business and our team especially,” says Lambert. “We have worked extremely hard to instill and embed our culture of customer focus and this award is an acknowledgement of all the hard work and dedication that has been committed to doing so.”
Founded in October 2013, Collective Health is backed by NEA, Founders Fund, Google Ventures, and other leading investors. Erika Alperin is the Corporate Marketing and Internal Communications Manager at Collective Health.
Brainier was founded in 1995 in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States with a mission to aid clients in continuing education and training, advancing skillsets, and expanding knowledge. They offer three different computer software packages: élan LMS, Chameleon 2.0 (developed by BI WORLDWIDE), and Legacy LMS.
“Winning has rallied our colleagues around the world to re-double our commitment to deliver ‘100% happiness, 100% of the time,’” says Lisa Oswald, Travelzoo’s Senior Vice President of Global Customer Service. “We know everyone's job is all about doing what's best for our members—from the travel partners we choose to work with, to the destinations we curate and the rigor of our quality vetting process—we are 
proud to stand behind our brand.”
Even so, Oswald contends that pulling in several customer service awards at the February 23 ceremony in Las Vegas was particularly gratifying. “A win for the service team has infused an even greater sense of pride and enthusiasm for our members-first philosophy,” she says.
DP DHL, with Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award wins for activities in Argentina, Lebanon, the U.S., Vietnam, and other nations, was the most honored organization this year, earning the top Grand Stevie Award trophy for the fifth consecutive year. Other Grand Stevie Award winners, in descending order, include IBM, HomeServe USA, VIZIO Inc., Sales Partnerships, Inc., John Hancock Financial Services, FIS, Carbonite, Visualize, and Delta Vacations.
This year’s People’s Choice winners, who will each receive the coveted crystal People’s Choice Stevie Award, are:
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 60K Ltd. (Sofia, Bulgaria), Albridge (Pennington, NJ, USA), Allianz Global Assistance (Richmond, VA, USA), BlueCat Networks (Toronto, ON, Canada), Carbonite, Inc. (Lewiston, ME, USA), Dell Technologies (Bangalore, Karnataka, India and Round Rock, TX, USA), Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, GA, USA), Delta Defense (West Bend, WI, USA), Delta Vacations (Minot, ND, USA), Deutsche Post DHL (worldwide), Druva Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), eMoney Advisor, LLC (Radnor, PA, USA), FIS (Jacksonville, FL, USA), GNResound (Bloomington, MN, USA), GuideWell Connect (Jacksonville, FL, USA), HomeServe USA (Norwalk, CT, USA), IBM (Armonk, NY, USA and Tokyo, Japan), iHeartMedia, Inc. (New York, NY, USA), Imparta Inc. (Austin, TX, USA), John Hancock Financial Services (Boston, MA, USA) Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company (Springfield, MA, USA), Mercer Consumer, (Des Moines, IA, USA), NCR Corporation (Duluth, GA, USA), nThrive Education (Los Angeles, CA, USA), Overstock.com (Midvale, UT, USA), Response (Lindon, UT, USA), Sales Partnerships, Inc. (Broomfield, CO, USA), SmartLinx Solutions (Edison, NJ, USA), Sun Basket (San Jose, CA, USA), TTEC (Englewood, CO, USA), UPMC Health Plan (Pittsburgh, PA, USA), VakifBank (Istanbul, Turkey), VIZIO Inc. (Irvine, CA, USA), VXI Global Solutions (Los Angeles, CA, USA), Wells Fargo Treasury Management Client Delivery (San Francisco, CA, USA) and Wyndham Vacation Ownership (Orlando, FL, USA).
Lisa P. Oswald is senior vice president of customer service at Travelzoo and leads a global portfolio including customer and client services, product operations, and voice-of-the-customer programs in support of Travelzoo’s 28 million members worldwide. Lisa is a Director of SOCAP International, the customer care industry’s leading professional development association, and an Advisory Board member with Execs In The Know, a global community of customer experience executives. She is a Gold Stevie Award winner, and was named Customer Service Executive of the Year in 2013 by The American Business Awards. She is extremely pleased to be serving the Stevie Awards community as a Judging Committee Chair in 2018.
Art Gairo is a Client Operations Executive with over 20 years of experience in building, transforming, and leading world class customer service organizations. Art currently serves as Senior Vice President of Client Operations at Evolve IP, The Cloud Strategy Company™. In this role, Art is responsible for leading the entire client experience, while directly leading client care & support, technical services, project management, service delivery and client activations. 
As the Senior Director of Customer Service at Dun & Bradstreet, Matt enjoys developing leaders and taking care of customers. In 2017, Matt was recognized for spearheading teams that resulted in improved Net Promoter Scores, handled millions of customer contacts at an 82% service level, and contributed over $100 million in sales, saves, and collections.
Ben Martin currently serves as a member of the Network Alliance executive management team. He directs the Network Alliance Client Support Center, which specializes in offering white glove technical support, system management, and professional services for a wide spectrum of Cloud Desktop, Cloud Infrastructure, and Cloud VoIP environments. Ben previously served as Vice President of Customer Care at Parature, Inc. (acquired by Microsoft), where he directed technical support operations serving Parature's global customer and partner network.
Jay Fortuna has been helping transform the Learning and Development industry through a blended learning approach that incorporates micro-learning and other innovative techniques. The curriculum and courses that Jay has created are not only effective and immersive, but are engaging and enjoyable. Jay is becoming a recognized name in the Learning and Development (L&D) field and received multiple awards in 2017. This includes winning the Gold Stevie Award for Sales Training Program of the Year, and Bronze Stevie Awards for Sales Training Product of the Year, and for Sales Training or Education Professional of the Year in the 2017 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Services for his work with the Horton Group. In addition, Jay and his team were named a Finalist by the Institute for Excellence in Sales (IES) for Sales Innovation of the Year. Recently, Jay was named as one of Workforce Magazine’s 40 under 40 Gamechangers in 2017 for his accomplishments and the future impact that they believe he will have in the human resources and L&D arena.
Tiffany Wagner has worked in sales, consulting, and sales operations leadership roles in the software industry for 25 years. Her experience crosses over both start-ups and fortune 500 companies. She has been with SAP since 2006, and is responsible for the largest demand-generation program in SAP strategic and large enterprise accounts.
Dan Stalp is known as the consummate sales training professional. As the president of Sandler Training of Kansas City, he excels as a transformational sales trainer and sales coach, a highly sought-after speaker, and respected business writer. For more than 12 years, Dan has been one of the most successful sales trainers in the Kansas City metro area. He has built a loyal client base, many of which not only continue with him year after year, but also refer him to their clients and business associates. They do this because Dan has helped them become very astute and highly successful non-traditional sales professionals. In the 2017 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, Dan received the Gold Stevie Award for Sales Training or Education Leader of the Year in the Sales Individual Awards category.
