Winners in the eighth 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 attended by more than 470 executives from around the world.

DP DHL, with Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award wins for activities worldwide, in Mexico, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S.A., among other nations, was the most honored organization this year, thus earning the top Grand Stevie Award trophy. Other Grand Stevie Award winners, in descending order, include VIZIO, Inc., Delta Air Lines, John Hancock Signature Services, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Turk Economy Bank, Salesforce, Richardson, EMKAY, and PetRays Veterinary Telemedicine Consultants.

Among other Stevie winners, Blinds.com, CubeSmart, FreshBooks, Lennox Industries, and RBS Citizens won three Gold Stevie Awards each. Winners of two Gold Stevies include Akbank, AMD, and Marriott Vacation Club.

A complete list of all Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards by category is available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

Winners in the fifth annual People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service, as determined by more than 430,000 public votes, were also awarded at the event to organizations including CardioVet, Constant Contact, JobVite, and India’s TATA Motors Ltd., among others.

The presentations were recorded and will be broadcast by the Biz Talk Radionetworks (http://www.biztalkradio.com) at 8:00 pm ET on Wednesday, February 26.

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 and the new Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

Over 1,500 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition, an increase of 36% over 2013. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 129 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges. Entries were considered in 43 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 43 categories for sales and business development achievements, 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 130 members of seven specialized judging committees determined the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, that took place January 27 - February 5.

About The Stevie Awards
The Stevie Awards are conferred in five programs: The American Business Awards, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. A sixth program, the German Stevie Awards, will be introduced later this year. 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 8th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include the Biz Talk Radionetwork, Competence Call Center, and ValueSelling Associates.

A record crowd of more than 400 executives from around the world will attend the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on Friday, February 21.  Get your tickets now.

These are the world's top sales awards and customer service awards.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced, selected from the Finalists announced last month by the members of seven specialized final judging committees.

Here's the list of organizations that will be represented at next Friday's gala, as of earlier today:

(mt) Media Temple Culver City CA
60K Ltd. Sofia Bulgaria
Accenture BPO Services of BC Vancouver BC Canada
Access One Inc Chicago IL
Acquia Burlington MA
Actiontec Electronics Sunnyvale CA
Aditya Birla Minacs Moncton NB Canada
Adobe Systems Incorporated San Jose CA
Advanced Solutions Inc. Louisville KY
Ally Bank Detroit MI
AMD Sunnyvale CA
ARI Mount Laurel NJ
Assurant Solutions Atlanta GA
AVRS Petaluma CS
Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation Memphis TN
Best Western International Phoenix AZ
Blinds.com Houston TX
Bluebeam Software Pasadena CA
Bluegreen Vacations Indianapolis IN
Broadview Networks Rye Brook NY
Buildium Boston MA
Cars.com Chicago IL
CFS2 Tulsa OK
CGS New York NY
Chally Group / Sales Education Foundation Dayton OH
Clarizen San Mateo CA
Comcast Cable Philadelphia PA
Competence Call Center Vienna Austria
Constant Contact Waltham MA
CRMnext Noida India
Cross Country Home Services Fort Lauderdale FL
CSI Enterprises / globalVCard Bonita Springs FL
CubeSmart Malvern PA
DataCore Software Fort Lauderdale FL
Datapipe Jersey City NJ
Delta Air Lines Atlanta GA
DHL Express Mexico Distrito Federal
DHL Express Saudi Arabia
DHL Global Forwarding Bonn Germany
DHL Global Forwarding Miami FL
DHL Plantation FL
Discover Financial Services Riverwoods IL
DiscoverOrg Vancouver WA
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG Stuttgart Germany
Elephant Insurance Glen Allen VA
En Pointe Technologies Los Angeles CA
Enterprise Fleet Management St. Louis MO
ExactTarget Indianapolis IN
Experian Consumer Services Costa Mesa CA
Extreme Networks Salem NH
eZCom Software Inc. Englewood NJ
FastSpring Santa Barbara CA
FedEx TechConnect Memphis TN
Florida Blue BlueDirect Sales Center Jacksonville FL
Forrest Performance Group Fort Worth TX
FreshBooks Toronto ON Canada
General Cable Corp. Highland Heights KY
GoDaddy.com Scottsdale AZ
Great Wolf Resorts Customer Contact Center Madison WI
Haiku Learning Tucson AZ
HotelTonight San Francisco CA
HUB International- Business Development Team Westmont IL
I-Flow LLC Lake Forest CA
IHG Salt Lake City UT
Imparta Ltd London United Kingdom
Infinite Convergence Solutions Arlington Heights IL
InfoCision Management Corporation Akron OH
Informatica Corporation Redwood City CA
InsureMyTrip Warwick RI
IntelePeer San Mateo CA
iSpeak Inc. Round Rock TX
Jobvite Burlingame CA
John Hancock Portsmouth NH
KANA Software Inc. Sunnyvale CA
Kohl's Department Stores - Credit Division Menomonee Falls WI
Lennox Industries Richardson TX
Listen Up Espanol Portland ME
LocumTenens.com Alpharetta GA
Locus Telecommunications Inc. Fort Lee NJ
Marriott International Inc. Bethesda MD
Marriott Vacation Club International Orlando FL
MasterCard WorldWide O'Fallon MO
Merchant Warehouse Boston MA
Mercury Payment Systems Durango CO
MetLife Alico Life Insurance K.K. Osaka Japan
Moen Incorporated North Olmsted OH
Monitronics International Dallas TX
Mozy Corporation Seattle WA
MSA Pittsburgh PA
NCR Corporation Dayton OH
Netchex Mandeville LA
Network Alliance Reston VA
nFocus Solutions Austin TX
Nuance Communications Burlington MA
NYCM Insurance Edmeston NY
Offerpop New York NY
Oi Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Brazil
OmniUpdate Camarillo CA
Opet Istanbul Turkey
OppenheimerFunds Inc. Englewood CO
OptumRx Costa Mesa CA
Outsell LLC Minneapolis MN
Parlant Technology Provo UT
Paycor Cincinnati OH
Phone.com Newark NJ
Photodex Austin TX
PJ Care Ltd Milton Keynes United Kingdom
PrimePay West Chester PA
Purchasing Power Atlanta GA
Rackspace Hosting San Antonio TX
Rapid7 Boston MA
RBS Citizens Providence RI
Reputation.com Redwood City CA
Safelite AutoGlass Columbus OH
Salesforce San Francisco CA
Salt Lake County Government Salt Lake City UT
Shell & Turcas Petrol AS Istanbul Turkey
ShopKeep POS New York NY
Single Digits Inc. Manchester NH
Sitel Nashville TN
SmartAction El Segundo CA
Sofica Group JSC Sofia Bulgaria
SolarCity San Mateo CA
SpareFoot Austin TX
Strategy to Revenue Buckinghamshire United Kingdom
Sundance Vacations Wilkes-Barre PA
SurePayroll Inc. Glenview IL
SYSPRO Costa Mesa CA
Telogis Aliso Viejo CA
Thismoment San Francisco CA
TradeKing Group Inc. Fort Lauderdale FL
Trifecta Communications Moore OK
TTNET Istanbul Turkey
TTNET Istanbul Turkey
United States Equestrian Federation Lexington KY
ValueSelling Associates Rancho Santa Fe CA
Verne Global Falls Church VA
Vestmark Wakefield MA
Vitacost.com Boca Raton FL
Vivint Inc. Provo UT
VIZIO Inc. Irvine CA
Vonage Holmdel NJ
Wells Fargo Bank - Treasury Management Client Services El Monte CA
Wheels Inc. Des Plaines IL
Zendesk San Francisco CA
ZoomInfo Waltham MA
Zuora Inc. Foster City CA

Final judging concluded on Wednesday for the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top customer service awards and sales awards.  More than 260 professionals around the world participated in the preliminary and final judging process this year - a record number - and we thank all of the people who participated for their time, their interest, and their insights.

Two weeks ago in this space we acknowledged the 129 executives who participated in the preliminary judging process, which determined this year's Finalists.  Now it's time we thank the members of the seven specialized final judging committees, whose scores have determined the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements that will be announced at our gala awards banquet on Friday, February 21 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.  (Get your tickets here.)

All judges are also acknowledged on the awards' website, will be listed in the official program book that will be distributed at the awards gala and online, and will receive a certificate of appreciation, suitable for framing.

Interested in participating in the 2015 judging process?  Learn more here.

The members of the seven final judging committees were as follows.

Customer Service & Contact Center Achievement Categories Final Judges

Chair: George Orr, Vice President of Client Services at kCura in Chicago, Illinois, USA

Committee:
Steve Ankenbrandt, Cofounder & President
Milyli Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA

Bruce Blank, Director of Litigation Support
Foley & Lardner LLP, Westminster, Colorado, USA

Ye Chen, Founder
NexLP, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Ruth Diehl, Assistant Vice President
Harris Bank, Elmhurst, Illinois, USA

Anthony Digate, Senior Account Executive
SalesForce, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Jeff Gilles, Director, Product Solutions Group
Content Analyst Company, Reston, Virginia, USA

Tanya Glaser, Litigation Support Case Manager
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Joann Kay, Customer Care Director
GraduationSource, Port Chester, New York, USA

Jim LeMere, Director Customer Contact Center
Great Wolf Resorts, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Kit Mackie, Founder
NexLP, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Alicia Orr, Corporate Bookkeeper
Waterton Associates, Elmhurst, Illinois, USA

Walter Pynas, COO
George Jon Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA

John Sanchez, Executive Vice President
Advanced Discovery, LLC, San Francisco, California, USA

Taffi Schurz, Vice President, Quality Assurance
LDiscovery, LLC, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Michael Senko, Partner
Wolf & Co LLP, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, USA

Christopher Terzich, Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking
Standard Bank & Trust Company, Lyons, Illinois, USA

Customer Service and Contact Center Individual Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Sanjeev Garg, Global Head of Customer Care, Commercial Vehicles Business Unit at TATA Motors in Mumbai, India

Committee:
Sumanth Badiga, Managing Director
Jasper Industries Limited, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Atul Bahel, Marketing Manager
Shell India Markets Private Limited, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Bhavana Bindra, Vice President, Automotive Business
Cummins India Limited, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Angela Blevins, Vice President Customer Care
Bluegreen Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Saibal Choudhuri, Global Account Manager
Shell India Markets Private Limited, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Anurag Gupta, Director
DGM-India, New Delhi, India

Phillip Horvath, Senior Vice President, Professional Services
Merchant Partners, Redmond, Washington, USA

Manish Jar, Group Managing Director
Sewells Group, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Shridhar P Joshi, Consultant Advisor
TATA Motors, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Achal Mehra, Director
Mahua Resorts Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Sanjay Passi, President & CEO
Pasco Motors, New Delhi, India

Mathew Sebastian, Managing Director
Strategic Learning Solutions Private Limited, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Premanand Shenoy, Managing Director
Prerana Motors Private Limited, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Vipul Tandon, Vice President, Distribution Business
Cummins India Limited, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Customer Service Department Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Kelly Thomas, Assistant Vice President, Client Relations at OppenheimerFunds, Inc., in Englewood, Colorado, USA

Committee:
Colleen Bolton, Client Officer
National Quality Review, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Glen Colthup, Senior Director
SRS|Acquiom LLC, Denver, Colorado, USA

Andrea Daigle, Marketing Director
HindmanSanchez, Arvada, Colorado, USA

Bethany Demeter, Sales Analyst
Inspirato, Littleton, Colorado, USA

Russ DiBlasi, Vice President, Operations & Customer Care
Zions Bancorporation, Houston, Texas, USA

Vickie Friece, Vice President, Operations & Customer Care
Zions Bancorporation, Kanab, Utah, USA

Eric Head, Senior Director of Sales
Foresee, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Adam Ihrig, Business Analyst, Chase Customer Service Real Time Solutions-Card
JPMorgan Chase, Heathrow, Florida, USA

Scott Kozak, Founding Partner/CEO
KozakandAssociates, Highlands Ranch, Colorado, USA

Jason Morris, Release Manager
SRS|Acquiom LLC, Denver, Colorado, USA

Joann Orefice, Director-Human Resources
Ticketmaster, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA

Jacque Plair, Director, Network & Corporate Services
IHG, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Tonya Plumer, Sales Assistant
Strategic Benefit Services, Rensselaer, New York, USA

Steven Puckett, Vice President, Retirement Plans
Strategic Benefit Services, Rensselaer, New York, USA

Soli Schwarz, Business Analyst
JPMorgan Chase, Heathrow, Florida, USA

Afton Semon, Director Customer Service-Support Service
Franklin Templeton, Rancho Cordova, Georgia, USA

Mike Twedt, Director Finance
Miller Heiman, Aurora, Colorado, USA

Vincent Vanden Bossche, Managing Director
Call Communications, Ottenburg, Belgium

Customer Service and Contact Center Team Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Ben Herkenhoff, Customer Interaction Center Manager at Outsell, LLC in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA 

Committee:
Teresa Allen, Owner
Common Sense Solutions, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA

Ken Amormino, Director of Call Center Operations
Time Warner Cable, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Dmitry Aristarkhov, Executive Vice President
National Association of Contact Centers, Moscow, Russia

Leah Bowes, Senior Director, Customer Experience
PaySimple, Denver, Colorado, USA

Laura Fredrickson, Director of Marketing
NIC Technologies, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Peggy Heafey, Director, Intermediary Partner Care
Marriott Global Sales & Customer Care, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Tunde Hubina, Customer Care Director
UPC DTH S.á r.l., Luxembourg

Molly Kapoor, Head of Marketing
Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Meltem Karateke, President
IMI Conferences, Istanbul, Turkey

Raymond Lohr, Customer Experience Program Manager
Kabel Deutschland, Den Haag, The Netherlands

Steve Mackie, Group Manager, Workforce Management
Target Corporation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Mary Poynter, Senior Director Managed Services
Contact At Once!, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA

Randy Selleck, Senior Director, EPS Call Center Operations
Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Emily Truslow, Annuity Customer Service Manager
Securian Financial Group, St Paul, Minnesota, USA

Sales Achievement and Sales Individual Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Becky Johns, Vice President of MarketBridge in Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Committee:
James Brodo, Senior Vice President, Marketing
Richardson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Nicky Brooker, Vice President
MasterCard, Purchase, New York, USA

Jason Brusa, Director, Partnership Brand Marketing
Capital One, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Jamie Clark, National Sales Coach
Forrest Performance Group, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Dean Cowell, Senior Vice President, Marketing Strategy
Citi, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Fred Cremo, National Practice Leader
Humana, Tampa, Florida, USA

David deBuys, Associate Director
CEB, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Vincent DiCaro, Vice President, Development & Communication
National Fatherhood Initiative, Germantown, Maryland, USA

Christine Fludd, Loyalty Marketing Manager
Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, USA

Kristi Kehr, Area Catering Sales Manager
Panera, LLC, York, Pennsylvania, USA

Howard Lewis, President
Family Heritage Life Insurance, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Kore McBride, Owner
Miss Fit, Encinitas, California, USA

April Mock, Manager, CEM & Loyalty
Panera, LLC, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Andrew Pyper, Senior Business Leader, US Merchant Marketing
MasterCard Worldwide, Purchase, New York, USA

Vicki Rollins, Vice President, Sales Operations
Angoss Software Corporation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Matthew Smith, Program Manager
Qualcomm, Encinitas, California, USA

Melissa Steward, Vice President, Marketing
National Fatherhood Initiative, Germantown, Maryland, USA

Jason Stroot, Strategic Partner Lead
Google Inc, New York, New York, USA

Cindy Wen, Marketing Specialist-Credit & Gift Card Marketing
Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, USA

Jaffer Zaidi, Head of Retail Partnerships
Google Inc, New York, New York, USA

Sales Team and Sales Department Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Mike Ortegon, Director of Global Sales Operations at HomeAway.com in Austin, Texas, USA

Committee:
Jeanne Conger, Certified Forrest PG Instructor
Forrest Performance Group, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Michael Conley, Director Operations Mid Atlantic
Wyndham Vacation Ownership, N Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA

Daniel DiBona, Sales Manager
Elephant Insurance, Glen Allen, Virginia, USA

Robert Gillespie, Executive Vice President, Corporate Director Employee Development & Training
New York Community Bancorp, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Linden Ingram, Executive Vice President
Imparta Inc., Austin, Texas, USA

Fred Kessler, Founder
Sales Partnerships, Inc., Westminster, Colorado, USA

Scott MacGregor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing
FloTech, Middletown, Connecticut, USA

Jason Mathias, Vice President of Sales Operations
Living Social, Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Rowena Maxwell, Senior Principle-Customer Sales & Service
Accenture, London, United Kingdom

Gene McNaughton, President
Elite Concepts, Inc., Ladera Ranch, California, USA

Julie Thomas, President & CEO
ValueSelling, Rancho Santa Fe, California, USA

Solution Provider and New Product and Service Categories Final Judging Committee

Chair: Ansa Sekharan, Senior Vice President, Global Customer Support at Informatica Corporation in Redwood City, California, USA

Committee:
Jamal Ayyad, Vice President-Service Delivery
SurePayroll, Inc., Glenview, Illinois, USA

Deepak Chawla, Senior Director Global Technical Services
Nutanix, San Jose, California, USA

Andrew Curtis, Manager, Product Specialists
iCIMS, Hazlet, New Jersey, USA

Churchill Dass Prince, Founder & CEO
Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India

David Fong, Vice President, Marketing
Accounting 4 Solutions, Inc, Los Angeles, California, USA

J Israel Greene, Director of Managed Services
Gorilla Group, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Jimmy Griffith, Director, Quality Assurance
Assurant Solutions, Forth Worth, Texas, USA

Julie Holmes, Product Manager
InsightSoftware.com, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA

Scott James, Program Manager, Member Advisory Center
Arizona State Retirement System, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Eric Johnson, Senior Vice President & CIO
Informatica, Global Customer Support & Maintenance Renewals, Redwood City, California, USA

Jesintha Rajaratnam, Managing Partner
Joje India Consultants/Finance & HR, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

Mark Repkin, Chief Revenue Officer
iPromo.com, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Rahul Sheth, Lead Strategy and Marketing
CRMnext, Noida, India

David Vasquez, Customer Care Executive
Ally Bank, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Carla Zachman, Director, Talent Acquisition and Talent Management
Insight Software, Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA

Julie Thomas is CEO of ValueSelling Associates in Rancho Santa Fe, California, USA, a sponsor of the 2014 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top customer service awards and sales awards.  ValueSelling has associates around the globe, and recently appointed a new associate in China, so Julie is excited by the customer service awards category in the new Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.  (Get your entry kit for this program here.)  Julie recently shared with us some insight on determining the right price of a product or service.

During the objection-handling module of our ValueSelling sales training course, we ask participants: “What is the most common objection?” Nine times out of ten, the objection they get from the customer is: “Your price is too high,” or “You’re too expensive.”

The price objection is guaranteed to come up during most sales cycles. In the current economic environment, no one wants to pay more than necessary for any product or service.  In addition, buyers are more educated than ever before. Choices are plentiful. No one wants to overpay or be taken advantage of. With that said, we don’t need to lower prices to win the business … nor do we need to be afraid of discussing the cost of the products or services we sell.

Price objections are raised because the salesperson hasn’t yet demonstrated enough value for the prospect to feel comfortable in making a purchase.

Price and value are vastly different concepts, however. Price is what is paid for an item at a given time. It’s a short-term conversation. Value is an investment made in exchange for future benefits. Value is a long-term concept.

Does your product or service convey value?
Start by asking yourself these seemingly simple questions:

-What makes your company valuable to a customer?

-What is your unique selling proposition?

-Why should the prospect care?

Often a prospect gets the same pitch from both you and your competitors. Whether it’s great service, 24-hour availability, leading-edge technology, or more than 500 happy clients, they’ve heard it all. The truth is that it doesn’t matter what you think is valuable. What matters is what the customer perceives is valuable.

Once you identify what is valuable to your customer, it will be much easier to lead the prospect toward a buying decision.

Most sales professionals don’t spend nearly enough time to uncover the real value they offer the prospect. Still others don’t know how to articulate the value in a way that presses the customer’s emotional hot buttons.

Get the customer’s perspective
What’s the best way to pinpoint and promote real value? Get the customer perspective. Discover how your customer uses your product or service. Interview them by phone or in person, and find out:

-What do they like about your product or service?

-How does it make their life easier?

-How could your product or service be improved?

-How do they use your product or service?

-What causes them to use your product or service?

-How does it impact their customers?

This gives you a ripe opportunity to listen and be open to what the customer has to say. Even if the comments are less than positive, sometimes the mere fact that you’re listening helps to create a bond with the customer that is long lasting.

Become your own customer 

Believe it or not, some companies don’t even use their own products or services! First-hand experience gives you true empathy for the customer. You wouldn’t buy a car without reading the reviews, visiting various car dealerships, or taking a few for a test drive, would you? Often your product or service requires a much larger investment. So don’t just rely on information from marketing materials to fuel your sales presentations. Shop around, “test drive” the other products and services, and do a side-by-side comparison with the competition.

By being your own customer, you’ll quickly discover what’s so great about your product or service, and you’ll be able to articulate the value proposition more effectively.

Deliver value to your customer
Given that customers are faced with a vast array of decisions, opportunities, and alternatives all competing for limited funds, value matters more than ever before. Your job throughout the sales cycle is to determine the customer’s motivation for buying your product or service, and then articulate that value in such a compelling way that the customer feels comfortable making the decision to buy from you.

When it comes to decision criteria, these are the crucial measurements the customer weighs:

-Is the price worth the investment?

-Is the risk worth the reward?

-Is the effort worth the impact?

Value is in the eye of the customer
Make the effort to gain the customer perspective, passionately articulate your value, and then deliver value over and over again. Doing so will help you reduce the perceived risk, increase the positive impact you deliver, and speed the sales cycle.

For more information and insights on sales and selling, visit the Value Selling Blog.

About Julie Thomas:

Julie Thomas, President and CEO of ValueSelling Associates, is a noted speaker, author, and consultant. In a career spanning more than 24 years, she credits her mastery of the ValueSelling Framework® for her own meteoric rise through the ranks of sales, sales management, and corporate leadership positions.

Julie began her career at Gartner Group. In 1999, she became Vice President of Gartner’s Sales Training for the Americas, which included successfully managing the training of new hires in the ValueSelling process.  In 2003, Julie acquired ValueSelling Associates with the support of ValueSelling CEO and co-founder Lloyd Sappington. Since then, Julie has led the company to become an industry leader in competency- and process-based training for escalating sales performance.

Julie is a sought-after speaker at industry events such as the Selling Power Sales Leadership Conferences. She is a guest lecturer at both Babson University and the University of Michigan. In addition, Julie is on the advisory board of the eWomenNetwork Foundation Advisory Council and is heavily involved in her local public schools as well as the San Diego Children’s Hospital Auxiliary.

She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

About ValueSelling Associates

ValueSelling Associates, based in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., is the creator of the ValueSelling Framework^®, the sales methodology preferred by sales executives around the globe. Since 1991, ValueSelling Associates has helped FORTUNE 1000 business-to-business sales organizations compete and win in markets crowded with seemingly similar products and services. ValueSelling Associates has maintained its position as a leader in the industry by continually evolving to meet the new challenges sales forces face. Clients turn to the experts at ValueSelling Associates for classroom training, online training, and consulting services that yield immediate impact, repeatable strategies, and sustainable results. For more information, visit www.valueselling.com.

We've just published a new video entitled" How to Enter The 2014 International Business Awards.  Watch it here.

The International Business Awards are the world's premier business awards program.  Now in their 11th year, the IBAs typically receive nominations from organizations in more than 50 nations and territories. 

All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to the IBAs, recognized as the world's top honors in business and the only completely international business awards competition.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Stevie® Award trophies will be conferred upon top-scoring nominations in each category, to be determined by the ratings of more than 200 professionals around the world, acting as judges..

The IBAs feature a wide range of categories to recognize achievement in every aspect of the workplace, including

• Customer Service Awards
• Company/Organization Awards
• Creative Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Management Awards
• Marketing Awards Categories
• New Product Awards
• Corporate Communications, IR, and PR Awards
• Support Awards 
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

See the full list of International Business Awards categories.

In slightly more than four minutes the new video illustrates

• How to get the entry kit
• How to review and select categories
• How to prepare and submit entries through the IBA website

The early-bird entry deadline for The 2014 International Business Awards is April 16.  See the complete IBA calendar here.

The 2014 (11th Annual) International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition, is accepting entries.

Get your entry kit here.

All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to the IBAs, recognized as the world's top honors in business and the only completely international business awards competition.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Stevie® Award trophies will be conferred upon top-scoring nominations in each category, to be determined by the ratings of more than 200 professionals around the world, acting as judges..

The IBAs feature a wide range of categories to recognize achievement in every aspect of the workplace, including

• Customer Service Awards
• Company/Organization Awards
• Creative Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Information Technology Awards
• Management Awards
• Marketing Awards Categories
• New Product Awards
• Corporate Communications, IR, and PR Awards
• Support Awards 
• Web Site Awards, Smartphone and Tablet App, and other media awards

See the full list of International Business Awards categories.

Nominations should cite achievements since 1 January 2013. There is no eligibility timeframe for app and web site entries - it does not matter when they were first published.

The early-bird entry deadline, with discounted entry fees, is 16 April. The entry deadline is 14 May, but late entries will be accepted through 11 June with payment of a late fee. Entry details are available at www.stevieawards.com/iba.

Results will be announced on 13 August and 2014 honorees will be celebrated at the 11th annual awards banquet in October in Paris, France.  

Do not hesitate to contact us with your questions about how to participate in The 2014 International Business Awards.

Theresa Bradley-Banta Real Estate Consultancy in Denver, Colorado, USA won a Gold Stevie® Award in the website awards categories of The 2013 American Business Awards, the U.S.A.’s top business awards program. The company also won a Bronze Stevie® for Company of the Year-Real Estate; and Theresa won the Bronze for Executive of the Year-Real Estate. (Entries are now being accepted to The 2014 American Business Awards - get your entry kit here.) With the rallying real estate market, Theresa provides some savvy tips on how to invest wisely.

“I started investing in real estate in 2004, largely by accident,” Theresa told us. “Through my work as a business coach, I realized that I could buy a property, rent it out, and, through the income received, upgrade to a far more beautiful home/office space.  I not only made my money back—and then some—but I also had the home and office of my dreams.”

Theresa was hooked.  Since then, investing in real estate has become her life’s passion and her main source of income. “It’s really as a result of my passion that I chose to become an educator and consultant,” she told us.  Her clients are individuals who want to invest, or are already investing, in real estate-from beginners to pros with million dollar investments.

Over the years, Theresa has seen that certain rules for real estate investment do not change. “Abide by them and income will follow,” she promises. Here are Theresa’s rules:

Education Counts
Indeed it does. If you can afford a coach or consultant, allow yourself that luxury. You will save a lot of time, energy, and money in the long run. As an educator, I’ve found it is not unusual for a client to sign on with the belief that real estate requires little more than the simple desire to get rich. It takes a lot more than that, however!

It’s A Job
Sorry, folks, but investing in real estate is a job. If you have the time and energy for it, great. If not, I recommend you walk away. I occasionally advise potential clients to do just that, which is why a consultant can help big-time to prevent you from losing your shirt—or at least your day job.

The Money Factor
Another myth is that you need to have a lot of money to invest in real estate. You don’t. You just need what I call a “good deal.”  If you have that, the money is there!  So what is a good deal? It’s a property that you just know is perfect-or close to it. In other words, when those additional partners you will need to fund the deal hear about it, they will jump at it.

For example, I found a wonderful 29-unit apartment building (a multifamily dwelling) but I needed investors. I simply chose to ask my brother-in-law; then, lo and behold, two friends of his—total strangers to me—stepped in. Both loved the deal. Not only that, one was a CPA and the other an attorney, so they were able to provide both financial and legal advice. The trick to finding those investors? Just ask! Your next investor might be the person standing next to you.

The Starting Point
Many first-time investors like to begin with residential real estate. This means investing in a residential property other than your own home. I have a neighbor here in Denver who did just that several years ago, and who is now reaping millions. My own biggest triumph was my first investment property: I bought it; renovated it; and sold it.  Real estate almost always appreciates, but it’s the first purchase that—if you do it right—can change your psychology (think confidence!) and allow you to build a portfolio that reaps your own millions.

Look Around
If you’ve never invested before, feel free to begin the way I did by simply driving around and looking for properties I liked.  Picture yourself owning it. Once you set that inner intention of ownership, you are on your way!

Network
Networking is crucial to what I call the Research Phase. Start by networking with professionals who know what you need to know: real estate agents/brokers; property managers in the markets you like; even contractors familiar with the type of property you like.  In fact, any individuals who know the area you are reviewing from the bottom up.

Do Your Research
Do your research due diligence by going online to find the best resources. There are two blog posts available on my website that between them list some 15 sources for market research, including market data, demographics, and key articles.

Know The Real Numbers
Make sure you know the numbers. A mistake I see investors make most often—including the pros—is that they go with the proforma numbers given to them by agents or owners rather than having an expert go over them. You must have an experienced mentor or real estate investor on tap to help you with this. It may cost you some money (although some may do it for free), but this is something you have to do or you will make costly mistakes.

Invest In Apartment Buildings
While many beginners choose to start with a single-family residential property, as a consultant I sometimes recommend the next level up: invest in multifamily dwellings, or even apartment buildings. Investing in an apartment building is a logical first step. Advantages include cash flow from rental income, tax benefits, and property appreciation. That’s why I wrote a book last year entitled Invest In Apartment Buildings: Profit Without The Pitfalls.

The Over-Renovation Trap
Be sure to take a good look at the tenant base when researching a multifamily dwelling in which to invest. Where I so often see people go wrong—including the pros—is that the first thing they do on completing their purchase is to over-renovate the property.  Before any purchase, take a simple look around and be realistic. DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH A PROPERTY! Like any relationship, the chances that it’s going to change because you want it to are not high.  If there are beat-up cars lingering in the parking lot, it is not a given that you will suddenly attract a bigger-spending tenant base.  Or maybe the building is in a neighborhood that, no matter what you do, will never attract the tenants you’re after.

The Landlord Trap
For me, being a landlord is a joy. It’s a lot of work, but I love it. If you don’t want to be a landlord—and even having a property manager means overseeing the manager—this is not the field for you. I love being a landlord, which to me means the pure joy of providing a beautiful, well-managed space that my tenants can call home. What a gift that is to give!

Have A Great Team
Make sure you have an A-plus team around you, no matter the cost. These include contractors, property managers (if you are not choosing to manage the property yourself), financial experts, etc. The better your team, the better you will do. 

Get Educated
I’m ending where I began, because it’s crucial: Make sure you have someone on hand to educate you. A client of mine initially didn’t quite have the confidence to pull off a deal, but through our weekly sessions he now does, and he has just successfully invested in a multifamily property. It’s the confidence that counts!

For more information on investing, resources, and articles, visit www.theresabradleybanta.com. Be sure to read Theresa’s informative blog.

About Theresa Bradley-Banta
Theresa Bradley-Banta, founder and CEO of Theresa Bradley-Banta Real Estate Consultancy, is an award-winning consultant, published author, and a sought-after speaker on reality-based strategies for buying, owning, and operating multifamily investment properties. She specializes in helping clients become ever more knowledgeable about the art of real estate investing. The TBBREC client base runs from beginners to professional investors with millions in investment income.

Theresa Bradley-Banta has been featured in The Equifax Finance Blog, on the radio show Chat With Women, in Scotsman Guide, on The Lucy Ann Lance Show, in The Fordyce Letter, and in AOL’s Daily Finance, among others.

Mike Ortegon, Director of Global Sales Operations at HomeAway, a Stevie® Award-winning online marketplace of vacation rentals based in Austin, Texas, will Chair the Final Judging Committee for the Customer Service and Contact Center Team categories of the 2014 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Services, the world's premier sales awards and customer service awards. The results will be announced on February 21 at the gala awards banquet in Las Vegas. We talked to Mike about the challenges facing today’s sales teams.

“Today’s sales professionals are challenged by savvy customers and prospects,” says Mike Ortegon, Director of Global Sales at HomeAway.  “Thanks to digital and social media advancements, they have many channels of information and are consequently better informed during the purchase cycle. As a result, it is essential for sales professionals to stay one step ahead in preparation, to anticipate upselling and cross-selling opportunities, and to be consultative throughout the process.”

We asked him what steps he would recommend companies should take to establish standardized sales procedures across countries and regions. “You might be prone to think a unique product or service requires a special sales process,” Mike told us. “Some may even argue the selling process has to continually change, but my experience is that the change is occurring in the buying process, as noted above. Today’s buyers are more informed than ever.”

Simplified Methodology

“Many sales people are familiar with the ‘four, five, six, seven...sales cycle’ methodologies,” added Mike. “In reality, each of these can be boiled down to four steps: Qualify; Research; Propose; and Close. A simplified methodology enables people to focus on the sale, not the process.”

Concluded Mike: “It is always important to pay close attention to cultural differences, although just because someone speaks a different language doesn’t mean a different sales process is needed. For example, in some countries such as Southern Europe and Asia, face-to-face selling is a common practice, while other cultures are fine with a phone call. In any scenario, you still need to qualify, research, propose and close.”

Benefits of a Stevie® Award
HomeAway won a Gold Stevie® for Sales Operations Team of the Year in The 2013 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service. As Chair of one of this year’s Final Judging Committees, he is fully aware of the benefits of being a winner.

“Winning the Stevie® Award really brought to light the effectiveness of the HomeAway team in their first year together,” Mike told us.  “It brought about an even greater appreciation for the experience, talent, and determination possessed by each individual. It was great to be rewarded for our hard work and, ultimately, the team had better camaraderie and became even more motivated to improve sales effectiveness.”

Added Mike: “Winning the Stevie® Award in 2013 showcased the HomeAway sales team’s focus on adding value to the organization through industry-leading tools and best practices.”

Creating Lasting Memories

We asked Mike what most inspired him about his role at HomeAway.  His simple answer: he gets his inspiration from the HomeAway team and product. “We have fantastic people who are passionate about their work,” he told us. “Ours is a product that helps families and groups find their ideal getaway and focus on the most important part of traveling together: creating lasting memories.”

About Mike Ortegon:

Mike Ortegon joined HomeAway in March 2012 and is the Director of Global Sales Operations. In this role he is responsible for supporting sales leaders across the globe with tools, training, and sales insights to help make well-informed business decisions; and to run effective and efficient teams while aligning to corporate strategy.

Previously, Mike worked for Harte-Hanks as Global Account Director focusing on multichannel, data-driven solutions for Fortune 100 companies. Throughout his career, Mike has been in management, operational, and sales and marketing roles in North America, EMEA, Latin America, and APAC.

About HomeAway:
HomeAway is the world’s leading online marketplace of vacation rentals, with sites representing more than 773,000 paid listings of vacation rental homes in 171 countries. Through HomeAway, owners and property managers offer an extensive selection of vacation homes that provide travelers with memorable experiences and benefits, including more room to relax and added privacy, for less than the cost of traditional hotel accommodations. The company also makes it easy for vacation rental owners and property managers to advertise their properties and manage bookings online.

As the final round of judging for the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service begins, we would like to acknowledge the 129 professionals worldwide who participated in the preliminary round of judging.

Recognized as the world's top customer service awards and sales awards, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer service offer a wide range of categories to recognize the achievements of sales, business development, contact center, and customer service professionals.

The preliminary round of judging, conducted from November through through mid-January, determined the Finalist nominations in this year's competition that are eligible to be considered in the final round of judging.

The following professionals participated in preliminary-round judging of the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  We thank them for their time, insights and interest.

Teresa Allen, Owner, Common Sense Solutions, Shreveport, LA, USA
Amal Al-Najjar, HR Manager, Fluor - Kuwait, Kuwait
Mohammad Alreeh, Lt. Col., Ministry of the Interior, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Johnny Anderson, Vice President, Bulldog Solutions, Austin, TX, USA
Dmitry Aristarkov, Executive VP, National Association of Contact Centers, Moscow, Russia
Tristan Averett, Associate Manager - Enterprise EHR Support, Allscripts, Salem, OR, USA
Sam Baddeley, Senior Manager, Sales and Customer Service - Management Consulting, Accenture, London, United Kingdom
Paul Bilodeou, VP Sales and Marketing, The Brooks Group, Greensboro, NC, USA
Jill Blankenship, CEO, Frontline Call Center, Eastsound, WA, USA
Angela Blevins, VP Customer Care, Bluegreen Corporation, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Jeanne Bliss, President, CustomerBLISS, Pacific Palisades, CA, USA
Bob Botelle, Exec VP Merchant Services, Chief Customer Officer, Litle & Co, Lowell, MA, USA
Nick Broadbent, VP Global Support, DataCore Software, Reading, IN, USA
Jim Brodo, SVP Marketing, Richardson, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Peter Bush, CEO, New Swansea Bay, Port Talbot, Australia
Lucia Caron, Manager - Customer Support, Enterprise Intelligence Solutions (EIS), Verint Systems Inc., Herndon, VA, USA
Ana Castellanos, VP, Chief Human Resources Officer, Oakwood Temporary Housing, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Patrick Cheeseman, Head of Customer Support, Hotel Tonight, San Francisco, CA, USA
Peter Chiarelli, Sales Manager - Advertising Sales, Cablevision, Woodbury, NY, USA
Jackie Coffey, Director, Government and Consumer Markets, Blue Cross Blue Shield Florida, Point Vedra Beach, FL, USA
Michael Conley, Director of Operations Mid Atlantic, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, North Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Ruth Cox, Client Support Manager, One Call Now, Troy, OH, USA
John Cushman, VP eSales & Service, AT&T, Bedminster, NJ, USA
Kelly Dantas, Media Director, SDI Distributor, Yonkers, NY, USA
Robyn Davis, Owner, When I Need Help, Columbis, SC, USA
Jim de Jager, Operations Director, UPC DTH Leasing S.à r.l., Howald, Luxembourg
Jim Dickie, Principal, CSO Insights, Denver, CO, USA
Kevin Dominigue, VP, Customer Services, TRUMPF, Inc., Farmington, CT, USA
Alan Dowler, Operations Manager, Hamilton Jewelers, Princeton, NJ, USA
LaVon Edwards, Director of Sales, Century Link, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Annette Eland, Claims Customer Service Manager, Esurance, Rocklin, CA, USA
Ted Elliot, CEO, Job Science, San Francisco, CA, USA
Anita Ellis, Director of Sales, Calderon Textiles, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Ron Essig, VP, Products & Services, Marriott Vacation Club, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Andrew J. Filipowski, Executive Chairman & CEO, SilkRoad Technology, Winston Salem, NC, USA
Laura Fischer, Customer Service Coordinator, Kohl's Department Stores, Oconomowoc, WI, USA
Simone Fojut, Chief Editor, SFO Medien GmbH, Wiesbaden, Germany
Dave Forsberg, EVP Sales & Marketing, Marketstar, Ogden, UT, USA
Heisha Freeman, EVP Sales & Marketing, The Move Management Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Chris French, VP, Customer Success, Globoforce, Southborough, MA, USA
Michael Galante, Speaker, thesalescoach.com, Preston, MD, USA
Stephen Giersch, Director Instructional Design, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Orlando, FL, USA
Stephen Gill, President - Consulting, SGA, Derby, United Kingdom
Robert P. Gillespie, Executive VP, New York Community Bancorp, Cleveland, OH, USA
Stanley Goodrich, Public Relations Manager, SYSPRO, Costa Mesa, CA, USA
Robert Gregory, VP of Customer Support, Media Temple, Marina Del Ray, CA, USA
Jimmy Griffith, Director, Solution Center Operations - Extended Protection Solutions, Assurant Solutions, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Judy Guffee, Senior Manager Customer Service, med fusion/ ClearPoint Diagnostic Laboratory, Louisville, TX, USA
Heidi Guzman, MBA - Customer Service, Consorcio Kairos, Villahermosa, Mexico
Gabriel Heijmer, Innovation & Development Manager, Swedavia AB, Stockholm, Sweden
Jim Heininger, Founder, Dixon|James Communications, Oak Park, IL, USA
Phillip Horvath, SVP - Professional Services, Merchant Partners, Redmond, WA, USA
Jennifer Hrycyszyn, Vice President, Greenough Communications, Boston, MA, USA
Tunde Hubina, Customer Care Director, UPC DTH S.à r.l., Howald, LA, Luxembourg
Linden Ingram, EVP Sales, Imparta Inc, Austin, TX, USA
Tyson Jacques, Customer support manager, Hoteltonight, Dover, NH, USA
Jeanne Jalufka, Sales Marketing Consultant, Pearson, Corpus Christ, TX, USA
Kala Jarugumilli, Sr. Manager, Customer Success Operations, NetApp, Sunnyvale, CA, USA
JP Jones, Owner, Collipsis Web Solutions, Tulsa, OK, USA
Meltem Karateke, President, IMI Conferences, Atasehir, Istanbul, Turkey
JoAnn Kay, Customer Care Director, Graduation Source, Port Chester, NY, USA
Chad Kestner, Director, Client Sales & Service, RCI, Carmel, IN, USA
James Koons, Chief Privacy Officer, Listrak, Lititz, PA, USA
Elzbieta Krawczynska, Quality Specialist Trainer, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A., Poznan, Poland
Suresh Kuppahally, SVP, Engineering, Operations and Customer Success, Replicon Inc, San Mateo, CA, USA
Yamini Kurup, VP Customer Experience, Aditya Birla Financial Services, Mumbai, India
Michael LeBarron, Lead Engineer, Gemvara, Rockland, MA, USA
Verna Lee, Marketing & Business Development Consultant, McTech Corp, Cleveland, OH, USA
Shane Lewis, Asst VP of Sales, Sundance Vacations, Kennett Square, PA, USA
Scott MacGregor, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Flo-Tech, Middletown, CT, USA
Jennifer Maldonado, Sr. Program Manager, Global Client Experience, Cornerstone OnDemand, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Wessam Massoud, Programme Delivery Manager, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center (ADSIC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Deb Matthews, Director - Customer Experience, nexVortex, Herndon, VA, USA
Rowena Maxwell, Senior Principle - Customer Service, Accenture, London, United Kingdom
Lauren McKenzie, Customer Service Representative, JumpSport Inc, San Jose, CA, USA
Colin McKillip, Chief Executive Officer, Butcher Enterprises, Windsor, ON, Canada
Curtis McLaughlin, Customer Support Manager, AllClear ID, Austin, TX, USA
Chad O. Mills, COO, Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, VA, USA
Jay Mitchell, President, Mereo, LLC, Irving, TX, USA
John Monroe, Director of Communications, Stellar, Irving, TX, USA
Brian Moriarty, Vice President North America Sales, General Cable, Highland Heights, KY, USA
Jane Mullins, Sr Support Manager / Director, Technical Support Management Professional, Hayward, CA, USA
Michele Nylander, Client Relationship Director, CallMiner, Inc., Fort Myers, FL, USA
Brock Omohundro, Sr. Operations Manager - Training and Development, John Hancock, Portsmouth, NH, USA
Julius Orayo, Regional Head- Customer Services, The Jubilee Insurance Company of Kenya Limited, Nairobi, Kenya
Jacque Plair, Director - Americas Deployment & Corporate Services, IHG, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder and CEO, Sales Intellect Company, Chennai, India
Jeanette Ramey, National Customer Service Manager, Empire Today, Northlake, IL, USA
Bryan Rand, Vice President, North American Sales, SDL International, Plano, TX, USA
Mark Repkin, Chief Revenue Officer, iPromo & Memory Suppliers, Morton Grove, IL, USA
Peter Rifkind, Director of Client Service, UltraLinq Healthcare Solutions, Inc, New York, NY, USA
Charlie Riley, CMO, PLS 3rd Learning, Buffalo, NY, USA
Nick Robertson, VP of Sales & Marketing, kCura, Chicago, IL, USA
Elizaveta Rybinskaya, Customer Care Director, OTTO Group Russia, Moscow, Russia
Megan Ritchie Saffitz, Director of LEED Support, US Green Building Council, Seattle, WA, USA
Randy Selleck, Sr. Director, Call Center Operations, Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, GA, USA
Behar Sensoz, Customer Complaint Management Specialist, Turk Telekom, Istanbul, Turkey
Tibor Shanto, President, Renbor Sales Solutions, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
Ramin Shokrizadeh, Product Manager, FreshBooks, Toronto, Canada
Gary Shumaker, President, C2 Solutions Group, Inc., Reston, VA, USA
Manu Singh, Contact Center Manager, Dubai First, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Alec Stern, Founding Team, Vice President Strategic Market Development, Constant Contact, Waltham, MA, USA
Manfred Stockmann, President, Call Center Verband Deutschland e. V., Berlin, Germany
Doug Storbeck, Sr. Director of Operations, KM, Plymouth, MA, USA
Fred Stickroot, President, HomeNet, New Port Richey, FL, USA
Andrzej Szczepaniak, Deputy Director, Central Settlement Services - Santander Group, Bank Zachodni WBK S.A., Poznan, Poland
Jeff Tang, Senior Manager, Technical Support, The Active Network, The Active Network, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Will Tarrant, Co-Founder/Owner, Service Metrics Group, Plano, TX, USA
Özge Tekalp, Directr - Alternative Sales Channels, Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S, Istanbul, Turkey
Lucas Tennant, SE Regional Vice President, Sales - Payroll Division, Benefitmall, Franklin, TN, USA
Christopher Tepas, Chief Marketing Officer, Emkay, Itasca, IL, USA
Bob Thomas, Director of Business Development, Prorizon Corporation, Kennesaw, GA, USA
Corina Toader, Senior Associate Operations, WNS Global, Bucharest, Romania
Ron Torten, VP, WW Sales, Inphi, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Cathy Townend, Product Manager - CSA Travel Protection, Europ Assistance, San Diego, CA, USA
Tina Turnbow, Regional Scheduling Manager, Solis Women's Health, Addison, TX, USA
Abdiel Urriola, Sales & Marketing, Puma Energy, Panama
Lori Van Dyke, Manager of Customer Care, Access One Inc, Chicago, IL, USA
Vincent Vanden Bossche, Managing Director, Call Communications, Ottenberg, Belgium
Chris Vassan, Communcations Lead, Cisco Systems, Inc., Raleigh Triangle Park, NC, USA
David Vasquez, Customer Care Executive, Ally Bank, Charlotte, NC United States
Shelley Verdejo, Director, Facilities, Acquisition & Adminstrative Services, Pentagon Force Protection Agency, Washington DC, USA
Madalina Vilau, Managing Partner, Expo Media, Bucharest, Romania
Laura Walter, Corporate Marketing Manager, Enterprise Fleet Management, St. Louis, MO, USA
Jeremy Watkin, Director Of Customer Service, Phone.com, Poway, CA, USA
Tim Watson, Vice President - Mobile Applications, Parentlink, Provo, UT, USA
Matt Weston, Director, Client Services, TradeKing, Charlotte, NC, USA
Floor Wijburg, CEO, W&I Consultants, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Rusty Williams, Co-Founder, Align Sales, Wayland, MA, USA

Interested in judging the 2015 awards?  Apply to be a judge here.

Finalists in the 8th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world’s top honors for customer service, contact center, business development, and sales professionals, 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, and sales awards categories.  Organizations with Finalists in multiple categories include AllClear ID, Bluegreen Vacations, Cars.com, Delta Air Lines, DHL Express, EMKAY, FedEx TechConnect, Canada's FreshBooks, John Hancock, Lennox Industries, LiveAnswer, Marriott Vacation Club, Marsh U.S. Consumer, Parlant Technology, PetRays Veterinary Telemedicine Consultants, Property Insight, Richardson, Salesforce, SoftPro, SurePayroll, Inc., Turkey's Turk Economy Bank, ValueSelling Associates, VIZIO, Inc., Turkey's Vodafone, 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, February 21 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Tickets are now on sale.

More than 1,500 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition, an increase of 36% over 2013.  Finalists were determined by the average scores of 129 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges.  Entries were considered in 43 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 43 categories for sales and business development achievements, 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 will determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, to take place January 27 - February 5.  

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 21.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in five programs: the Asia-Pacific 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.  A sixth program, the German Stevie Awards, will debut later this year.  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 eighth annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include the BusinessTalkRadio Network, Competence Call Center, and ValueSelling Associates.