Customer Service Awards Blog

Liz Dean

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Final Entry Deadline for Sales & Customer Service Awards Approaching

Posted by Liz Dean on Tue, Nov 08, 2011 @ 02:21 PM

The final entry deadline for The 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is November 18.

Submitting entries for sales awards and customer service awards is easy:Sales & Customer Service Logo

  1. Request your entry kit here.
  2. Decide what you would like your company to be recognized for. There are more than 90 categories, honoring sales excellence and customer service excellence for individuals, teams, and departments, plus new categories this year for products and service and solution providers.
  3. Submit a winning entry!

Want more sales and customer service resources? Here are some great sales and customer service tips and tools to help succeed in The 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service:

  1. 10 Reasons to Enter the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service
  2. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions? Contact us at help@stevieawards.com, we'd love to hear from you!

Gonna miss the November 18 deadline?  Don't panic. Late entries will be accepted through January 18 with payment of $35/entry late fee.

Tags: sales excellence, customer service awards, sales awards, customer service excellence, The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, Sales & Customer Service

How to Submit Winning Entries to The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service

Posted by Liz Dean on Thu, Nov 03, 2011 @ 11:04 AM

As the deadline for The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service approaches on November 18, we've created 9 simple tips to help you submit entries that are worthy of receiving a Stevie Award for Sales & Customer Service:

1. Request an Entry Kit
The entry kit contains everything you need to know to be able to prepare and submit your entries.  Click here to request yours.

2. Watch our How to Enter the 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service Video
Our brief video gives an overview of the world's premier customer service awards and sales awards, with a step-by-step guide to how to select categories, prepare entries, and submit them.

 

3. Determine Who or What You Want to Nominate, and in Which Categories
Decide which individuals or teams in your sales organization that you will nominate, then select the most appropriate categories for those entries. 

4. Prepare Your Entries
Take the time to tailor each entry for each category you apply for.

Stevie-winning entries are:

a. Well-written.  They are terse and succinct.  Their tone is modest, even when describing the most impressive accomplishments.
b. Focused on a few accomplishments.  Describe in detail just a few accomplishments, instead of listing many accomplishments in brief.

Stevie-winning entries are not:

a. Fluffy and hyperbolic.  Avoid flowery language and overblown claims.  The judges tend to deduct points for immodesty.

Want to read entries that judges have scored highly in the past? The full-text of most Stevie Award-winning entries are published on the web site. Start by looking through the 2011 winners.

5. Submit Your Entries By The Entry Deadline
The final entry deadline for The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service will be November 18, 2011.  Late entries will be accepted through January 10, 2012 with payment of a $35 late fee per entry. When you're ready to enter, begin here...

6. Subscribe to the Free Stevie Awards Email Newsletter
The weekly email newsletter is the best way to stay informed about entry deadline extensions, new categories, and other announcements from the organizers of The Stevie Awards.  We have a very strict privacy policy, so we will not share your email address with anyone else for any reason.  Click here to learn more.

7. Get Social with The Stevies
Connect with The Stevie Awards on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube for latest announcements, blog postings, photos, and videos regarding our awards programs.

8. Participate in the Judging Process
Apply to be a preliminary-round judge.  As a judge you will be able to see the entries submitted by many companies around the world, and you will develop a better sense of the types of entries that judges score highly.  (You will not be allowed to judge entries in categories in which you have submitted entries, however.)  Click here to complete the application form.

If your application is accepted you will be assigned categories based on your function and experience.  As a preliminary-round judge you will be able to judge as few or as many nominations as you like, at your convenience, over the Internet in November-January.

9. Contact The Stevie Awards
Contact us with your questions about the most appropriate categories, entry fees, and so on.  Our phone number is +1 703-547-8389, and our email address is help@stevieawards.com. Note, the first question we’ll ask you is: what do you and your organization want to be recognized for?

What has helped you write successful entries for The 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service?

Tags: sales excellence, customer service awards, sales awards, customer service excellence, The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, submission process

How Automation Improves Customer Service, From an American Business Awards Finalist

Posted by Liz Dean on Thu, Oct 27, 2011 @ 03:53 PM

Meritus Payment Solutions of Santa Ana, California was named a finalist in the highly competitive New Company of the Year category in The 2011 American Business Awards(Entries for The 2012 American Business Awards are now being accepted- get your entry kit here.  And speaking of customer service, November 18 is the final entry deadline for the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.)

Here we take a look at how this company is helping small-to-midsized businesses maximize their potential.

Meritus Payment SolutionsIf small business is the engine to economic growth, then Meritus Payment Solutions is the conductor.  In 2009, Meritus Payment Solutions became operational and was founded on the promise that small-to-mid-sized companies would have a partner that understood their business and their payment-processing needs. 

Smaller companies are often unaware how much the methods they use for accepting payments can affect their productivity and profitability.  As a full-service payment processor, Meritus puts its promise to see business through the eyes of its clients into action by offering the following customized solutions:

1. Process Any Payment From Anywhere

    Utilizing proprietary technology, Payment XP allows merchants to process all payments from anywhere in the world on any device (computer, Blackberry, etc.) with Internet access.  Backed by banks such as Wells Fargo©, Royal Bank of Scotland©, and Harris Bank®, Meritus allows businesses to accept all payments including credit card, gift card, check, mobile, and more.  With technology pushing business into new territories, Meritus has created a product that allows companies to conduct business wherever it takes them.  Internet-based payment gateway Payment XP gives merchants the ultimate flexibility for growth.

    2. Utilize A Single-Source Solution for Measuring Business Productivity

      Meritus allows for profit, productivity, and protection within a single point of entry. On-demand reporting gives merchants visionary insight into their business activity and helps them to identify points for strategic growth.  Robust and merchant-defined fraud protection allows merchants to find the balance between protection and profit. Meritus is a single-source solution for business productivity with Innovative features such as the ability to process Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions, the ability to proactively manage chargeback activity, and the ability to create electronic invoices.

      Being able to conduct business within one platform is invaluable.  Not only do businesses have one place to pinpoint success, loss, and potential, but Meritus is strategically positioned to prove its greatest value proposition as a true business partner.  The Meritus First Team supports this initiative.  

      3. Take the Guesswork out of Processing Trends

        The Meritus First Team specializes in supporting clients beyond what merchants have come to expect from typical Merchant Services providers.  The First Team delves into the merchant’s business flow to maximize merchant profits while keeping them safely within processing guidelines.  With highly refined business analytics tools, Meritus First Team takes the guesswork out of a merchant’s processing trends.

        With the consultative client services of the Meritus First Team and the development of proprietary solutions, Meritus empowers businesses to maximize their potential.  The First Team provides answers to merchant questions regarding chargeback ratios, fraud prevention, risk analysis, and trends within their specific industry. The First Team’s goal is to reach out to merchants and provide those answers before they ask.

        Maximizing Its Own Potential

        Today, Meritus is experiencing record growth.  From its first operational day in 2009, Meritus has experienced rapid growth with a 150x increase in processing volume and more than 35x increase in customer base. In 2010, processing volume [repeat] almost tripled from the end of 2009 and the Southern California headquarters doubled their employee headcount.  2011 looks to be equally, if not more promising with processing volume already up more than 20% in the first quarter.

        “We never settle here at Meritus. This attitude pushes us to continue providing pioneering products and unparalleled customer service unknown in the payments industry,” says Alan Kleinman, Principal of Meritus Payment Solutions. “We are grateful for our success and look forward to providing solutions for our merchants’ long-term success and growth.”

        Meritus is looking towards the future by expanding into new sales channels and increasing their number of clients.  But as Meritus grows it stays true to its client-first and technology-driven roots.  Meritus has proven it is a company that can be judged on its own merit.  Meritus is ready to shape the global payment processing industry.

        Leadership

        Meritus Payment Solutions is led by example.  The infectious dedication and  enthusiasm of partners Alan Kleinman and Hiep Tran motivate their team to stay grounded in diligence while keeping future opportunities in mind.  

        With ISO experience—Alan at National Merchant Center and Hiep at Transfirst Merchant Services—both Alan and Hiep were pivotal in growing their respective businesses into billion-dollar empires.  Now, in their entrepreneurial venture together, they have positioned Meritus Payment Solutions to evolve with the industry, grow internationally, and continue to create innovative solutions with the merchant in mind.  

        Alan Kleinman, Principal

        Before starting Meritus Payment Solutions with Hiep Tran in 2009, Alan Kleinman was COO of National Merchant Center, a full service ISO. During his tenure, the company’s annual processing volume increased from $150MM to over $1 billion. Prior to joining National Merchant Center, Alan was a venture capitalist at Pacific Venture Group, a $210 million healthcare venture fund, and was involved in the investment and management of a number of successful companies including Symbion, Visicu, Phaseforward, Zonelabs, Vivant Medical, LifeMasters, and Long Term Care Group. Before that, Alan was an analyst at Gateway Partners, a merchant bank that focused on consolidating niche industries.

        Hiep Tran, AAP, Principal

        Hiep Tran was the CEO/Founder of Primus Payment Solutions, Inc., a merchant services sales office that focused on card-not-present merchants. Prior to Primus, Hiep was Vice President of Credit, Risk, & Operations for National Merchant Center (NMC). At NMC, he designed and implemented NMC’s risk management system for domestic and offshore merchant processing. Before that, Hiep was Director of Credit, Risk Management, and ACH Compliance for TransFirst Merchant Services, where he led their risk management, Credit, Collections, and ACH Compliance teams. Hiep received his AAP (Accredited ACH Professional) certification from NACHA in 2006.

        About Meritus Payment Solutions

        Meritus Payment Solutions is the innovative leader in advanced global transaction processing. Meritus provides a breadth of payment and transaction processing solutions that include mobile, credit and debit cards, gift and loyalty cards, Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), Automated Clearing House (ACH), Check 21, and more. Built on a foundation of dedication, initiative, and collaboration, Meritus strives to shape the payment processing industry. For more information go to www.merituspayment.com.

         

        How has automation created better customer service for your clients?

        Tags: customer service awards, American business awards, business award, product awards, new company awards