Sales Awards Blog

MarketBridge of Bethesda, Maryland, USA, received the Gold Stevie® Award for Best Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year in the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top business awards for contact center, customer service, business development, and sales professionals. (The early-bird deadline for the 2013 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is October 10. If you haven't already done so, you can request your entry kit here.) Here we look at what made their training program outstanding.

MarketBridge, in partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue and MasterCard Worldwide, won a Gold Stevie Award for its multifaceted and interactive training program for Saks Fifth Avenue Stores. This training focused on SAKSFIRST, Saks Fifth Avenue's exclusive loyalty program, and the Saks Fifth Avenue World Elite MasterCard® card, a premier co-branded credit card offering tied in with Saks Fifth Avenue's loyalty program.

"We are honored to receive this award and celebrate our success with Saks Fifth Avenue and MasterCard, two preeminent brands in their industries and valued partners," stated Rebecca Johns, Vice President at MarketBridge when she and the team were in Las Vegas in February 2012 to collect the trophy.

Background Story
In 2006, MasterCard partnered with Saks Fifth Avenue to launch the Saks Fifth Avenue World Elite MasterCard, with features and benefits designed for the more affluent consumer, in all Saks Fifth Avenue Stores nationwide.

MarketBridge was engaged to build a sales training and coaching program for this co-brand card which would primarily help drive new cardmember acquisitions, but also solve key issues that arose during initial product roll-
out.

Flexible Approach
This training program was delivered to all Saks Fifth Avenue stores through a variety of coverage approaches, including in-store classroom trainings, on-the-job simulations, and long distance support. This flexible training and coaching model allowed for modified versions of the program to fit the unique needs of individual stores, departments, and store associates. 

1. Territory Support:
The first coverage model type, “Territory Support,” included regularly scheduled visits from an Account Executive to train, coach, and incent the store management and employees.

2. Accelerator Support:
Next, “Accelerator Support” involved a 1-2 day credit event that included training, strategic credit planning, one-on-one sales coaching, and incentives
for top performers.

3. Air Cover Support:
Finally, the third coverage model was “Air Cover Support”, which did not feature any regular Account Executive visits, but rather on-going support through distance learning, mailed materials, and interactive online tools.

Making Training Fun
Through its in-store visits, MarketBridge conducted fun and interactive training classes, during which the store associates were taught about credit, helped to achieve objectives, and encouraged to promote the co-brand to their customers.

Changing Behavior
Post-training—regardless of module used, additional training tools and reinforcement materials such as takeaways, quick tips, fun facts, and games— helped to ensure that the learning process was effective, that the information was retained, and, above all, that behavior changed.

Positive Results
In the first three fiscal months of 2011 MarketBridge was able to improve credit performance year-over-year, while reenergizing Associates and increasing program participation.

In an industry clouded by the current economic downturn, these results were substantial. Furthermore, from a qualitative perspective, overall program feedback from store associates and management alike was highly positive.

About the MarketBridge Team

Becky Johns, Vice President, Marketing Services Practice
Becky Johns works with clients to improve marketing and sales productivity by developing and executing integrated data-driven marketing and sales strategies. At MarketBridge her experience centers primarily on building brand loyalty through customer acquisition, engagement, and retention programs and developing online and social media communities. In addition, she has expertise in enabling sales teams through innovative training and sales readiness and enablement programs. In her 7 years with MarketBridge, she has managed accounts and initiatives across the healthcare, retail, financial services and high tech industries. Most recently, Becky led her teams to win a Gold Stevie Award for 2012 Sales Training Program of the Year, and the 2011 Marketing Innovation Award for Customer Retention and Loyalty held by Merkle and the CMO Council.

Prior to MarketBridge, Becky’s background in marketing and advertising included client and agency positions working in both B2B and B2C engagements.

Courtney Milliken, Program Manager
Courtney is a Program Manager with MarketBridge. Most prominently, she is responsible for leading the deployment and measurement of sales enablement and digital customer relationship programs for clients.

About MarketBridge:
MarketBridge is a leading global provider of technology-enabled sales and marketing solutions for Fortune 1000 and emerging-growth companies. The firm offers three core methodologies: MarketBlueprint™ for go-to-market strategy and resource planning, RevenueEngines™ for demand generation and sales enablement and DemandAnalytics™ for sales and marketing reporting and analytics.  For over 20 years and 1,000 client engagements, MarketBridge has helped CEOs and senior Marketing and Sales leadership create scalable revenue growth.  Find us on the web at www.market-bridge.comand on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MarketBridge.

The early-bird deadline for the 2013 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top business awards for contact center, customer service, business development, and sales professionals, is quickly approaching on October 10.

If you haven't already done so, you can request your entry kit here.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service has more than 125 sales awards and customer service awards categories honoring sales excellence and best customer service practices for individuals, teams, and departments, plus categories this year for products and service and solution providers.

The entry deadline for the 2013 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is November 14.  Late entries will be accepted through January 15, 2013, with payment of a $35 late fee per entry.  Winners of the competition will be announced at an awards banquet at Paris Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, on February 25, 2013.

2012 winners include, among others: New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (Customer Service or Call Center Training Practice of the Year), Rob Jeppsen, Zions First National Bank (Sales Director of the Year), International Checkout Inc. (Telesales Team of the Year), Office Depot, Inc. (Customer Service Complaints Team of the Year), OppenheimerFunds Inc. (Contact Center of the Year), and SquareTrade Inc (Customer Service Department of the Year - Financial Services). A complete list of 2012 honorees is available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

Need help getting started? Contact us at help@stevieawards.com or call us at +1 703-547-8389.

MarketBridge won the Gold Stevie® Award for Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year in the 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top honors for sales, call center, and customer service professionals. Here we look at how the sales awards winner's training efforts directly led to higher employee performance.

In 2010, sales award winner, MarketBridge, was tasked with building a sales training and coaching program by MasterCard and Saks Fifth Avenue to help promote their joint card, the Saks Fifth  Avenue World Elite MasterCard. Offered in all Saks Fifth Avenue stores nationwide, the card is complete with features and benefits designed for the upper-affluent consumer market segment.

MarketBridge was primarily charged with helping to drive new card member acquisitions, but also to solve key issues that arose during initial product roll-out including: an unbalanced and incomplete card launch, knowledge gaps among store associates as well as limited, complicated, and non-actionable training materials.

Using best sales practices, MarketBridge developed a flexible training and coaching model that allowed for modified versions of their program to fit the unique needs of regions, individual stores, departments, and store associates. MarketBridge had three training modules:

1. Territory Support, which included regularly scheduled visits from an Account Executive to train, coach and, incent the store management and employees. 
2. Accelerator Support, which involved a 1-2 day credit event that included training, strategic credit planning, one-on-one sales coaching and, incentives, like vacations for top performers.
3. Air Cover Support, which did not feature any regular Account Executive visits, but rather on-going support through distance learning and mailed materials.

Through in-store visits, MarketBridge conducted fun and interactive training classes, during which associates:

• Were taught about credit,
• Helped to overcome objectives, and
• Learned about ways to promote the co-brand to their customers. 

Post-training, regardless of module, incorporated additional training tools and reinforcement materials such as takeaways, quick tips, fun facts, and games, to help ensure that learning was affective and information was retained.

In the first 3 fiscal months of 2011, the sales excellence focused module led to improved credit performance year-over-year, while reenergizing associates and increasing program participation. Three major achievements include:

1. In terms of total card applications, the stores in the regions being supported by the MarketBridge program consistently outperformed the total company performance, with up to a 62 percentage point increased improvement year over year. 
2. A 65% training penetration in stores for 2011 contributed to higher performance and associate participation in credit.
3. MarketBridge incentive initiatives alone increased private label card performance by 24%, and co-brand performance by 62%, when compared to pre-program performance.

About MarketBridge
MarketBridge is a leading global provider of technology-enabled sales and marketing solutions and services for Fortune 1000 companies, delivering client results based on an empirical approach to designing, building, and managing programs. Through their understanding of connected sales and marketing, MarketBridge helps clients make investments in brand development and demand generation to measurably drive sales productivity in both direct and indirect sales channels. MarketBridge delivers solutions via three core methodologies, MarketBlueprint, RevenueEngines, and DemandAnalytics, which are customized to fit each client’s unique business objectives. To learn more about MarketBridge, visit www.market-bridge.com.

Tom Schaff, Managing Partner of Big Swift Kick, is a member of one of the sales awards final judging committees for the 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Final judging is now underway; sales excellence and customer service awards winners will be announced on February 27 at the 6th annual awards banquet in Las Vegas. Get your tickets here.

We asked Tom for some insights on what has influenced sales people the most over the past ten years.

What in your opinion has been the top business story of the past 10 years for sales people?
If you ask me, the biggest impact on salespeople and companies that sell over the last ten years is definitely the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Why?
Companies buy differently now. Superstar salespeople need to sell to a whole different buying team.  What used to work doesn't anymore—especially if you are the little guy selling to a big company. 

Smart companies understand that, given the changes in buying, big companies are more afraid than ever of the small guy—but at the same time, they need their creativity and responsiveness. The exceptionally bright company has adjusted its sales processes away from the superstar rugged individual and instead doubled down on strategic processes that involve the selling team's executive management, supply chain, clients, and subject-matter experts. This adjustment to Sarbanes-Oxley has actually helped over 200 of our clients win their biggest deals in the history of their companies. Change can mean opportunity: Sarbanes Oxley, while difficult to implement, has been an incredible opportunity for those who have adjusted. Have you?

We had to ask: Why Big Swift Kick? 
After 17 years of performance consulting and training, my partner Andy Miller and I wanted to make a distinctive brand. We audited what made us different with clients and the answer that came up most often was: Candor. 

Further investigated, clients told us that our candor and straightforwardness, truth without apology, and real-world approach helped impact to happen faster. We quickly recognized that our favorite clients were the ones who needed us the least but wanted feedback the most. The least impacted clients were the ones who needed us the most—but couldn't handle the feedback. 

Big Swift Kick is for the CEO, VP, or HR executive who wants that "Big Swift Kick in the Acronym." Organizations that want to challenge the way things have always been done can count on us to honor what works, uncover what doesn't, and take massive action on areas of opportunity.

About Tom Schaff:
Tom Schaff is a managing partner of Big Swift Kick. He is also interim Chief Strategy Officer of Tony Robbins’ and Chet Holmes' consulting company, Business Breakthroughs International. He has worked with 62 of the Fortune 500 companies, a handful of the Inc 500, hundreds of privately held businesses, and a dozen private equity firms. A writer and thought leader on sales, Tom has assessed 30,000 sales people and organizational leaders. He is the official licensee of Tom "Whale Hunting" Searcy's compelling "big deal" selling system that has helped over 200 small companies win their largest-ever sales deals. Earlier in his career he co-founded Solution People, an innovation, creativity, training, and consulting firm, working with companies like Kraft, Unilever, McDonald's, AT&T, Quaker, and Kodak. Tom lives with his wife and two children in St Louis.

We have added three new sales awards categories to The 2012 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service to honor organizations for their sales excellence. Showcase your organization's best sales practices and submit your entries today. (The last day to submit entries for The 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is this Wednesday, January 18; download your entry kit here.)

Our new sales awards for achievement are:

• Sales Turnaround of the Year
  Recognizing sales organizations for improvements since July 1, 2010, over the prior year.  Improvements in revenue, operations, and training will be considered in this category.
• Outbound Marketing Program of the Year
  Recognizing marketing programs that use advertising, promotions, public relations and sales.
• Inbound Marketing Program of the Year
  Recognizing marketing programs that rely on content generation, lead development, and prospect cultivation.

Benefits of submitting entries to our sales achievement awards include:

• Improve employee morale.  
  Applying for The Stevie® Awards is a simple and affordable way to recognize your organization and employees.
• Company size equality.  
  You don't have to be a big company to win a Stevie!  Small organizations have an equal opportunity to win Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevies.
• Access to your industry's leaders.  
  Many of the world's top business leaders will review your nominations during the judging process.

The following information should be included in your sales awards submissions:

• An essay of up to 500 words describing the nominee’s accomplishments since July 1, 2010 in the area covered by the category;
• A brief biography (up to 100 words) of the leader of the nominated team or department; and
• Links to online news stories, videos, photographs, press releases, etc. that support your nomination (optional).

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

How will you honor your organization's sales achievements in The 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service?

We have added three new sales teams categories to The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, which recognize the members of individual teams within your overall sales department. (Request your entry kit for the 2012 awards and it will be emailed to you right away. The entry deadline is November 18.)

Submit your entry to our three newest Sales & Customer Service categories:

1. Field Sales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams that obtain the majority of their business out of the office at face-to-face meetings with clients.

2. Sales Operations Team of the Year
Recognizing teams that help sales organizations to run effectively, efficiently and in support of business strategies and objectives.

3. Sales Management Team of the Year
Recognizing the leadership teams of sales organizations for their achievements.

Recognize sales excellence and customer service excellence in one of our other sales teams categories:

1. Global Sales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams whose industry, client, or other focus has a global scope.

2. National Sales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams whose industry, client, or other focus has a national scope.

3. Government Sales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams whose charge is selling to government clients.

4. Telesales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams that obtain the majority of their business by telephone.

5. Online Sales Team of the Year
Recognizing sales teams that obtain the majority of their business via online and social media.

6. Sales Support Team of the Year
Recognizing teams that provide administrative, logistical, or resource support to sales organizations.

All entries in these categories require an essay of up to 500 words describing the nominee’s accomplishments since July 1, 2010 a brief biography (up to 100 words) of the nominee and an optional inclusion of links to online news stories, videos, photographs, press releases, etc. that support your nomination. See all of the Sales & Customer Service categories here.

Recognize your company's sales performance and nominate teams by submitting entries for sales awards that highlight sales excellence here!

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

Start your submission process today! You can:

1. Request your entry kit here.
2. Review all of our sales and customer service categories. We have more than 90 categories, honoring sales excellence and customer service excellence for individuals, teams, and departments, plus new categories this year for products and service and solution providers.
3. Watch our helpful video tutorial on how to successfully enter submissions here.  
4. Review past winners' entries here.
5. Make the most out of your submissions and learn how to submit winning entries here.

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

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

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service recognize the achievements of call center, customer service, and sales professionals worldwide. Recognize your company's sales performance and nominate individuals by submitting entries for sales awards that highlight sales excellence. (Request your entry kit for the 2012 awards and it will be emailed to you right away.  The entry deadline is November 18.)

Individual Sales Awards:

1. Senior Sales Executive of the Year
Recognizing senior sales executives with titles such as Chief Sales Officer.  This category may also be used to recognize senior corporate executives for their role in driving sales achievements.

2. Worldwide VP of Sales of the Year
Recognizing VPs of sales with responsibility for sales performance on a global level.

3. National VP of Sales of the Year
Recognizing VPs of sales with responsibility for sales performance on a national level.

4. Sales Director of the Year
Recognizing the achievements of sales directors at organizations of any size, of any type.

5. Sales Manager of the Year
Recognizing the achievements of sales managers and sales professionals with a managerial role at organizations of any size, of any type.

6. Sales Operations Professional of the Year
Recognizing sales executives and sales professionals with a managerial role for their achievements in managing sales organizations that run effectively, efficiently and in support of business strategies and objectives.

7. Sales Training or Education Professional of the Year
Recognizing sales executives and sales professionals with a managerial role who manage, design, or deliver sales training or education in any aspect of work life.

8. Sales Representative of the Year
Recognizing individual sales representatives for their personal contributions to organizations’ sales results.

All entries in these categories require an essay of up to 500 words describing the nominee’s accomplishments since July 1, 2010 a brief biography (up to 100 words) of the nominee and an optional inclusion of links to online news stories, videos, photographs, press releases, etc. that support your nomination. See all of the Sales & Customer Service categories here.

Need help choosing the best category? Contact us at help@stevieawards.com.

As the November 18 deadline for The Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service approaches, we encourage everyone to submit their entries for the 2012 awards as soon as possible- get your entry kit here.

Here are the top 10 reasons why you should enter:

1. Great staff recognition. Applying for the Stevie Awards is a simple (and affordable) way to recognize your employees' sales excellence and customer service excellence.

2. Free publicity. Stevie Awards winners are not only recognized in an awards ceremony but receive acknowledgment globally via press coverage and our radio cast and Internet streaming. 

3. Company size equality. You don't have to be a big company to win a Stevie. Small organizations have just as much chance to win sales awards and customer service awards as big companies do. 

4. Flexible categories. There are dozens of categories for customer service, call center, contact center, and sales professionals, teams, and departments.  And there are a range of categories to recognize products and services and solution providers.

5. Networking opportunities. Stevie Award winners will be recognized during a gala awards dinner attended by executives from around the world.

6. Low entry fees. The entry fees are nominal compared to the publicity boon your firm can reap when you become a Stevie winner.

7. Earn industry status. The Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service is a great way to benchmark your achievements against competitors in your industry.

8. Oscar-like trophies. The Stevie Award trophies are magnificent - among the most coveted prizes in the world and produced by the same company that the Oscars use.

9. Great PR for your company. Stevie winners can get extra copies of their awards to share with employees, executives, and clients.

10. The Stevie Awards are the world's premier business awards - and you know you and your team deserve that kind of positive recognition.

What's your number one reason for applying for the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service?

The Brooks Group of Greensboro, North Carolina USA was named Sales Training Practice of the Year earlier this year in the sales awards categories of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top honors for customer service, call center, and sales professsionals. Here we take a closer look at what drives this sales training firm.  (Entries for the 2012 edition of the awards are now being accepted.)

The sales professionals at The Brooks Group believe in continuity of coaching, customized training, and a consistent focus on client ROI.  This, they believe, is what drives success when it comes to implementing a sales system. 

They also know that if a salesperson follows a proven, tested selling system there is a 93% chance of making the sale. Without a system, the odds drop to 42%. Why? Because most sales people focus on the end stages of the sale and neglect the early-stage actions … or leave them entirely up to chance.

A tested, proven sales system will direct the sales professional's attention to the entire sales process.  Following are the five steps that are used by The Brooks Group (TBG) in their proprietary deployment methodology:

Step 1: Assess/Screen

TBG’s powerful TriMetrix™ assessment tool goes beyond most personality-based tests by providing an insight into behavioral drives and attitude.  It tells the client where to place people for maximum results; how to coach medium and high performers for maximum results; why lower performers haven't lived up to expectations and what to do about it; and what non-personality characteristics to look for in new hires to better predict real-world performance.

Getting the right people to perform is the fastest way to translate training to sales. 

Step 2: Design/Customize

While the fundamental dynamics of selling don't change, how a successful sales professional applies those dynamics does change with the type of sale and industry.  TBG tailors its application for each unique industry and market so people are trained in actionable skills and techniques that will work in their field. 

Step 3: Delivery

TBG’s seasoned sales professionals and coaches can train a sales team, or they can "train the trainers," giving them everything they will need to successfully implement a customized training system.   TBG can even grant a license to re-brand its proprietary training under a client’s corporate aegis.  TBG also runs sales and sales-management seminars, and will work with clients to uncover their objectives and recommend the best delivery method possible.

Step 4: Reinforcement

A training program should continue after the sales force gets back in the field to implement what they’ve learned, so TBG’s training doesn’t stop when people leave the program.  Implementing a sales system requires reinforcement to make the training stick, so after 12 weeks a TBG coach leads the team through a competitive reinforcement process. 

Step 5: Measuring Return on Effort/Investment

TBG provides clients with the tools and processes to measure its training impact and results. This has proved to be an excellent customer-retention tool and is part of the reason why 84% of TBG clients who sign on for six months end up staying for more than five years.

In sum, everyone at The Brooks Group is tasked with working every day to “Elevate the Sales Profession.” An earnest belief in the idea that professional
sales people engage in a noble calling drives each member of the team to work hard to improve the skills, attitudes, and reputations of salespeople.

On receiving their Stevie Award earlier this year, Jeb Brooks, Executive Vice President of The Brooks Group, commented: “The entire team at The Brooks Group is very proud to receive this level of recognition by the Stevie® Awards and its impressive panel of judges. This is a testament to the sales philosophy we preach: Commit to making your customers successful and amazing things happen.”

About Will Brooks
Called one of America's most thoughtful sales writers and speakers, Jeb Brooks is the co-author of the books Perfect Phrases for the Sales Call and High IMPACT Selling. He has appeared in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal. Jeb serves as Executive Vice President of The Brooks Group, one of the world’s Top Ten Sales Training Firms as ranked by Selling Power Magazine. He writes for The Brooks Group's popular Sales Blog, Sales Evolution. His greatest professional pleasure, however, comes from actively selling. As he was once told: “Selling is like shaving. If you don't do it everyday, you're a bum!”

About The Brooks Group
Founded in 1977, The Brooks Group is a sales and sales-management training firm that has helped more 3000 organizations in over 400 industries improve their businesses by creating and sustaining top-performing sales and business development programs. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the company offers its clients proven sales and sales-management methodologies, industry-leading reinforcement tools, accountability systems, and sales-management training.  For more information go to: http://www.brooksgroup.com

What do you think of this five-step process?