SQM’s 2012 Call Center Awards for VoC Excellence (Benchmarking)
About SQM’s Call Center 2012 Voice of the Customer/Employee Awards of Excellence
SQM’s call center voice of customer/employee awards of excellence program is the most prestigious and sought after North American call center awards program. SQM benchmarks over 450 leading North American call centers on an annual basis and has been conducting first call resolution (FCR), employee satisfaction (Esat) and customer satisfaction (Csat) call center benchmarking studies since 1996. On an annual basis, SQM conducts over 1 million surveys with customers who have called a call center. SQM also conducts over 25,000 surveys annually with employees who work in call centers. Our customer and employee survey call center benchmarking databases are one of the largest in North America. SQM conducts business in 11 countries around the globe: Canada, United States, Argentina, Australia, Puerto Rico, India, Philippines, Costa Rica, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Jamaica. You will be benchmarked against leading North American companies such as Aetna, Amex Canada Inc., Avon, Blue Cross Blue Shield Companies, Canadian Tire, Capital One, Coors, Discover Financial, Fedex, Marriott, Sears, US Bank, Scotiabank, Safeway and OfficeMax.
What makes SQM awards unique is that they are based on customers who have used a call center and employees who work in a call center. SQM will conduct the call center benchmarking studies for the period of October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. For each call center that participates in our customer call center benchmarking study, SQM completes 400 post-call surveys, conducted by SQM’s telephone survey representatives or through our outbound IVR survey. A sample size of 400 surveys provides a margin of error +/- 5% with a confidence level of 95%. All customer post-call surveys have 12 or more questions and take approximately 3-5 minutes to complete. The surveys are conducted within 1 business days of the customer’s call to the call center in order to understand their satisfaction with their call center experience. SQM uses an in-depth post-call customer survey approach that consists of both rating questions and follow-up customer feedback questions that can be used to help the call center improve their FCR and Csat performance.
In addition, for each call center that participates in our call center employee benchmarking study, SQM completes a minimum of 100 customer service representative (CSR) surveys or if the call center had less than 100 CSRs, 90% of the CSR workforce completes surveys. All employee surveys have 50 or more questions and are conducted online at the CSR and supervisor levels. This confidential employee online survey takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. SQM uses an in-depth online employee survey approach that consists of both rating questions and follow-up employee feedback questions. The employee survey focuses on the call center’s FCR effectiveness from a CSR and supervisor perspective.
Again, SQM awards excellence in service quality (i.e., FCR, Esat & Csat) for the call center industry. Specifically, SQM awards are based on customers who have used a call center and employees who work in a call center. Awards will be announced on October 4, 2012. We have 39 different awards and recognize the top performing call centers for the awards listed below.
SQM's Call Center Awards
| Customer AWARDS | Employee AWARDS |
|
1. Call Center of the Year Award 2. Call Center World Class Certification 3. CSR World Class Certification 4. Supervisor World Class Certification 5. CSR of the Year and Top 10 Finalists 6. Supervisor of the Year and Top 5 Finalists 7. FCR Improvement Awards 8. Customer Representative World Class Improvement 9. Supervisor World Class Improvement 10. Highest Telco/TV Customer Service 11. Highest Credit Card Customer Service 12. Highest Financial Customer Service 13. Highest Banking Customer Service 14. Highest Energy Customer Service 15. Highest Retail Customer Service 16. Highest Health Care Customer Service 17. Highest Union Customer Service 18. Highest Government Customer Service 19. Highest Helpdesk Customer Service 20. Highest Insurance Customer Service 21. Highest Outsourcer Customer Service 22. Best Customer Satisfaction Selling 23. Highest IVR Satisfaction – Self Serve 24. Highest IVR Satisfaction – Navigate 25. Highest Call Escalation Satisfaction |
26. Highest Call Center Industry Satisfaction 27. Most Improved Satisfaction 28. Highest Telco/TV Satisfaction 29. Highest Credit Card Satisfaction 30. Highest Financial Satisfaction 31. Highest Banking Satisfaction 32. Highest Energy Satisfaction 33. Highest Retail Satisfaction 34. Highest Health Care Satisfaction 35. Highest Union Satisfaction 36. Highest Government Satisfaction 37. Highest Helpdesk Satisfaction 38. Highest Outsourcer Satisfaction 39. World Class Employee Satisfaction |
Customer Awards
Award Name |
Definition |
How it is Judged |
| 1. Call Center of the Year Award and Top 3 Finalists | The Call Center of the Year award recognizes the call center with the highest combined FCR rating and overall employee satisfaction (top box) rating.
The top 3 finalists are also based on the highest combined FCR and Esat ratings. All top 3 finalists receive an SQM gold trophy. The Call Center of the Year will be announced at the SQM Awards ceremony and the top 3 finalists will be announced on October 4, 2012 |
FCR is judged using a minimum sample size of 400 customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual call type volume Employee satisfaction is judged using a minimum sample size of 100 employee online surveys taken from a random selection of CSR employees (To be eligible for this award a call center must have at least 100 CSR employees) For tracking clients, SQM uses September customer surveys or the last 400 surveys |
| 2. Call Center World Class Certification
|
Call Center World Class Certification is based on 3 options: Option 1 (customer satisfaction), 75% of your customers are overall very satisfied (top box response) with their call center experience, are very satisfied with the CSR who handled their call and their call was resolved; Option 2 (customer protection), 80% of your customers are overall very satisfied (top box response) with their call center experience, definitely would or probably would continue to use the organization’s products and their call was resolved; Option 3 (customer experience), 80% of customers are overall very satisfied (top box response) with their call center experience, had a very positive or a positive memorable experience and their call was resolved. Award winners receive an SQM gold trophy. | Surveying must have been conducted for the entire Award year from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. However, in the case of individuals who have been working for less than the full year, a minimum of 6 consecutive months in duration is required. A minimum sample size of 800 customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual call type volume is required |
| 3. Customer Representative World Class Certification
|
Customer Representative World Class Certification is based on 3 options: Option 1 (customer satisfaction), 75% of your customers are overall very satisfied (top box response) with their call center experience, are very satisfied with the CSR who handled their call and their call was resolved; Option 2 (customer protection), 80% of your customers are overall very satisfied (top box response) with their CSR experience, definitely would or probably would continue to use the organization’s products and their call was resolved; Option 3 (customer experience), 80% of customers are overall very satisfied (top box response) with their CSR experience, had a very positive or a positive memorable experience and their call was resolved. Certified CSR receives a certificate and a medallion is available for purchase | Surveying must have been conducted for the entire Award year from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. However, in the case of individuals who have been working for less than the full year, a minimum of 6 consecutive months in duration is required. A minimum sample size of 25 attributed customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual call type volume |
| 4. Supervisor World Class Certification
|
Supervisor World Class Certification is based on 3 options: Option 1 (customer satisfaction), 75% of your customers are overall very satisfied (top box response) with their call center experience, are very satisfied with the CSR who handled their call and their call was resolved; Option 2 (customer protection), 80% of your customers are overall very satisfied (top box response) with their CSR experience, definitely would or probably would continue to use the organization’s products and their call was resolved; Option 3 (customer experience), 80% of customers are overall very satisfied (top box response) with their CSR experience, had a very positive or a positive memorable experience and their call was resolved. Certified supervisor receives a certificate and a medallion is available for purchase | Surveying must have been conducted for the entire Award year from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. However, in the case of individuals who have been working for less than the full year, a minimum of 6 consecutive months in duration is required. A minimum sample size of 200 attributed customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual call type volume |
| 5. Customer Representative of the Year and Top 10 Finalists | To be eligible a CSR has to be world class certified (see earlier definitions). CSR of the Year will receive a world class medallion, a plaque award to display on their desk and $500 cash! CSR top 10 finalists will receive a world class medallion and a plaque award to display on their desk | Organizations can submit an unlimited number of nominations for the CSR of the Year award and top 10 finalist awards as long as the CSR is certified as world class The CSR nominee submissions must be based on a customer experience story and should be chosen by senior management and then submitted to SQM The customer stories are the basis on which the SQM management team will judge the CSR of the Year and top 10 finalists All customer representative finalists will be announced before the SQM conference. CSR of the Year will be announced at the SQM Summit Conference |
| 6. Supervisor of the Year and Top 5 Finalists | To be eligible a supervisor has to be world class certified (see earlier definitions). Supervisor of the Year will receive a world class medallion, a plaque award to display on their desk and $500 cash! Supervisor top 5 finalists will receive a world class medallion and a plaque award to display on their desk | Organizations can submit an unlimited number of nominations for the Supervisor of the Year award and top 5 finalist awards as long as the supervisor is certified as world class The supervisor nominee submission to SQM must be based on a customer experience story from their CSRs on how the supervisor helped them improve their call resolution or Csat performance and then submitted to SQM The customer stories are the basis on which the SQM management team will judge the Supervisor of the Year and top 5 finalists All supervisor finalists will be announced before the SQM conference. Supervisor of the Year will be announced at the SQM Summit Conference |
| 7. First Call Resolution Improvement Award | This award recognizes call centers that have a 5% or greater annual 2012 FCR improvement. Award winners receive an SQM gold trophy | First call resolution is judged using a minimum sample size of 400 customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual call type volume This award is based on the call center’s 2012 annual FCR rating compared to their 2011 annual FCR rating |
| 8. Customer Representative Top 10 World Class Improvement | Top 10 customer representatives that have a 10% or greater annual world class metric improvement from the previous year receive a world class medallion and a plaque award acknowledging accomplishment. | SQM’s world class criteria are based on meeting one of the three options as described in the definition section for award #2, Call Center World Class Certification. Surveying must have been conducted for the entire Award year from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. However, in the case of individuals who have been working for less than the full year, a minimum of 6 consecutive months in duration is required. The CSR nominee submission to SQM must be based on a CSR customer service improvement story and should be chosen by senior management and then submitted to SQM The customer service improvement stories are the basis on which the SQM management team will judge the CSR World Class Improvement finalists A minimum sample size of 25 attributed customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual call type volume for both current and past year |
| 9. Supervisor Top 5 World Class Improvement | Top 5 supervisors that have a 10% or greater annual world class metric improvement from the previous year receive a world class medallion and a plaque award acknowledging accomplishment. | SQM’s world class criteria are based on meeting one of the three options as described in the definition section for award #2, Call Center World Class Certification. Surveying must have been conducted for the entire Award year from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. However, in the case of individuals who have been working for less than the full year, a minimum of 6 consecutive months in duration is required. The supervisor nominee submission to SQM must be based on improvement stories from their CSRs on how the supervisor helped them improve their call resolution or Csat performance and then submitted to SQM The supervisor improvement stories are the basis on which the SQM management team will judge the Supervisor World Class Csat Improvement finalists A minimum sample size of 200 attributed customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual call type volume for both current and past year |
| 10-21. Highest Specific Industry/Sector/Outsourcer Customer Service Award | This award recognizes the organization with the highest world class customer service rating for each specific industry/sector. (i.e., telecom, credit card, financial, banking, energy, retail, health care, union, government, helpdesk & business to business). Customer service is based on having the highest FCR rating for a specific industry, sector or outsourcer. Award winners receive an SQM gold trophy | Customer service is based on having the highest FCR rating. A minimum sample size of 400 customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual call type volume For tracking clients, SQM uses September customer surveys or the last 400 surveys |
| 22. Best Customer Satisfaction Selling Award | This award recognizes the call center with the highest customer satisfaction for selling approach (top box) rating. Award winner receives an SQM gold trophy | Customer satisfaction is judged using a minimum sample size of 400 customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual call type volume To be eligible for this award a call center must have at least 200 surveys where an offer was made For tracking clients, SQM uses September customer surveys or the last 400 surveys |
| 23. Highest IVR Customer Satisfaction Self Serve Award | This award recognizes the call center with the highest IVR overall customer satisfaction (top box) rating for a self serve IVR. Award winner receives an SQM gold trophy | Customer satisfaction is judged using a minimum sample size of 400 customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual IVR call type volume
For tracking clients, SQM uses September customer surveys or the last 400 surveys |
| 24. Highest IVR Navigation to CSR Performance Award | This award recognizes the call center with the best performance on percentage of customers that reach the right CSR the first time. Award winner receives an SQM gold trophy | A minimum sample size of 400 customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of calls that reflects your actual call type volume To be eligible for this award a call center’s IVR must have a minimum of 4 menu choices For tracking clients, SQM uses September customer surveys or the last 400 surveys |
| 25. Highest Call Escalation Award | This award recognizes the organization with the highest call escalation world class call rating. Award winner receives an SQM gold trophy | SQM’s world class call criteria is based on the customer’s call being resolved, the customer is overall very satisfied (top box response) with their call center experience and the CSR A minimum sample size of 400 customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of customers who used your call escalation queue For tracking clients, SQM uses September customer surveys or the last 400 surveys |
Employee Awards
Award Name |
Definition |
How it is Judged |
| 26. Highest Call Center Industry Employee Satisfaction Award | This award recognizes the call center with the highest overall employee satisfaction (top box) rating. Award winners receive an SQM gold trophy | Employee satisfaction is judged using a minimum sample size of 100 using online surveys taken from a random selection of CSR employees To be eligible for this award a call center must have at least 100 CSR employees |
| 27. Most Improved Employee Satisfaction Award | This award recognizes the organization with the most improved overall employee satisfaction (top box) rating. Award winners receive an SQM gold trophy | Employee satisfaction is judged using a minimum sample size of 100 or 90% of employees if less than 100 using online surveys taken from a random selection of CSR employees This award is based on the call center’s 2012 overall employee satisfaction baseline rating compared to their 2011 overall employee satisfaction baseline rating |
| 28 – 38. Highest Specific Industry/Sector/Outsourcer Employee Satisfaction Award | This award recognizes the organization with the highest overall employee satisfaction (top box) rating for each specific industry/sector. (i.e., telecom, credit card, financial, banking, energy, retail, health care, union, government, helpdesk & business to business). Award winners receive an SQM gold trophy | Employee satisfaction is judged using a minimum sample size of 100 or 90% of employees if less than 100, using online surveys taken from a random selection of CSR employees |
| 39. World Class Employee Satisfaction | World Class Employee Satisfaction is based on 45% or more of CSR surveys being a ‘world class Esat’ survey. | SQM’s World Class Employee Satisfaction criteria is based on CSRs being overall very satisfied (top box response) with working at the call center To be eligible, a call center must complete a minimum sample size of 100 CSR online surveys or, if the call center has less than 100 CSRs, 90% of the CSR workforce must have compeleted the online survey |
SQM’s Call Center Benchmarking Awards Participation & Eligibility
The call center must have participated in SQM’s call center benchmarking and/or tracking programs. Awards will be announced on October 4, 2012.
Date Eligibility
All call centers that have been evaluated by SQM from October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012 are eligible to win an SQM Award.
SQM Conference
We will be hosting our 14th annual Call Center Industry Voice of the Customer/Employee Awards and Best Practices Conference in which we will:
- Recognize the winners of SQM’s Voice of the Customer/Employee Awards of Excellence
- Provide all participants who have gone through SQM’s call center benchmarking and tracking studies the opportunity to learn from each other
- Provide call center research and FCR, Esat and Csat best practices based on world class call center performers
SQM’s FCR and Csat Benchmarking Study
Specifically, SQM’s FCR and Csat benchmarking study will provide the following:
- Benchmarking comparison to over 450 leading North American call centers
- Benchmarking comparison to peer group, call center industry and world class call centers
- Customer Protection – CP SCORE™
- High level and detailed FCR and Csat ratings
- Amount of revenue the call center protected and lost
- Unresolved calls impact on operating cost
- Top 5 repeat call reasons and their improvement opportunity for financial savings
- Targeted opportunities for reducing repeat calls
- Operational benchmarking data for over 45 metrics
- Best practices for reducing repeat calls
- One copy of SQM’s book, World Class Call Center
- Entry into SQM’s Service Quality Excellence Awards Program
Note: The above is from the level 1 benchmarking study.
Cost of SQM’s FCR and Csat Benchmarking Study
The cost of $10,000 is for SQM’s call center First Call Resolution (FCR)/Customer Satisfaction (Csat) benchmarking study or $4,000 for our call center Esat benchmarking study. You are automatically entered in the SQM Awards program at no cost, if you participated in a SQM FCR/Csat benchmarking or tracking study.
Benefits of the Awards
As a winner of an SQM Award, the prestige that comes with it is valuable from a number of different perspectives:
1. Recognition – SQM’s call center Voice of the Customer/Employee Awards of Excellence program is the most prestigious and sought after North American call center awards program. Our customer satisfaction certification program is the most credible and rewarding certification program for call centers, supervisors and customer service representatives because certification is based on your customers’ experience calling your call center.
2. Marketing – Past winners have used their SQM Award as a marketing tool to inform both their employees and customers of how well they perform at providing excellent customer service and/or an excellent working environment.
3. Career Opportunities – Past leaders of the award winning call centers get more career
opportunities within their own organization, as well as outside their organizations.