SQM's 2010 Call Center Awards for Excellence Program

SQM's call center service quality excellence awards program is the most prestigious and sought after North American call center industry awards program. SQM benchmarks over 400 leading international call centers on an annual basis and has been conducting first call resolution (FCR), employee satisfaction (Esat) and customer satisfaction (Csat) 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 benchmarking databases are one of the largest in North America. SQM conducts business in 9 countries around the globe: Canada, United States, Argentina, Australia, Puerto Rico, India, Philippines, Costa Rica and Mexico. Based on call centers that have participated in our benchmarking studies, SQM awards excellence in FCR, Esat and Csat for the call center industry. We have recognized top performing call centers for FCR, Esat and Csat since 1998. 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 benchmarking studies for the period of October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010.

For each call center that participates in our customer benchmarking study, SQM completes 400 post-call phone surveys, conducted by SQM's telephone survey representatives. A sample size of 400 surveys provides a margin of error +/- 5% with a confidence level of 95%. All customer post-call phone surveys have 12 or more questions and take approximately 5 minutes to complete. The surveys are conducted within 2 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 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, Esat and Csat performance from a CSR and supervisor perspective and provides opportunities to improve the call center's FCR performance in terms of people, process and technology practices.

Based on our call center benchmarking studies, SQM awards excellence in service quality (i.e. FCR, Esat & Csat) for the call center industry. SQM evaluates leading international companies such as Aetna, Avon, Blue Cross Blue Shield Companies, Canadian Tire, Capital One, Coors, Discover Financial, Fedex, Marriott, Sears, US Bank, Scotiabank, Safeway and OfficeMax. We have recognized top performing call centers for customer and employee satisfaction since 1998. SQM awards are based on customers who have used a call center and employees who work in a call center. We have 36 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 Call Csat Certification
3. CSR World Class Csat Certification
4. Supervisor World Class Csat 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 Csat Improvement
9. Supervisor World Class Csat Improvement
10. Highest Telco/TV Satisfaction
11. Highest Credit Card Satisfaction
12. Highest Financial Satisfaction
13. Highest Banking Satisfaction
14. Highest Energy Satisfaction
15. Highest Retail Satisfaction
16. Highest Health Care Satisfaction
17. Highest Union Satisfaction
18. Highest Government Satisfaction
19. Highest Helpdesk Satisfaction
20. Best Customer Satisfaction Selling
21. Highest IVR Satisfaction - Self Serve
22. Highest IVR Satisfaction - Navigate
23. Highest Call Escalation Satisfaction

24. Highest Call Center Industry Satisfaction
25. Most Improved Satisfaction
26. Highest Telco/TV Satisfaction
27. Highest Credit Card Satisfaction
28. Highest Financial Satisfaction
29. Highest Banking Satisfaction
30. Highest Energy Satisfaction
31. Highest Retail Satisfaction
32. Highest Health Care Satisfaction
33. Highest Union Satisfaction
34. Highest Government Satisfaction
35. Highest Helpdesk Satisfaction
36. Call Center World Class FCR Esat Certification

Customer Awards

Award Name	Definition	How it is Judged
1. Call Center of the Year Award	This award recognizes the call center with the highest combined overall customer satisfaction (top box) rating and overall employee satisfaction (top box) rating. Award winner receives a 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 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)
2. Call Center World Class Call Csat Certification	Call Center World Class Call Certification is based on 75% or more of calls being a world class call. Award winners receive a 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 Surveying must have been conducted for at least 6 consecutive months in duration or across the entire year from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010 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 Call Csat Certification	Customer Representative World Class Call Certification is based on 75% or more of calls being a world class call. Certified CSR receives a certificate and a medallion is available for purchase	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 Surveying must have been conducted for at least 6 consecutive months in duration or across the entire year from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010 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 clients using either CQA or the traditional QA practice, call compliance performance can be used as a qualifier for SQM's certification program
4. Supervisor World Class Call Csat Certification	Supervisor World Class Call Certification is based on 75% or more of calls being a world class call. Certified supervisor receives a certificate and a medallion is available for purchase	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 Surveying must have been conducted for at least 6 consecutive months in duration or across the entire year from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010 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 clients using either CQA or the traditional QA practice, call compliance performance can be used as a qualifier for SQM's certification program
5. Customer Representative of the Year and Top 10 Finalist	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 $1000 cash! CSR top 10 finalists will receive a world class medallion and a plaque award to display on their desk	Organization's 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 nominees submission 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 $1000 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's submission to SQM must be based on 2 or more customer stories 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 2010 FCR improvement. Award winners receive a 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 2010 annual FCR rating compared to their 2009 annual FCR rating
8. Customer Representative World Class Csat Improvement	Customer representatives that have a 10% or greater annual WCC metric improvement from previous year receive a certificate acknowledging accomplishment. A medallion is available for purchase	SQM's world class call (WCC) criteria are 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 Surveying must have been conducted for at least 6 consecutive months in duration or across the entire year from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010 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 World Class Csat Improvement	Supervisors that have a 10% or greater annual WCC metric improvement from previous year receive a certificate acknowledging accomplishment. A medallion is available for purchase	SQM's world class call (WCC) criteria are 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 Surveying must have been conducted for at least 6 consecutive months in duration or across the entire year from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010 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
10-19. Highest Specific Industry/Sector Customer Satisfaction Award	This award recognizes the organization with the highest world class call rating for each specific industry/sector. (i.e. telecom, credit card, financial, banking, energy, retail, health care, union, government & helpdesk). Award winners receive a SQM gold trophy	Customer satisfaction and 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
20. 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 a 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 that an offer was made)
21. 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 a 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
22. 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 a 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 2 IVR layers and 4 menu choices per layer)
23. Highest Call Escalation Award	This award recognizes the organization with the highest call escalation world class call rating. Award winner receives a SQM gold trophy	Customer satisfaction is judged using a minimum sample size of 400 customer telephone surveys taken from a random selection of customers who used your call escalation queue

Employee Awards

Award Name	Definition	How it is Judged
24. 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 a 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)
25. Most Improved Employee Satisfaction Award	This award recognizes the organization with the most improved overall employee satisfaction (top box) rating. Award winners receive a 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 2010 overall employee satisfaction baseline rating compared to their 2009 overall employee satisfaction baseline rating
26 - 35. Highest Specific Industry/Sector 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). Award winners receive a 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
36. Call Center World Class FCR Esat Certification	Call Center World Class FCR Esat Certification is based on 50% or more of CSRs and supervisors being very satisfied with the 'world class FCR Esat metric'. In addition, the call center FCR performance must be 3rd quartile or better in SQM's customer benchmarking database and annual CSR turnover must not be higher than 30%. Award winners receive a SQM gold trophy.	SQM's world class FCR Esat metric criteria are based on CSRs and supervisors being overall very satisfied (top box response) with 3 metrics: (1) working in the call center, (2) call center's ability to consistently achieve FCR and (3) issues which prevent FCR are fixed in a timely manner. Surveying for FCR Esat certification will be conducted in SQM's benchmarking year timeframe of October 1 to September 30. Surveying must have been conducted for at least 6 consecutive months in duration and within SQM's benchmarking year timeframe. A minimum sample size of 90% of CSRs and supervisors are surveyed and the surveys are spread out evenly over a 6 to 12 month SQM benchmarking year timeframe. Employees should not be surveyed more than once a year.

Participation Eligibility

The call center must have participated in SQM's benchmarking and tracking programs.

Date Eligibility

All call centers that have been evaluated by SQM from October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010 are eligible to win an SQM Award.

SQM Conference

We will be hosting our 12th annual Call Center Industry Service Quality Awards and Best Practices Conference in which we will:

Recognize the winners of SQM's Service Quality Awards

Provide all participants who have gone through SQM's 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

Features of Participating in a SQM Call Center Benchmarking Study

A report detailing the following:

Satisfaction Ratings for key customer and employee attributes
First Call Resolution rate from a customer perspective
Importance Ranking for your customer and employee attributes
Targeted Opportunities for key customer and employee attribute improvements
Top Box Satisfaction Benchmarking comparison for all customer and employee attributes
Entry into SQM Group's Service Quality Excellence Award program
Invitation to SQM Conference to learn best practices for achieving world class customer service

Note: Customer sample size is 400 and employee sample size is 100

Cost

The cost of $6,995 is for the SQM's call center FCR/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 benchmarking or tracking study.

Benefits of the Awards

As a winner of a SQM Award, the prestige that comes with it is valuable from a number of different perspectives:

1. Recognition - SQM's call center service quality excellence awards program is the most prestigious and sought after North American call center industry 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.