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Contact Center Customer Service Industry Award Winners for 2020

2020 Contact Center Industry Award Winners

SQM benchmarks over 500 leading North American call centers on an annual basis and has been conducting first call resolution, customer, and employee experience studies since 1996. SQM annually conducts over 1.5 million surveys with customers who have used a call center, email, website, IVR, chat, or site contact channel service. SQM also conducts over 25,000 surveys annually with employees who work in contact centers. Our customer and employee survey benchmarking database is one of the largest in North America. Based on our customer and employee studies, SQM awards excellence in FCR, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction for the contact center industry. We have been recognizing top-performing contact centers for customer and employee experience since 1998. SQM awards are based on customers who have used a contact channel and employees who work in a contact center. For the 2020 Contact Center Industry Awards, SQM conducted customer and employee experience studies for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2020.

For each contact center that participated in the customer experience study, SQM completed a minimum of 400 post-contact surveys. For each contact center that participated in the employee benchmarking study, SQM completed a minimum of 100 customer service representative (CSR) surveys or, if the contact center had less than 100 CSRs, 90% of the CSR workforce completed surveys. FCR Best Practice Awards acknowledge organizations that have demonstrated a best practice that has improved first call resolution (FCR) or provided a positive customer experience.

SQM has more than 50 different award categories that recognize the top-performing organizations in FCR, employee experience, and FCR Best Practice performance. Based on the organizations benchmarked, SQM is honored to recognize the following Service Quality Award of Excellence Winners for 2020. These prestigious customer experience industry awards were presented at our 22nd annual awards ceremony held virtually on May 20, 2021.

Customer Experience Awards

Call Center of the Year

Criteria used for Call Center of the Year are based on having the highest combined customer FCR and employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating.

Winner

Jackson

Finalists

  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
  • Canadian Tire Financial Services (CRCC)
SQM Customer Experience Award

Best Performing Small- to Mid-Sized Call Center

Criteria used for Best Performing Small- to Mid-Sized Call Center (between 25 to 99 CSRs) are based on having the highest combined customer FCR and employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating.

Winner

Marchon/Altair

Finalists

  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont
  • Highmark Health (Federal Employee Program)
SQM Customer Experience Award

Call Center World Class FCR Certifications

Criteria used for Call Center World Class FCR Certification is 80% or higher customers getting their contact resolved on the first call to the call center (FCR) for 3 consecutive months or more.

  • 407 ETR (Contact Centre/Commercial)
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Commercial)
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (Retail Sales and Retention)
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont
  • Blue Cross of Idaho (Federal Employee Program)
  • BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois (Federal Employee Program)
  • BlueCross BlueShield of Montana (Federal Employee Program)
  • BlueCross BlueShield of New Mexico (Federal Employee Program)
  • BlueCross BlueShield of Oklahoma (Federal Employee Program)
  • BlueCross BlueShield of Texas (Federal Employee Program)
  • Canadian Tire Roadside Assistance
  • Consumers Energy Business Center
  • Express Scripts, Inc. in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
  • Florida Blue (Federal Employee Program)
  • FortisBC
  • Highmark Health (Federal Employee Program)
  • Independence partner FutureScripts
  • Jackson
  • Marchon/Altair
  • Marchon Canada
  • Mr. Cooper (Private Label)
  • Regence Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans (Federal Employee Program)
  • Security Health Plan
  • VSP Vision Care
  • World Vision Canada
SQM Customer Experience Award

Web Self-Service World Class FCR Certification

Criteria used for Web Self-Service World Class FCR Certification is 80% or higher of customers getting their contact resolved on the first contact with the website (FCR) for 3 consecutive months or more.

Winner

FortisBC

SQM Customer Experience Award

IVR Self-Service World Class FCR Certification

Criteria used for IVR Self-Service World Class FCR Certification is based on 80% or higher of customers getting their contact resolved on the first call with the IVR (FCR) for 3 consecutive months or more.

Winner

FortisBC

SQM Customer Experience Award

Customer Experience Best Practices

These awards recognize the organization that has demonstrated they have improved or helped maintain high FCR and customer experience (CX) performance. Organizations submit specific practices they have used to improve or maintain high FCR and Csat performance.

Category Winner
Web Self-Service Security Health Plan
Quality Assurance Program Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Desktop Application(s) Mr. Cooper
CSR Recognition Program FortisBC
Career Development Program Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont
Call Handling Practice BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina
Escalation CSR Support Security Health Plan
Performance Management System BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (BlueChoice HealthPlan)
CSR Coaching Program

BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina

Mr. Cooper

CSR Training Program Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
CSR Selection Process VSP Vision Care
Standard Operating Procedures FortisBC
CSR Continuous Improvement Process Security Health Plan
Work from Home

Consumers Energy

Independence Blue Cross

FCR Measurement Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

CSR of the Year

To be eligible the customer service representative (CSR) must be World Class CX Certified. The criteria for a World Class CX Certified CSR is 85% or higher of the calls surveyed are at the World Class Call (WCC) level. SQM's WCC criteria is based on the customer's call being resolved and the customer is overall very satisfied (top box response) with the CSR who handled their call. Call center management must also send an example of a great customer service story that the CSR delivered.

Winner

Jason O'Connell, Security Health Plan

Finalists

Name Organization
Tiana Pierce AmeriHealth Caritas
Victoria Standford
Alassa Gevanni Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
Brittany Badua Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Gretchen Gladden
Tracy Shifflett
Hannah Tomeny Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont
Kasia Starzec
Keisha Wright Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Zamir Matos Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island
Christine Castro BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina
Jantiest Damon BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina
Stacy Small
Starlight Ervin
Amy Jo Schultz-Porter Consumers Energy
Jennifer King
John O'Brian Florida Blue (Federal Employee Program)
Sharon Kelley HealthNow New York Inc.
Scarlet Jones Highmark Health
Courtney Gilfillian Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Meagan Cockrell Mr. Cooper
Chrissy Chandler Regence Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans
Mahul Patel Scotia iTRADE
Kay Landers VSP Vision Care

CSR Top World Class CX Improvement

To be eligible the customer service representative (CSR) must have a 10% or greater annual world class CX metric improvement from the previous year. SQM's WCC criteria is based on the customer's call being resolved and the customer is overall very satisfied (top box response) rating with the CSR who handled their call. Call center management must also send an example of a great customer service story that the CSR delivered.

Winners

Name Organization
Keri Bonin Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island
Jenna Albertine HealthNow New York Inc.
Clarece Haney Regence Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans
Richard Merkel Security Health Plan
Heidi Grant VSP Vision Care

Supervisor of the Year

To be eligible the supervisor must be World Class CX Certified. The criteria for a World Class CX Certified Supervisor is 85% or higher of the calls surveyed are at the World Class Call (WCC) level. Call center management or CSRs must also send an example of a great Call Resolution or Csat coaching story.

Winner

Karandeep Singh, 407 ETR

Finalists

Name Organization
TeRance Golden Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Lauren Gould HealthNow New York Inc.
Mary Calissie Highmark Health
Fred Jackson VSP Vision Care

Highest Customer Experience for the Contact Center Industry

Winners Category Criteria
FortisBC Highest Enterprise-Wide One Contact Resolution This award recognizes the organization with the highest enterprise-wide one contact resolution over two or more contact channels, with one being the call center and one being the website.
Marchon/Altair Highest Omni-Channel Customer Service This award recognizes the contact center with the highest overall Csat (top box rating) where the experience was seamless for the entire multi-channel experience.
FortisBC Highest Web Self-Service Customer Service This award recognizes the contact center with the highest overall Csat (top box rating) for their respective category.
FortisBC Highest IVR Self-Service Customer Service
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Highest Email Customer Service
Security Health Plan Highest Chat Customer Service

Highest Customer Service by Industry

Customer service is based on the organization having the highest FCR rating in each specific industry/sector.

Winners Category
First West Credit Union Banking
Canadian Tire Financial Services Credit Card
Jackson Financial
VSP Vision Care Insurance
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont Health Care
Highmark Health Health Care Federal Employee Program
Express Scripts, Inc. in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Pharmacy
Petro-Canada (Concentrix) Retail/Service
FortisBC Energy
TELUS Québec Telco/TV
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (Web Support Help Desk) Helpdesk
Halton Region Government
Marchon/Altair Business to Business
World Vision Canada Charity
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont Non-Profit

First Call Resolution Improvement

Criteria used for First Call Resolution Improvement is based on a 5% or greater annual FCR improvement from the previous year.

  • ATCO Electric
  • BlueCross BlueShield of Montana (Federal Employee Program)
  • BlueCross BlueShield of New Mexico (Federal Employee Program)
  • BlueCross BlueShield of Oklahoma (Federal Employee Program)
  • BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (State Health Plan)
  • BlueCross BlueShield of Texas (Federal Employee Program)
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island (Federal Employee Program)
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Federal Employee Program)
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
  • Blue Cross of Idaho (Federal Employee Program)
  • First West Credit Union
  • Geisinger Health Plan
SQM Customer Experience Award

Employee Experience Awards

Highest Employee Experience for the Contact Center Industry

Criteria used for Highest Employee Experience for the Contact Center Industry is based on having the highest employee overall very satisfied (top box rating) with working in their contact center.

Winner

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas

SQM Customer Experience Award

Most Improved Employee Experience

Criteria used for Most Improved Employee Experience is based on having the most improved employee overall very satisfied (top box rating) with working in their contact center.

Winner

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas

SQM Customer Experience Award

Highest Employee Experience by Industry

Criteria used for Highest Employee Experience by Industry is based on having the highest employee overall very satisfied (top box rating) with working in their contact center for each specific industry or sector.

Winners Category
Canadian Tire Financial Services Financial
VSP Vision Care Insurance
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City Health Care
SQM Customer Experience Award

Highest Work From Home Employee Experience

Criteria used for Highest Work From Home Employee Experience is based on having the highest employee overall very satisfied (top box rating) for work from home CSRs.

Winner

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas

SQM Customer Experience Award

World Class Employee Experience

Criteria used for World Class Employee Experience is based on 50% or higher of employees rate their overall experience of working in the contact center as very satisfied (top box rating).

Winners

  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont
  • Canadian Tire Corporate Customer Support
  • Canadian Tire Financial Services
  • Highmark Health (Federal Employee Program)
  • Jackson
  • Regence Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans
SQM Customer Experience Award

FCR Leadership

These awards are judged by a panel of SQM Client Account Managers who work closely with our tracking clients on an ongoing basis. Final award determination made by Mike Desmarais, CEO and Founder of SQM Group.

Winners

Name Organization
Janalee Willet Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont
Kenny Shuler HCSC (Federal Employee Program)

Previous Award Winners

Explore our awards archive to discover all the past winners of SQM's Call Center Customer Service Industry Awards, spanning from 2006 onwards!