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 which 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 will be presented at our 22nd annual awards ceremony held virtually on May 20, 2021.

Virtual Awards Ceremony

Call Center of the Year Award

Organization
  • Call Center of the Year Winner:
  • Jackson
  • Call Center of the Year Finalists:
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
  • Canadian Tire Financial Services (CRCC)

Criteria

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.

Best Performing Small- to Mid-Sized Call Center Award

Organization
  • Best Performing Small- to Mid-Sized Call Center Winner:
  • Marchon/Altair
  • Best Performing Small- to Mid-Sized Call Center Finalists:
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont
  • Highmark Health (Federal Employee Program)

Criteria

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.

Call Center World Class FCR Certification

Organization
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

Criteria

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.

Web Self-Service World Class FCR Certification

Organization
  • FortisBC

Criteria

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.

IVR Self-Service World Class FCR Certification

Organization
  • FortisBC

Criteria

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.

Customer Experience Best Practice Award Winners

Category Organization
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 (Tie)
Mr. Cooper (Tie)
CSR Training Program
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
CSR Selection Process
VSP Vision Care
Standard Operating Procedures
FortisBC
Continuous Improvement Process
Security Health Plan
Work from Home
Consumers Energy (Tie)
Independence Blue Cross (Tie)
FCR Measurement
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

Criteria

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


CSR Finalists for CSR of the Year

CSR Name Organization
Tiana Pierce
 AmeriHealth Caritas
Victoria Stanford
 AmeriHealth Caritas
Alassa Gevanni
 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
Brittany Badua
 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Gretchen Gladden
 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Tracy Shifflett
 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Hannah Tomeny
 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont
Kasia Starzec
 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont
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
 BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina
Starlight Ervin
 BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina
Amy Jo Schultz-Porter
 Consumers Energy
Jennifer King
 Consumers Energy
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
* Jason O'Connell
 Security Health Plan
Kay Landers
 VSP Vision Care

Criteria

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 of the CSR of the Year Award

CSR Top World Class CX Improvement Winners

CSR 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

Criteria

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.

Supervisor Finalists for Supervisor of the Year

Supervisor Name Organization
* Karandeep Singh
 407 ETR
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

Criteria

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 of the Supervisor of the Year award

Customer Experience & First Call Resolution Awards

Highest Customer Experience for the Contact Center Industry Awards

Organization Category Criteria
FortisBC
 1. Highest Enterprise-Wide One Contact Resolution 1. This award recognizes the organization with the highest enterprise-wide one contact resolution over two or more contact channels, with at least one channel being the call center and one being the website.
Marchon/Altair
 2. Highest Omni-Channel Customer Service 2. 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
 3. Highest Web Self-Service Customer Service 3. This award recognizes the contact center with the highest overall Csat (top box rating) for the web self-service channel.
FortisBC
 4. Highest IVR Self-Service Customer Service 4. This award recognizes the contact center with the highest overall Csat (top box rating) for the IVR self-service channel.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
 5. Highest Email Customer Service 5. This award recognizes the contact center with the highest overall Csat (top box rating) for the email channel.
Security Health Plan
 6. Highest Chat Customer Service 6. This award recognizes the contact center with the highest overall Csat (top box rating) for the chat channel.

Highest Customer Service by Industry Awards

Organization Category
First West Credit Union
 Banking
Jackson
 Financial
Canadian Tire Financial Services
 Credit Card
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

Criteria

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


First Call Resolution Improvement Awards

Organization
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

Criteria

Based on a 5% or greater annual FCR improvement from the previous year.


Employee Experience Awards

Highest Employee Experience for the Contact Center Industry Award

Organization
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas

Criteria

Based on having the highest employee overall very satisfied (top box rating) rating with working in their contact center

Most Improved Employee Experience Award

Organization
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas

Criteria

Based on having the most improved employee overall very satisfied (top box rating) with working in their contact center

Highest Employee Experience by Industry Awards

Organization Category
Canadian Tire Financial Services
 Financial
VSP Vision Care
 Insurance
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
 Health Care

Criteria

Based on having the highest employee overall very satisfied (top box rating) with working in their contact center for each specific industry/sector

Highest Work From Home Employee Experience

Organization
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas

Criteria

Based on having the highest employee overall very satisfied (top box rating) for work from home CSRs

World Class Employee Experience Awards

Organization
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

Criteria

Based on 50% or higher of employees rate their overall experience of working in the contact center as very satisfied (top box rating)


FCR Leadership Awards

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

Criteria

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