2012 Contact Center Industry Award Winners
SQM benchmarks over 450 leading North American contact centers on an annual basis and has been conducting first call resolution (FCR), employee satisfaction (Esat), and customer satisfaction (Csat) benchmarking studies since 1996. SQM annually conducts 1 million surveys with customers who have used a contact center, email, website, IVR, 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. SQM conducts business in 11 countries around the globe: Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, Puerto Rico, India, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. Based on our contact center benchmarking studies, SQM awards excellence in FCR, and customer and employee satisfaction for the contact center industry. We have recognized top-performing contact centers for customer and employee satisfaction since 1998. SQM awards are based on customers who have used a contact center and employees who work in a contact center. SQM conducted the benchmarking studies for the period of October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2012.
For each contact center that participated in our customer benchmarking study, SQM completed 400 post-call phone surveys, conducted by SQM’s telephone survey representatives. A sample size of 400 surveys provides a margin of error of +/- 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 were conducted within 2 business days of the customer’s call to the contact center in order to understand their satisfaction with their contact 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 contact center improve its FCR and Csat performance.
In addition, 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. All employee surveys had 50 or more questions and were conducted online at the CSR and supervisor levels. This confidential employee online survey took 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 contact center’s FCR, Esat, and Csat performance from a CSR and supervisor perspective and provides opportunities to improve the contact center’s FCR performance in terms of people, process, and technology practices.
SQM has 55 different awards that recognize the top-performing contact centers. Based on the contact centers we benchmarked, SQM is honored to recognize the following Service Quality Award of Excellence Winners for 2012. These prestigious contact center industry awards were presented at our 14th annual conference, held in Las Vegas, on November 16th, 2012.
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
Canadian Tire Financial Services (CRCC)
Finalists
- Amex Canada Inc.
- VSP Vision Care (California)
Best Performing Small- to Mid-Sized Call Center
Criteria used for Best Performing (Small/Mid Size) Call Center (under 100 CSRs) are based on having the highest combined customer FCR and employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating.
Winner
Canadian Tire Financial Services (PDG)
Finalists
- CHEP
- TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc.
Call Center World Class Certifications
Criteria used for Call Center World Class Certification are 75% or higher of the calls are at the world class level for 6 months or more in 2012. SQM’s world class criteria are based on the customer’s call being resolved, the customer is overall very satisfied (top box response) rating with their call center experience and the customer service representative.
- Blue Cross of Idaho
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas
- BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont
- Brother Canada
- Canadian Tire Financial Services (PDG)
- Capital One Retail Bank
- D+H Ltd.
- ENMAX Encompass, Inc.
- Insurance Corporation of BC (BEU, Claims & DTVI Divisions)
- Jackson
- Northeast Utilities (New Hampshire & Connecticut)
- Ontario 211
- Rogers Enterprise Service Delivery
- Scotiabank (Alberta, Ontario & Nova Scotia)
- Scotiabank International (Dominican Republic, Jamaica & Trinidad and Tobago)
- Scotiabank Global Implementation and Customer Support
- U.S. Bank – 24 Hour Banking
- Vancity (Member Services)
- VSP Vision Care (California & Ohio)
CSR of the Year
To be eligible the customer representative must be a World Class Certified customer representative. The criteria for a Certified World Class Customer Representative is 75% or higher of the calls surveyed are at the world class call level. Call center management must also send an example of a great customer service story that a CSR delivered.
Winner
Liza Mountford, BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont
Finalists
Name | Organization |
---|---|
Aaron McCulloch | TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc. |
Alesandro Valenzuela | Scotiabank International (Dominican Republic) |
Allan Bondi | VSP Vision Care |
Angela Proulx | Sun Life Financial |
Cherisse Wallace | Scotiabank International (Trinidad and Tobago) |
Craig Shantz | Sun Life Financial |
Jordon Lowe | TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc. |
Richard Cloutier | Rogers Enterprise Service Delivery |
Rokhaya Gueye | Rogers Enterprise Service Assurance |
Tracy Hall | Insurance Corporation of BC (Claims) |
CSR Top 10 World Class Csat Improvement
To be eligible, a customer representative must have improved their WCC performance by 10% from the previous year. 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. Call center management must also send an example of a great CSR Csat improvement story.
Winners
Name | Organization |
---|---|
Caitlin Van Der Maas | Sun Life Financial |
Craig Shantz | |
Rebecca Wolfe | |
Cherisse Wallace | Scotiabank International (Trinidad and Tobago) |
Dianne Campbell | VSP Vision Care |
Kelly Dodds | |
Walkyria Abelia | |
Kavita Sudan | ENMAX Encompass, Inc. |
Liza Mountford | BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont |
Terry Lyn Kelty |
Supervisor of the Year
To be eligible the supervisor must be a World Class Certified supervisor. The criteria for a Certified World Class Supervisor is 75% or higher of the calls surveyed are at the world class call level. Call center management must also send an example of a great CSR Csat coaching story.
Winner
Kimi Miller, VSP Vision Care
Finalists
Name | Organization |
---|---|
Carla Principato | 407 ETR |
Chantal Parent | BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont |
Jessica Pinkans | |
Diana Bechtel | Allegra Direct Communications |
Samantha Mahabir | Rogers Commercial Service Delivery |
Highest Customer Satisfaction for the Call Center Industry
Winners | Category | Criteria |
---|---|---|
U.S. Bank – 24 Hour Banking | Best Selling Customer Satisfaction | This award recognizes the call center with the highest customer satisfaction (top box response) rating for selling approach. |
TD Canada Trust / TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank | Highest IVR Customer Satisfaction for Self Serve | This award recognizes the call center with the highest overall customer satisfaction (top box response) rating for a self serve IVR. |
HealthNow New York, Inc. | Highest IVR Customer Satisfaction Self Serve | This award recognizes the call center with the highest IVR navigation to the right CSR the first time. |
Highest Customer Service by Industry
Based on having the highest FCR for an organization in each specific industry/sector.
Winners | Category |
---|---|
TD Canada Trust | Banking |
Jackson | Financial |
Amex Canada, Inc. | Credit Card |
VSP Vision Care | Insurance |
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas | Health Care |
Seton/Emedco | Retail/Service |
FortisBC | Energy |
Rogers Business Care | Telecommunications/TV |
Insurance Corporation of BC | Union |
Marriott Systems Support Center | Helpdesk |
211 Ontario | Government |
VSP Vision Care | Business to Business |
First Call Resolution Improvement
Based on a 5% or greater annual first call resolution improvement from the most recent study within the last two years.
- Aurora Bank FSB
- Florida Blue
- HMSA Blue Cross Blue Shield of Hawaii
- BlueCross BlueShield of Montana
- Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island
- Canadian Tire Financial Services (CTCR)
- Capital One Retail Bank (Royal Ridge – Texas)
- Independence Blue Cross
- MTS Allstream
- Northeast Utilities
- Scotiabank International (Jamaica & Trinidad and Tobago)
- Sun Life Financial (Group Benefits)
Employee Experience Awards
Highest Employee Satisfaction for the Call Center Industry
Based on having the highest employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating with working in their call center.
Winner
Highest Employee Satisfaction by Industry
Based on having the highest employee overall very satisfied (top box response) rating with working in their call center for each specific industry.
Winners | Category |
---|---|
TELUS Small and Medium Business | Telecommunications |
Arizona Public Service | Energy |
Canadian Tire Financial Services | Banking / Financial |
VSP Vision Care | Insurance |
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City | Health Care |
TELUS Sourcing Solutions Inc. | Outsourcer |
Highest Work From Home Employee Satisfaction
Based on the highest employee overall very satisfied (top box response) for work from home CSRs.
Winner
World Class Employee Satisfaction
Based on 45% or higher of employees rate their overall experience of working in the call center as very satisfied (top box response) rating.
Winners
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!