February 2000

Teleservices Outsourcing Seventh-Annual MVP Quality Award Winners

[Go Right To MVP Quality Award Winners List]

C@LL CENTER CRM Solutions™ is pleased to announce the recipients of its seventh-annual MVP (Marketing Via Phone) Quality Awards. Since we started this award in 1993, it has been astonishing to see how much our industry has evolved in both the awareness of the need to provide quality services and also the procedures put in place to ensure quality. Back in 1993, quality was most often measured in terms of calls handled, time to answer, etc., with the occasional monitoring session thrown in. By the time of this year�s contest, we have seen a shift to providing a quality customer interaction having become more important (and rightfully so) than length of call. We have also witnessed the institution of quality assurance departments, the adoption by many teleservices providers of ISO and TQM standards, and the establishment of in-house �universities� for the continuing training and education of agents, to name but a few of the quality measures now in place among this year�s winners.

Each of the winning companies for 1999 has demonstrated, through its MVP Quality Award application, a true commitment to high ethical standards, stringent policies and challenging goals. Each of the award recipients is involved in a quality process that stretches from its human re-source development to its implementation of technology to improve quality to taking a leadership role in promoting a positive public image of teleservices, and more.

All 1999 MVP Quality Award ap-plicants were rigorously judged by a 15-point set of criteria and given a score from 0 to 5 for each point. Entrants described a specific teleservices program and its results, and explained its overall policies and procedures, including human resources, technologies, customer services, ergonomics and public image that are used to establish, sustain and measure their quality. Applicants were also judged on a critical-questions section of their application.

Judging the applicants was an arduous task, and scores were not given lightly. Judges were required to not only assign a numerical value to each evaluation point, but also cite a reason and evidence from the application for the score. Top-scoring companies were then divided into application categories, as determined by the application described in their essay.

As in past years, it is an understatement to say that we were truly impressed by the detail, exacting measures and genuine all-out effort put forth by our award winners to achieve the ideals of quality in their call centers and in the practice of teleservices, human resource development and customer services.

It is also important for you to know that we learned through the winners� essays that there are countless individuals within these organizations whose combined efforts and teamwork have contributed to elevating their companies� marketing via phone practices to the forefront of the industry. To all of you, our congratulations.

Below is a list of the 1999 MVP Quality Award Winners and the categories of their entries.

1999 MVP Quality Award Winners