Top 100 Call Center Contest Submission Deadline Fast Approaching

Call centers can benchmark their performance against their peers by competing in the 2013 Top 100 Call Center Contest sponsored by BenchmarkPortal (News - Alert).

The contest compares call centers along 12 metrics and benchmarks their performance against BenchmarkPortal’s call center database. The contest both shows where companies stand against their peers, and it provides overall performance feedback.

There are three categories depending on call center size: Large Centers of 250 or more agents, Medium Centers of 100 to 249 agents, and Small Centers of between 5 and 99 agents. There’s also a category for Most Improved Call Center for those centers that participated in last year’s contest.

Each participating call center receives a complete copy of their 22-page 12 KPI Benchmarking Survey – RealityCheck report and a full readout with a certified expert. In the readout, which is done via a private webcast, the expert will discuss how the report works and review performance gaps compared with other call centers.

In addition to their benchmark report, winners will receive cash prizes and mention in a press release distributed to major media outlets.

First place winners will get $2000 to fund a celebratory event for their center, second place winners get $1000, and third place winners come home with $500 for their celebration event. The winner of the most improved call center is awarded a title but no cash award.

All call centers from each Top 100 group will have the opportunity to purchase a trophy and banner to commemorate the achievement and will receive a certificate announcing their accomplishment, and each company also will be able to use the Top 100 Seal on all marketing pieces including web site, social media, advertisements, print ads and press releases.

BenchmarkPortal will be celebrating the Top 100 participants and winners in every category at the annual Call Center Campus in Las Vegas.

Last year’s winners were Cigna, Affinion Group and Regions Bank in the Large category, respectively, and the City of Edmonton, BMO Harris Bank and New York Life Insurance Company AARP Operation in the Medium category. Winners of the Small category in 2012 included De Lage Landen, Neill Corporation and Delta Dental of Wisconsin.

There are seven good reasons to benchmark your call center, according to BenchmarkPortal. Benchmarking measures how well an organization is currently performing compared to its competitors and other top organizations in North America. It helps identify the KPIs in an organization’s call center and show how it can improve the company's bottom line. Comparisons indicate competitive strengths and weaknesses, and help to overcome the typical barriers to change.

Also, benchmarking can further magnify performance gaps by calculating the dollar value of poor performance and create a higher ROI. It helps firms select the one initiative that commits a minimum amount of company resources to achieve the best performance goals and objectives. It strengthens staff morale and confidence within the call center to showcase outstanding performance. Further, it showcases the call center’s achievement overall by marketing the Top 100 seal and thereby building brand awareness.

Application forms can be found online, and the deadline for submission is January 31, 2013.

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Edited by Stefanie Mosca