The judging process has been designed to be easy for you. There are no obstacles, no trick questions – it’s an opportunity for you to tell your story.

Stage 1 – Online Submission

The first round of judging is carried out entirely online. Nominations are submitted through the AwardForce platform for the judges to read. The judges identify the finalists by using a set criteria and their many years’ experience of working in the industry to determine who will go forward.

Stage 2 – Face-to-face Judging

Finalists are announced in August and they will go through to stage two. You will be invited to present to a panel of judges online or to showcase your customer contact operation with a presentation, interviews and tour, which may be virtual or in person. The judges will be looking for relevant evidence that supports the nomination and for supplementary information to help decide on the winners.

The Criteria: What are the judges looking for?

In both the online submission and during the face-to-face judging, the judges are looking for nominations that tell a clear story of their journey – the motivations, the deliverables and how the results were achieved. What lessons were learnt along the way and how did you overcome some of the challenges? What’s next in your journey?

They are looking for evidence of the impact of what has been delivered and how your nomination benchmarks against other entries, with a particular focus on:

Purpose

The judges will be looking for a clear vision for what you have achieved. What is the rationale behind the story and how did you engage stakeholders? Describe the objectives, the strategy and how it aligns to the business.

Impact

What impact have you had? Let the judges know your performance against KPIs, covering customer employee, operational and commercial metrics. Also consider savings made, efficiency gains, changes in productivity, reassignment of resources and increases in revenue.

Experience

Explain to the judges how the customer and/or employee experience has improved. Evidence this with feedback from stakeholders, for example voice of the customer and/or employee feedback. Judges will be looking for a good understanding of customer and/or employee needs.

Innovation

Demonstrate creative thinking. The judges want to hear how you approached things differently. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them? Share your plans for the future and how you intend to continually improve.

Best Practice

The judges will be looking for examples of great practice. They want to see approaches and experiences that others can learn from. How do you really stand out from the crowd?

The panel of judges have been chosen from across Europe for their many years of industry experience, leadership and their specific expertise in the various categories of nomination available this year.

Many of the judges are previous award winners, others have been judging the ECCCSA’s for many years – they all understand the contact centre and customer service industry and know what good looks like.

For example, Director of International Contact Centres at Air France-KLM, Director of Customer Service at Estee Lauder Companies, Director of Quality, Compliance & Customer Resolutions at BT, EE & Plusnet, Vice President – Head of Colleague Engagement & Communication at Barclays and Dyrektor obszaru contact center at Polskie Stowarzyszenie Marketingu SMB.