The Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado hosted their 24th annual “A Night of Excellence” awards gala on September 27th, 2018. The Broadway-themed event was held at the Colorado Springs City Auditorium. With over 380 in attendance, 13 businesses went through the process of applying for consideration for the BBB Excellence Award in Customer Service.
In the end, only 10 businesses ended up getting the award. Trent Urban, CEO of The WireNut, accepted the award on his organization’s behalf. This is the 4th year The WireNut has won the award.
Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
Businesses are not in competition with each other for the award. There can be as many winners as applicants. Winners are chosen based on a review process that closely follows the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program.
The Baldrige Program is “the nation’s public-private partnership dedicated to performance excellence.” It provides the prestigious Presidential Award for performance excellence. To put it into perspective, in 2017 the city of Fort Collins was one of 14 finalists (and a subsequent winner) nationally for this award. The U.S. Department of Commerce announces the winners.
With the BBB Excellence in Customer Service Award having a similar vetting process, winning is difficult.
BBB Excellence Award Review Process
The WireNut applied for the award earlier this year. A packet of questions was sent to headquarters in Colorado Springs. The WireNut management answered these questions regarding internal processes and procedures. Based on provided answers, a follow-up set of questions was generated by the BBB commission and sent via email. Once completed, multiple evaluators visited The WireNut and reviewed the questions in-person.
The WireNut management was graded based on how well they answered (An example question would be: “What is your process when a customer complains?”). In some cases, interviews with employees were held. The interviews are to make sure all members of the workforce were compliant with the process and procedures provided.
Finally, the evaluating team toured the building, asking different departments probing questions.
Committed to Excellence
Applying is not mandatory. Applicants commit time and resources to this process every year to ensure their customer service is at the nation’s highest levels.
The WireNut commits to the quality guidelines of the BBB Excellence in Customer Service Award every year. Winning the award to them means internal processes and procedures provided to the residents of Colorado Springs and Denver meet stringent national standards.
Warren Peacock, Growth Director at The WireNut says, “The award helps validate what we do. It [the review process] keeps The WireNut on the cutting edge of customer service. Internally, it allows us to constantly re-evaluate everything we do.
In addition, we like our team members to get recognition for their hard work. The award is something they should be proud of.”
The WireNut has applied for the Excellence Award 4 times (3 in a row now), and has taken home the award all 4 times. They plan on reapplying next year.
