VIZIO Wins 19 Stevie® Awards At The 8th Annual Stevie Awards For Sales & Customer Service

IRVINE, Calif. and LAS VEGAS, Feb. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- VIZIO, America's #1 Smart TV company¹, announced it has won a total of nineteen Stevie® Awards; 1 gold, 3 silver, and 14 bronze and a Grand Stevie Award in the eight annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

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In addition to being ranked  "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with HDTVs Less Than 50 Inches (Tied)" by J.D. Power² and an A+ Better Business Bureau rating, VIZIO added to their customer service accolades with their 31^st Stevie Award, one of the highest honors for exceeding customer service expectations. 

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world's top sales awards, contact center awards, and customer service awards.  The Stevie Awards organize several of the world's leading business awards shows including the prestigious American Business Awards^SM and International Business Awards^SM.  Over 1,500 entries were submitted for this year's awards from prestigious companies in various industries.  The international competition included companies from Canada, UK, Mexico, Panama, India, and others.

The winners of the Stevie Awards were honored during a gala banquet on Friday, February 21, 2014 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.  More than 400 nominated customer service and sales executives from the U.S.A. and several other countries attended.

With 100% U.S. based support, VIZIO's customer service team of approximately 400 handled over two million contacts last year. VIZIO's support team covers TVs, PCs, sound bars, and other VIZIO flagship product lines.  Three levels of support help to ensure that customers get their queries resolved on the first contact.  The team is trained to communicate with customers via social media, chat, email, phones, and mail.    

VIZIO's Dakota Dunes Contact Center won Stevie Awards in the following categories and specifics:

Grand Stevie Awards were awarded to the top 10 submitters.  VIZIO had the second highest score for overall body of work and was presented a Gold Stevie Award.

The VIZIO Executive Resolution Team also received a Gold Stevie Award:
Nomination: VIZIO Executive Resolution Team – Offering options to reach a resolution
Category: Customer Service Complaints Team of the Year
Status: Gold Stevie Winner

The following nominations are honored as Silver Stevie Awards:
Nomination: Troy Saunders
Category: Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year

Nomination: Leah Anderson
Category: Back-Office Customer Service Professional of the Year

Nomination: VIZIO Customer Service Leader of the Year - RJ Riemer
Category: Customer Service Leader of the Year

The following nominations are honored as Bronze Stevie Awards:
Nomination: VIZIO Dakota Dunes - Every Seat Has A Story
Category: Contact Center of the Year (Over 100 Seats)

Nomination: VIZIO Dakota Dunes Contact Center
Category: Customer Service Department of the Year

Nomination: Maddy Hayes
Category: Young Customer Service Professional of the Year

Nomination: Ryan Aspleaf
Category: Customer Service Manager of the Year

Nomination: Larry Cale
Category: Contact Center Professional of the Year

Nomination: JB Pettiecord
Category: Contact Center Manager of the Year

Nomination: Scott Patten
Category: Contact Center Leader of the Year

Nomination: VIZIO Front-Line Customer Service Team – Nick's Team
Category: Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year

Nomination: VIZIO Back-Office Customer Service Team - VIZIO Project Team
Category: Back-Office Customer Service Team of the Year

Nomination: VIZIO Customer Service Management Team - Dakota Dunes Leadership Team
Category: Customer Service Management Team of the Year

Nomination: VIZIO Customer Service Training Team 
Category: Customer Service Training Team of the Year

Nomination: VIZIO e-Commerce Customer Service Award - support.vizio.com
Category: e-Commerce Customer Service Award

Nomination: VIZIO Award for Innovation in Customer Service - Operation May Day
Category: Award for Innovation in Customer Service

Nomination: VIZIO's Excellent Employee Program - VEEP
Category: Incentive Management Solution

"It is a great honor to be presented the Grand Stevie Award and 18 Stevie Awards and VIZIO is very proud of our outstanding team that made this possible," said Scott Patten, V.P. of Support at VIZIO. "The VIZIO Support Team has now been awarded 31 Stevie awards in three years.  This validates VIZIO's dedication to helping people by understanding and meeting customer needs, delivering exceptional customer satisfaction and making a great customer experience possible. The 19 awards from this year combined with the twelve awards we have won in the past are a testament to VIZIO's consumer focus and to the dedication of VIZIO's customer service professionals."

More than 1,500 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year's competition, an increase of 36% over 2013.  Finalists were determined by the average scores of 129 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges.  Entries were considered in 43 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 43 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year to Sales Department of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers.

In total, more than 260 executives around the world participated in the judging process for the 2014 awards, to determine the Finalists and then the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements.

"Entries to the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service awards have almost doubled over the past few years," said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.  "Not only have we seen a dramatic increase in the number of entries; but the judges have also seen a remarkable rise in the quality of the nominations submitted overall.  We congratulate all of this year's Stevie winners for their outstanding work."

For more information on VIZIO's service and support or information on its products, visit www.VIZIO.com.

¹ The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service, 2013 Flat Panel TV units with Apps included.
² J.D. Power 2013 High Definition Television (HDTV) Satisfaction Report^SM.  Report based on responses from 6,007 consumers measuring 8 brands and measures opinions of consumers who purchased an HDTV less than 50 inches in the last 12 months.  Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed May-June 2013.  Your experience may vary.  Visit www.jdpower.com.

About VIZIO
VIZIO, Inc. is headquartered in Irvine, California. In Q2 2007, VIZIO skyrocketed to the top by becoming the #1 shipping brand of flat panel HDTVs in North America and in Q3 2007 became the first American brand in over a decade to lead in North American LCD HDTV shipments. VIZIO was #1 in North America LCD for 2010¹. VIZIO is now also America's #1 Smart TV company⁴ and large size LCD company² as the leading seller of 60" and larger HDTVs in the U.S. with 30% of the market in this class². VIZIO is also the #1 Sound Bar Brand in the U.S³. For over a decade, VIZIO has remained committed to what it does best -- focus on the consumer to deliver visionary products at a great value. The brand is consistently recognized for excellence in customer service, and was awarded 19 Stevie Awards, including the Grand Stevie Award in the 8^th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. VIZIO offers a broad range of award winning consumer electronics that now include PCs and mobility products.  VIZIO's products are found at Amazon, Best Buy, BJ's Wholesale, Costco Wholesale, Sam's Club, Target, Walmart and other retailers nationwide. VIZIO has won numerous awards including 2014 Editor's Choice by Reviewed.com, "Best of CES 2014" by IGN, "Best of CES 2014" by PC Magazine and "Best of the Best 2014" by UltraHDTV Magazine for its Reference Series Ultra HD Full-Array LED Smart TV.  VIZIO's P-Series Ultra HD Full-Array LED Smart TV also captured Reviewed.com's 2014 Editor's Choice award and was also recognized by The Verge as "Best TV of CES" for 2014 as well as awarded "Best of CES" by Complex and "Best of Show" by Wired for 2014.  VIZIO also earned #1 ranking in the Inc. 500 for Top Companies in Computers and Electronics and made the lists of Ad Age's Hottest Brands, CNET's Editor's Choice, CNET Best of CES 2011 - Television, CNET Best of CES 2013 – Home Theater and Audio, Sound & Vision's Top Picks, Good Housekeeping's Best Big-Screens, PC World's Best Buy and Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice among many other prestigious honors including "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with HDTVs Less Than 50 Inches in a Tie" from J.D. Power⁵. For more information, please call 888-VIZIOCE or visit www.VIZIO.com.

¹ DisplaySearch Market Tracker Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report
² The NPD Group / Weekly Tracking Service, Large Size includes 60"+, Q2 2013 units sold
³ The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service, units sold, Jan 2010 – Dec 2013
⁴ The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service, 2013 Flat Panel TV units with Apps included
⁵ J.D. Power 2013 High Definition Television (HDTV) Satisfaction Report^SM.  Report based on responses from 6,007 consumers measuring 8 brands and measures opinions of consumers who purchased an HDTV less than 50 inches in the last 12 months.  Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed May-June 2013.  Your experience may vary.  Visit www.jdpower.com.

SOURCE VIZIO, Inc.