Checks Mix Blog

CEP Award & The Power of a Thoughtful Nomination

EmilyEVC, September 12, 2019

By Yuri Duncan, WRAP Partner and CEO, Buchanan Creative Solutions

In my 26-year career with RCI, I earned just over 20 awards. The awards range from small tokens of appreciation from peers to ARDY Nomination medallions.

Getting awards is a great feeling, and everyone loves when there’s a little cash reward associated as well. Some awards came as certificates, others as small pewter eagles. The names changed over time as well, including The Spirit of RCI, Count On Me, and the Foundation of Excellence awards, to name a few.

As far as I was concerned, one thing remained consistent for me: I was more interested in reading the nomination than the award itself. Why? To me, someone taking the time to compose a thoughtful nomination means everything.

Too often people mistake the award as the prize. Or worse yet, leaders believe the award can take the place of personal praise. A certificate for the wall, a trophy, or a gift certificate are great at the time, but receiving written praise can make impacts that last forever.

Taking the time to think and write about someone’s efforts to do a great job reinforces good behaviors and practices and motivates them to keep up the superior performance.

Nomination for Customer Engagement Award — Nominations for the Customer Engagement Professional Award are now open

Well-written and positive feedback, be it in the form of an award nomination or a performance review shows someone that they are valued. It sends the message that their leadership is paying attention to the good things they contribute to the organization instead of focusing on opportunities for improvement. This builds a relationship of trust and respect between the employee and their leadership.

CustomerCount®, provides organizations with the ability to gather detailed feedback regarding their employee performance. Using their customer feedback gathering tools, CustomerCount is the perfect platform to start from when recognizing your employees.

Nominations for the Customer Engagement Professional Award

This is why CustomerCount®, in conjunction with the ResortTrades magazine, created the CustomerCount Customer Engagement Professional Resort Trades Award. The CEP Award recognizes the highest standards in customer engagement and service.

The coveted CEP award recognizes outstanding leaders and staff members who exemplify customer engagement within the timeshare resort/hospitality industry.

Qualified people most likely to be nominated will be those who are in daily contact with members and guests including:

Resort managers
Assistant managers
Front desk folks
Customer service team members
Housekeepers, concierge and landscapers

These outstanding team members exemplify the highest standards in customer engagement and service. Their interaction with members and guests shapes the entire guest experience; paving the way and opening the doors to happy smiles and memorable vacations.

To learn more, visit our nominations page or ResortTrades.com. If you’re ready to take the time and effort to make a positive impact on someone’s career, the online form is available at www.ccceprtaward.com. Nominations close on December 31, 2019.

About CustomerCount

CustomerCount is a feature-rich, cloud-based survey solution providing intuitive real-time reporting and detailed dynamic data gathering capabilities. It supports process improvement efforts, builds customer loyalty and improves ROI. CustomerCount was initially designed for the hospitality and contact center industries and is now used by organizations across numerous different vertical markets and industries. Follow them on LinkedIn or Facebook.

About Yuri Duncan

Yuri Duncan is an award winning filmmaker and president of Buchanan Creative Solutions, LLC – a video production company specializing in producing affordable and effective videos. His skills and accomplishments as an artist and leader are what drive him to provide high quality services through Buchanan Creative Solutions.

With a proven record in design, illustration, animation, editing, and management, Yuri oversees all projects, no matter how large or small, to ensure the end-result fulfills your vision.

It’s back to school with IUPUI partnership

EmilyEVC, September 10, 2019

CustomerCount® has been named as an Industry Partner for the Computer Science Industry Partnership Program (CSIPP), which is part of IUPUI’s Department of Computer and Information Science in the Purdue School of Science.

“CSIPP is part of our ongoing commitment to the development, retention and growth of IT talent in Indianapolis,” said Shiaofen Fang, interim dean of the School of Science and founder of CSIPP.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome this local, forward-thinking company as a partner. We are committed to working together to share resources and relevant market information in order to continue developing world-class research and high-quality IT talent. Working with a company like CustomerCount will give our students real world experience and offer the opportunity for CustomerCount to tap into some of the brightest minds in intelligence technology.”

Bob Kobek and Shiaofen Fang IUPUI — Bob Kobek, president CustomerCount and Shiaofen Fang, interim dean at the School of Science

Bob Kobek, President of CustomerCount said, “We are looking forward to connecting with this talented group of IUPUI IT students whether it be with internships, guidance through a capstone project or consulting and research.”

Initially the collaboration will include work on the reporting portion of CustomerCount’s robust Enterprise Feedback System originally developed for the hospitality industry.

“Mentorship and collaboration are at the core of our company’s pillars of community responsibility,” continued Kobek. “We always look for opportunities to create connections with the upcoming generations who will be solving challenges of issues so far in the future we haven’t yet thought of them. This will be an exciting partnership.”

About CustomerCount®

Developed and managed by Mobius Vendor Partners, CustomerCount was initially designed for the timeshare and contact center industries and is now used by organizations across numerous different vertical markets and industries.

For more information about how seriously we take data privacy, request a demo or call Bob Kobek on 317-816-6000. You can also follow them on their blog, on Twitter or Facebook.

About IUPUI Computer Science Industry Partnership Program (CSIPP)

The Computer Science Industry Partnership Program brings together central Indiana corporations and businesses with the Department of Computer & Information Science at IUPUI to promote interaction and collaboration.

The CSIPP Program is an ongoing commitment to the development, retention and growth of IT talent in Indiana. Our partners have the opportunity to connect closely with our students and faculty for recruitment, internships, capstone projects, consulting and research. We are committed to working together to share resources and relevant market information in order to continue developing world-class research and to develop high-quality IT talent.

Customer Engagement Professional Award Opens

EmilyEVC, September 6, 2019

Nominations are open for the 2019 Customer Engagement Professional Award

Nominations for the 2019 CustomerCount^® Customer Engagement Professional (CEP) Resort Trades Award have officially opened.

The coveted award, in its fourth year, recognizes outstanding leaders who exemplify customer engagement within the timeshare resort/hospitality industry.

Nominations will be open until December 31, 2019 and the winner will be announced in March of 2020.

CustomerCount and Resort Trades are looking for the most valuable customer engagement professional within the timeshare resort/hospitality industry.

Qualified people most likely will be those who are in daily contact with members and guests including:

Resort managers
Assistant managers
Front desk folks
Customer service team members

Customer Experience Professional award 2019

Previous winners – and their ongoing success

Last year, the award went to Noyan Suel as Operations Manager of Grand Pacific Resorts’ Carlsbad Seapointe Resort. He has since been promoted to General Manager of Olympic Valley Resort.

The year prior, Jeff Brock, now Regional Director of Operations, received the CEP Award from a highly competitive field of nominees.

The nomination process includes completing an online nomination survey to measure the nominee’s qualifications and qualities. The survey is powered by CustomerCount’s software.

“The flexibility of our online feedback system can be utilized in numerous ways–including an efficient method in determining a winner for this award,” said Robert Kobek, president of CustomerCount. “We will combine the data entered numerically in specific categories of customer and/or member engagement including on-site rating improvements and social media mentions and reviews.

“Along with the quantitative data narrative descriptions with anecdotes and stories to support the nomination will also be taken into strong consideration,” added Bob.

According to Sharon Wilson, publisher of Resort Trades: “We’re again proud to team up with CustomerCount to celebrate the timeshare hospitality industry’s often overlooked and under-appreciated resort management professionals. These are the folks at the heart of our industry and we are thrilled to share their accomplishments as living examples of Best Practices.”

The winning customer engagement professional and their company/resort will be profiled in the March issue of Resort Trades. Two trophies will be presented; one for the company and one for the individual CEP.

How to submit a nomination for the Customer Engagement Professional Award

Nominating a colleague is easy. Just visit the CustomerCoun t nomination website or visit the Resort Trades for a link to the entry form, and complete the form.

The importance of enforcing data privacy regulations

EmilyEVC, September 5, 2019

By Bob Kobek, President

CustomerCount® is very mindful of the perils of collecting data and the need to keep it as secure as possible. And, importantly, does not, nor will it ever, share information without permission with any entity other than our client, the actual owner of the data. That means, advertising agencies, so called reputation management companies, no one or group.

But why are we posting this today? Read on.

Yesterday, September 4, it was announced that Google LLC and its subsidiary YouTube, LLC would have to pay a record $170 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General that the YouTube video sharing service illegally collected personal information from children without their parents’ consent.

The settlement requires Google and YouTube to pay $136 million to the FTC and $34 million to New York for allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule. The $136 million penalty is by far the largest amount the FTC has ever obtained in a COPPA case since Congress enacted the law in 1998.

In a complaint filed against the companies, the FTC and New York Attorney General allege that YouTube violated the COPPA Rule by collecting personal information—in the form of persistent identifiers that are used to track users across the Internet—from viewers of child-directed channels, without first notifying parents and getting their consent.

YouTube earned millions of dollars by using the identifiers, commonly known as cookies, to deliver targeted ads to viewers of these channels, according to the complaint.

The Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General are not messing around.

There are a few strong messages about data privacy for businesses to note

First, taking data privacy and the regulations that exist, and pending, seriously, is gaining significant momentum. We will see more federal and state regulation coming that will make GDPR look simple. At some point we may see criminal charges tacked on.

Second, notice how the settlement was directed by both the Federal Trade Commission and the NY state AG. By teaming up there is no escape for Google or YouTube. They can appeal to the federal courts and they would have to appeal to the state courts. The likelihood of them winning in one are nil, let alone both.

Third, the feds and the states are going to partner up more often so be advised.

You can read the full press release on the Federal Trade Commission’s website here: https://bit.ly/2ktM8lP

On a more practical note, how cold do you have to be to sell the information about children?

About CustomerCount

CustomerCount is a feature-rich, cloud-based survey solution providing intuitive real-time reporting, fast turnaround on requested updates, and detailed and dynamic data gathering capabilities to support process improvement efforts, build customer loyalty and improve your bottom line. Developed and managed by Mobius Vendor Partners, CustomerCount was initially designed for the timeshare and contact center industries and is now used by organizations across numerous different vertical markets and industries.

For more information about how seriously we take data privacy, request a demo or call Bob Kobek on 317-816-6000. You can also follow them on their blog, on Twitter or Facebook.

John Locher – WRAP partner and timeshare Olympian

EmilyEVC, September 5, 2019

By Georgi Bohrod, RRP

WRAP (Worldwide Research Analytics Program), is specially tailored to address clients’ strategic and tactical priorities. And who better to drill down into the intricacies and analysis than John Locher, RRP, founder of Locher & Associates.

John is a fellow member of WRAP and seasoned timeshare professional. His firm, Locher & Associates is a project services company specializing in lifecycle marketing including customer acquisition, engagement, retention and efficiencies, plus timeshare industry vendor solutions, and business development.

With his broad and comprehensive knowledge of customer engagement priorities, John is the ideal professional to educate our marketplace about all the tools and analytical benefits that CustomerCount® provides for making informed decisions that add to profitability.

When Bob Kobek told me he was launching WRAP, a detailed qualitative analysis program combining touchpoint sentiment and accuracy with industry expertise and insights, I suggested he speak with well-known industry consultant, John Locher.

John Locher WRAP partner — John Locher, WRAP Partner

CustomerCount’s WRAP is specially tailored to address client’s strategic and tactical priorities, particularly those derived from feedback and surveys. The subscription-based service takes customer feedback to a new level, offering the expertise necessary to formulate conclusions and offer operationally based recommendations oriented to improve service efficiencies and drive profitability.

WRAP clients are finding value with the integration of information in marketing, sales, and reservation measurement. Others are receiving valuable data that measures and reviews their NPS (Net Promoter Score), housekeeping checklists and even branding consistency. Text messaging is also convenient on the robust CustomerCount platform which is available in 40 different languages.

Who is John Locher?

So, this brings me back to John Locher and his wealth of experience in the vacation industry. Well-known for his role as one of the founders of Redweek.com, where he was instrumental in growing the rental and resale marketplace to over 1.5 million registered users (now 2.6 million), John has played a role with many major organizations within the industry.

As he continues to represent software and hospitality companies such as Katana, he has expanded his role to work with Mobius Vendor Partners to both promote CustomerCount and support the analytical component of the WRAP program. His presence in our coalition shores up the pillars of Membership/Ownership Engagement and Business Development. Since 2001, John has been an evangelist for timeshare.

He’s worked for solutions to bridge developer needs with owner wants, and it hasn’t always been easy. As a founder of RedWeek.com, online rentals and resales transparency were not completely embraced. Locher actively contributed to numerous ARDA initiatives, including helping craft the Timeshare Resale Model Act, and participating on the New Business Model, Consumer Education, Meetings and Technology committees.

As of late, John has been a producer of D2C eCommerce Springboard events throughout the US and is promoter of online radio programming in the Pacific Northwest.

When John is not busy in his “day job” he is an avid Olympic supporter. After being a manager for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, John travels to every Summer Games, and Tokyo 2020 will be his tenth.

In addition to John and I, the WRAP coalition is comprised of Howard Bendell RRP (Qualitative Analysis) , Carlos Marchi (Contact Center Compliance and EVP of Mexico and Latin America for CustomerCount) and Emily Collins, EVC Marketing (Digital Marketing).

Along with our commitment to CustomerCount’s Enterprise Feedback System, we bring together each other’s expertise to support each other and our clients.

About CustomerCount

For more information, request a demo or call Bob Kobek on 317-816-6000. You can also follow them on their blog, on Twitter or Facebook.