Submission Notes

The INSIGHTS Middle East Call Centre/CX '25 Awards winners will be announced at the Middle East Call Centre/CX Awards '25 Gala Dinner on Sept 25, in Dubai. Submissions must be received in August as previously indicated and nominations will be announced in early September.

As in previous years, all competitors who get nominated may be asked to send a "judge" from their team for one complete day to help with the marking of some primary nominee submissions on Thursday, September 11, 2025 in Dubai (the regional judging day). All nominated competitors need to budget for this possibility, no exceptions. Further details on how this process will work will be sent out in due course - this development is part of INSIGHTS' commitment to make the Awards judging process progressively more open and to encourage an even bigger number of the Awards to be decided by call centre professionals from the region itself.

From a nominations and "Awards Judging Day (Sept 11)" standpoint, the tried and tested INSIGHTS lifecycle development model continues to be the main methodology used to recognise regional excellence and outstanding performance - so the Best Call Centre nominations will be selected from the Call Centres that leverage maximum benefits from the opportunities that are presented in it's specific market and industry to maximise customer experience/service, employee satisfaction and organisational efficiency and effectiveness.

So, please complete the following steps. This stage is for your Awards submission and varies in length depending on your registration choices. ( Note that editing following initial completion before the submission deadline is possible.) Good luck.

With regards to your submission:-

You may attach as many pdf file uploads as additional, evidential supporting information as you feel appropriate. However, for confidentiality and logistical reasons, note that the regional judging panel does not get to view these files. In other words, the essence of any of your particular answers needs to be contained in your main submission document. In addition, you should note that

• The main submission should NOT contain any logos or other brand information. Branding may be included in supporting file uploads.
• Submissions not received before the closing date will not be considered by the judges.

INSTRUCTIONS

Answer all questions. If some questions are “Not Applicable”, explain why.

Answers must be supported by data. Participants should attach reports, presentations, plans and other documents to support the answers provided. Answers supported by data will be considered more valid by the judging panel.

The judges are seeking to uncover innovation. Such innovation, however, needs to be engineered from reliable business data. Thus, judges need to understand how your CX program is designed to deliver a differentiated experience to your customers (not the same as other businesses, not based on benchmarks or notional and unreliable standards) and how the CX program:-

• supports the defined and documented BRAND strategy of your organisation
• develops the competitiveness of your business relative to the defined and documented competitive strategy and the brand strategy
• develops the financial success of the business
• develops the sustainability of the business
• ensures that the organisation’s view of the business is the same as the view of the target customers.

AND

how you have made decisions to re-engineer the experience in order to drive the key strategic objectives of the CX program, including:-

• How data was captured
• How data was analysed
• How data was presented and interpreted
• How inter-departmental decisions are made
• How innovations are tested and piloted
• How final results (including financial and pipeline impact) are calculated and reported

NOTE:-

IT IS INCUMBENT UPON THE PARTICIPANT TO INCLUDE ALL RELEVANT DATA WITH SAMPLES AND CLEAR EXPLANATIONS. THE JUDGES WILL MAKE THEIR DECISIONS BASED UPON THE DATA PROVIDED AND CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ONE ORGANISATION’S ABILITY TO SUBMIT A MORE ROBUST, MORE COMPLETE ENTRY.

IN GENERAL TERMS, AND FOR THE PURPOSE OF GENERAL GUIDANCE, SUBMISSIONS SHOULD INCLUDE DATA, ILLUSTRATIONS AND ATTACHMENTS TO SUPPORT ANSWERS TO ALL QUESTIONS.

Competitive Strategy

(You need to choose one (and only one) of the six options listed below. Judges will compare your response to the public representation of your organization/brand. If this section is incomplete or inaccurate your submission will be disqualified)

Note you can only choose one competitive strategy (and if you are a “Differentiator” please describe the characteristics for how you arrive at that conclusion). Also note that multiple choices will result in disqualification. This is the second, most critical characteristic for nominations. Invalid selections will result in disqualification. INSIGHTS provide training programs related to this strategic model

21. Which customer touchpoints does your business support and which touchpoints are included in the CX program:.

24. Explain how requirements/demands of departments, such as:

• Operations

• Sales

• Marketing

• Brand Management

• Finance

• Strategic management

have been considered in the CX structure.

27. List each of the supported touchpoints (See question No 21) in order of their importance in driving customer behaviour to achieve the stated target objective.

Start Filling below fields:

36. Illustrate, (using actual examples) how the CX program has changed the customer experience.

For example, include photos of retail store re-design/layout, uniform re-design, include samples of how training programs have been changed (eg attach the old and new training material), illustrate how the call centre experience has changed (use ACD data, IVR data, QA data etc.) and prove how these changes are helping to drive the target objectives at each touchpoint in the CX program.

38. With clear reference to the answers above and data attached hereto and using 1,000 words or less, describe why you believe your CX program is worthy of being recognised as a leading CX program in the region and demonstrate tangible ROI.

Place particular emphasis on the key judging requirements described earlier.

(Note that whilst improved CSAT scores are a valuable operational result, they are not considered a tangible ROI. Improved sales, improved profits, reduced Opex, increased value of sales pipeline etc. are considered tangible returns, and the value of the increase should be disclosed along with the cost involved in achieving the increase - in order to allow judges to make comparisons.)

The judging panel reserve the right to request site visits and to review the source of all data contained in submissions. Submissions found to be inaccurate or misleading will be summarily disqualified from the competition.

As in previous years, we are aiming to add to the regional analysis we present at the MECC '25 Conference on Sep 24 - 25 by conducting some separate, foundational research. To this end, we would be grateful if you would also complete the separate Excel document called "Abandoned Calls Data" and upload this data back to us with your submission. Thank you.

Click here to download the "Abandoned Calls Data" Excel document.

After completing the document please, upload it from below.

With regard to the submission process:-

It is not expected that every company will be able to answer every question. The expansive nature of the questions is designed to ensure that companies that excel in one area are given a fair opportunity to compete against companies that excel in a different area and also to achieve the goal of affording participants and judges the opportunity to deal with a single form for each participant.

You are required to attach as much additional, evidential supporting information as possible. The more supporting and backup information you can send, the better..

• We expect to receive your submission online. The process allows you to complete the submission in stages and to go back to do editing before the final submission date in August as required
• The main submission should NOT contain any logos or other brand information. Branding may be included in the supporting documentation.
• Submissions not received before the closing date will not be considered by the judges.

It is expected that 3 – 5  shortlisted applicants will be nominated for the CX Award. (Similarly 3-5 nominations for CX Manager of the Year will also be based on answers to the questions above as they relate to demonstrable customer experience  management competence.)

All shortlisted applicants will be notified of their final nomination status in early September 2025. All the winners will be announced and the Awards will be presented at the annual industry Awards ceremony which will be held during the Middle East Call Centre/CX/AI 2025 show in Dubai and  scheduled for Sept 24-25.