The Ken Blanchard Companies® Wins Bronze Stevie® Award for Its Legendary Service Program

SAN DIEGO - Aug. 28, 2018 - PRLog -- The Ken Blanchard Companies^® was named the winner of a bronze Stevie^® Award in the Best New Product or Service of the Year – Business-to-Business Services category in the 15^th Annual International Business Awards^®.

The International Business Awards are the world's premier business awards program. All individuals and organizations worldwide—public and private, for-profit and nonprofit, large and small—are eligible to submit nominations. The 2018 IBAs received entries from 74 nations and territories.

"This year's Stevie Award winners in the IBAs are the most distinguished group of winners we've had yet," said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. "We raised the minimum average score from the judges required to qualify as a Stevie winner, so 2018 winners should be especially proud of their achievements."

More than 3,900 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories. Blanchard^® won bronze in the Best New Product or Service of the Year – Business-to-Business Services category for Legendary Service.

Legendary Service, by the authors of the book Legendary Service: The Key Is to Care, was developed to create a service-minded culture throughout an organization. It teaches employees how to consistently deliver ideal service that will give their coworkers the help and support they need, keep their customers coming back, and create a competitive edge for the organization. The one-day face-to-face workshop (or three 2-hour virtual sessions) is a fast-moving combination of content, engaging activities, entertaining videos, and skill practice. After the workshop, participants have access to the Legendary Service Tools to practice new skills back on the job. They also have access to the workshop's videos and worksheets through their learner portal for a year.

"We are thrilled to receive this award," said Kathy Cuff, coauthor of Legendary Service. "Every company knows that great customer service is paramount to organizational success, yet few have a proven plan to build a service-minded culture. Employees may not even realize they have internal customers to serve, resulting in friction and low collaboration within the organization. Even worse, employees are often afraid to go above and beyond, which can leave customers unsatisfied and looking elsewhere. When employees aren't empowered with a service mindset, you end up with a culture in which employees don't help each other reach their goals and in turn aren't taking care of their customers the way they should. This program is sorely needed, and we think it will make a real difference in the world."

"We are honored to receive this recognition," said Vicki Halsey, coauthor of Legendary Service. "You want a service-oriented culture that empowers their employees to take care of the people they serve. Employees and customers deserve to feel valued in every interaction with your company. We know that each interaction can either build relationships or damage them and can either accelerate success or impede it. When employees are empowered to provide excellent service internally, they start treating each other better, and collaboration, innovation, and productivity will rise throughout the organization. That positivity, in turn, reaches the customer, and they will create raving fans who recommend you to their friends and family."

For more information on Legendary Service, visit www.kenblanchard.com/legendaryservice.

About The Ken Blanchard Companies
The Ken Blanchard Companies is the global leader in management training. For nearly 40 years, Blanchard has been creating the best managers in the world, training over 150,000 people each year. From the award-winning First-time Manager program—based on the best-selling business book, The New One Minute Manager^®—to SLII^®, the most widely taught leadership model in the world, Blanchard is the provider of choice of Fortune 500 companies as well as small to medium businesses, governments, and educational and nonprofit organizations.

About the Stevie^® Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards^®, The International Business Awards^®, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 nominations each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.