Company: Listen Up Español, Portland, ME
Company Description: Founded in 2006, Listen Up Español is the leading bilingual call center for Spanish and English agent services. Headquartered in Portland, Maine and operating in Hermosillo, Mexico, the company counts on over 800 agents and provides companies with contact center services to reach consumers in the United States, Mexico and other countries in Latin America.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Contact Center Professional of the Year

Nomination Title: Manuel Felix

Tell the story about what this nominee achieved since the beginning of July 2013 (up to 650 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Between 2013-2014, Manuel Felix was the highest performing sales agent at Listen Up Español. His consistently high performance and motivational mantra have been exemplary for other agents and a source of pride for his team. Manual believes that a person can, “mejorar día a día” (improve every day) and his sales performance week to week, for the past months reflects that mantra.

One of our company values is “Achieving the Impossible” and friendly competition is encouraged and rewarded. Manuel’s success in setting new standards motivates other agents to achieve higher marks in sales metrics such as conversion rates, number of orders per week and number of calls received. Manuel earned the coveted ‘Agente Awesomeness’ award for four consecutive months, May through August 2014. This award not only comes with well-deserved bragging rights, there is a hefty cash prize, VIP parking, a custom t-shirt, a new top-of-the-line ergonomic chair for the work station and, last but not least, a full body standup banner with a photo the agent as a superhero placed at the entrance of the building.

Manuel says that one of the keys to consistently achieving high performance is purposely and actively listening to both the client and his supervisor. “Each caller is a different experience. Each person that calls us has a different way of perceiving the information and as a sales agent you need to quickly identify the caller’s mood, preferred speed of the conversation, and the caller needs you to connect with them and offer the best sales experience possible,” says Manuel. He also pays close attention to the ongoing feedback he receives from his supervisor and the sales coaches the company provides. “Here at the center we have trainers that have a lot of experience in sales and the psychology behind the sales process. If you are honestly open to feedback they can give you a lot of good information to boost your sales performance. The important part is to get in the habit of implementing that feedback in every situation possible.”

Listen Up Español uses routing system that determines, based on a performance algorithm, which agents should receive more calls- providing them with an opportunity to obtain a higher commission. Between June 2013 and November 2014 Manuel’s call volume increased from less than 100 calls a week to almost 500 a week.

A key component of the Listen Up Español sale structure during calls is the sale of add-ons or memberships. After a customer purchases a product via phone, the agent offers a magazine subscription or a membership to a discount program. The reason this component is key is because it increases the profitability of the call and allows both the company and the agent to generate additional revenue. Manuel’s performance in this part of the sale process also showcases his amazing growth. Although the number of add-ons that agents can offer has changed in the last month, Manuel’s upward trends show he has increased add-on sales from 13 to 151 when he reached his peak performance with 151 memberships sold.

Manuel joined Listen Up Español in September 2012 and since has demonstrated a commitment to gaining the necessary knowledge to become an experienced top performer. As a young professional Manual holds great potential to grow within Listen Up Español and become a leader. In summary, his achievements include:

• Agent of the Month for four consecutive months (May, June, July and August 2014).
• 1000% + increase in memberships sold per week, from 13 to 151.
• 800% growth in volume of received calls, from 59 to 489.

About Listen Up Español

Founded in 2006, Listen Up Español is the leading bilingual call center for Spanish and English agent services. Headquartered in Portland, Maine, and operating in Hermosillo, Mexico, the company counts on over 800 agents and provides companies with contact center services to reach consumers in the US, Mexico and other countries in Latin America.

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