This year, the “Best UK Service” award goes to 118 24 7, the UK business telephone numbers and directory inquiries service from directories business Yell. This is the fourth year the service has won the title “Best UK Service” for their performance in the information services industry.
The “Best UK Service” win gives 118 24 7 a 100-percent success rate for each year the category has been run in the International Directory Assistance Awards. The award reflects Yell’s efforts in achieving their goal to establish a high quality service run from UK call centers.
118 24 7 is a telephone-based information service providing in-depth, up-to-date classified business information, business and residential listings, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service, provided by Yell, a leading international directories business operating in classified advertising markets, offers essential business information such as opening hours, location details, prices and special offers. It is also available via SMS through TextBack.
In addition to the “Best UK Service” award, 118 24 7 also brought home 2009 awards for “Best Marketing Campaign” and “Customer Service Agent of the Year” organized by 118tracker.com, Europe’s leading provider of quality conferences, awards and networking events for all aspects of the information industries. The contest judges participants on criteria including service quality and performance management, efficiency and innovation.
118 24 7’s win in the “Best Marketing Campaign” follows its highly successful advertising campaign earlier this year, targeting TV, radio and the Web, with the help of their very own Internet icon, cartoon character “Magical Trevor”. This “Directory Heaven” campaign was 118 24 7’s first stand-alone advertising drive, focusing on usage and awareness, while emphasizing the service number in a fun and well-received manner. The campaign’s first week brought an increase in calls of around 70 percent and attracted a huge following on YouTube and Internet forums.
Matthew Bottomley, director of new media product marketing for Yell in the UK, commented, “When you promote a service with the tag line of ‘Directory Heaven’, it is vital that the experience lives up to the billing.”
Bottomley added, “The ‘Directory Heaven’ campaign really struck a chord with our consumers. As well as being particularly successful in driving calls, the innovative way we developed our brand created a clear identity which gained strong affinity with users.”
The “Customer Service Agent of the Year” title went to Bristol call center agent Kevin Allen, an employee dedicated to 118 24 7 for the past three years. He was cited in the submission as setting himself apart from his peers “through hard work, a positive approach, and a constant determination to improve the service.”
In reference to their award-winning success, Bottomley proudly boasts, “We have continued to build on our track record for excellent service, through highly effective staff training and a determined focus on always putting our callers first. Our clutch of awards in a strongly contested international event is a huge endorsement of the quality of our service and our people.”