Surpassing Expectations to Deliver Success and Excellent Customer Service during the 11th Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards Night.

“OneBPO saved the day,” as snippets of conversation were heard about the good news at the Stevie® Awards Night while at the registration area. On May 23rd, a day before the awarding night, Michael Gallagher, the Executive Chairman of the Stevie® Awards, sent every attendee from Asia Pacific an email about the delayed clearance of a shipment containing plaques, trophies, and medallions at Philippine customs. They only received a handful for the night, and the rest of the awards would be shipped out to each attending country. OneBPO’s Chief Executive Officer, Alice Bautista, was one of the recipients. She arrived in Manila two days ahead of the event to prepare for the occasion. Upon receiving the email about the trophies, two thoughts came to her mind:

1. The upcoming Stevie® Awards ceremony will bring together individuals from around the world to the Philippines, the chosen host country for this year’s prestigious event, to receive recognition in their respective fields. It is not possible to go to this event and go back home without those trophies.

CEO Alice and her Team with
Lindsey Brill, Stevie Events Manager

2. If the main issue lies with clearance from Philippine customs, she should make an effort to contact someone within the customs department to gain a better understanding of the situation. With that, Alice decided to respond to Micheal and said that she could not promise but she could try to intervene and find a way on how to expedite the packages from customs. After a lengthy six-hour process of navigating through multiple channels, seeking advice from friends, and engaging in discussions with helpful individuals at customs within her reach, she was able to successfully secure clearance for all 25 boxes of trophies. Upon receiving the positive news, she promptly passed on the instructions to Lindsey Brill, the events manager for the Stevie® Awards. Lindsey diligently investigated various alternatives for arranging someone to collect the trophies the next morning, ensuring expedited delivery.

CEO Alice with her
Executive Assistant Riza

However, due to the time constraints and logistical challenges, it became evident that sticking to Plan A was the most practical course of action. This involved waiting for the packages to arrive at the hotel once customs released them via FedEx, and then shipping them out to the awardees. Given the circumstances and available resources, this decision was not only logical but also the most reasonable choice at that very moment. That evening, Alice tried to sleep over the matter. The following morning, she called her assistant, Riza, to convene about two options; leave the situation as it was and move on, or they could take matters into their own hands and retrieve the packages themselves. Reflecting on the situation, she knows that the more challenging issue of expediting the clearance of the packages from customs has already been resolved. It needs further assistance to ensure the timely arrival of the packages for the awards night. CEO Alice with her Executive Assistant Riza There was a surge of adrenaline when a friend confirmed that he had two trucks in Pampanga, one hour away from Clark, to pick up the trophies. Alice updated Lindsey and told her that she got the vehicles, and all she needed was the authorization letter from the manager of Shangri La who was the original consignee of those packages. Alice said, “we still can try,” and so Lindsey agreed. At 9:37 AM, Alice and Riza were seated at Starbucks in BGC, Taguig navigating all possible means to retrieve the packages before the event started. Clark was about two and a half hours away. While in Taguig, Alice communicated step-by-step instructions to the drivers over the phone and confirmed the hauling plans, emphasizing the urgency of the situation. With everything in place, Alice turned to Riza and jokingly asked, “Are you ready for the exciting journey to Clark?” They shared a hearty laugh, looked at themselves still in their sleeping clothes, both understanding that they were prepared at that moment to dive to mission impossible. By approximately 1:30 PM, they were already halfway on their journey to Clark. Assessing the timeline for the event to start by 6:00 PM, Alice already made contingency plans which includes telling her husband, Jay-T, to accept the award on her behalf when OneBPO’s turn came to receive it on stage and she misses her turn. Comforting themselves, Alice noted to Riza that if they were unable to return to Shangri La in time for the awarding ceremony, to remember that their efforts would make a difference in the awardees’ experience for that night. Departing Clark precisely at 3 PM, they encountered over two hours of traffic on their trip back to the hotel. Moreover, one of the vans had a flat tire, necessitating the quick reload of all boxes into a single van to make it on time.

Executive Chairman Michael Gallagher
with CEO Alice and her Son

Despite the roller coaster of emotions that day, both Alice and Riza were comfortably joined at the gala event table with the OneBPO Team at exactly 7:35 PM, just in time for their turn to receive the award on stage. OneBPO saved the day! But only because the Stevies Team trusted them to make that decision. Values? Definitely courage with excellent planning and negotiating strategies. They had fear that things may not turn out well, but they didn’t run away, they inspected each possibility and threats fairly, faced the odds squarely, and got things done. The Stevie® Awards team acknowledged their efforts many times during the whole event. They also made a slight time adjustment for OneBPO so Alice could still make it on stage to receive their award. Michael himself went up to shake hands and thank them for the initiative to get those boxes. They were given a trophy alongside a medallion and received an offer for a complementary sponsorship for the Stevie® International Business Awards to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 11, 2024. Alice was elated to witness the joy and satisfaction of all the recipients at the Stevie® Awards. When reflecting on her experience that day, Alice expressed, “I truly believe that it was in God’s plan for those trophies to be there, we just happen to be the chosen team to deliver them.”

Top Photo: CEO Alice with her Son and Husband
Bottom Photo: The OneBPO Team

She also stated that her actions were not particularly extraordinary, but rather a standard protocol that she and her team consistently would adhere to during critical situations involving OneBPO. “I have a team that makes things happen. We organize, we negotiate, and when it feels right, nothing is impossible.” Participating in the Stevie® Awards for the first time has emboldened them with an unparalleled sense of achievement and joy. They made the right choice in joining the Stevie® Awards and are thankful for the vast opportunities that come alongside it. Congratulations, Alice. OneBPO is proud of you and the team!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these <abbr title="HyperText Markup Language">HTML</abbr> tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

*