employees by structuring data entry and busi- ness process outsourcing (BPO) jobs that did not require being on the phone. In marketing, he created a unique niche for Global Response by developing dedicated sales and customer service groups for multi- channel retailers, replicating their brands’ passion through a focus on absolute product knowledge and consumer relationships. That innovation has made Global Response the call center of choice for the world’s top brands, including National Geographic, Metropoli- tan Museum of Art, MoMA, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, JM Family, Crate&Barrel, Tory Burch, and Lacoste, among many more. His most all-encompassing accomplish- ment has been maintaining stability and growth at Global Response with an all-Amer- ican workforce for nearly four decades. VALUE CREATION Under Herman’s 30-plus years of leader- ship, Global Response has created value by steadily increasing employment in Broward County and other company locations and increasing profits nearly 40-fold. Perhaps his most significant ongoing achievement in value creation is creating a unique niche in outsourced call center services that has trans- lated into steady growth in profit and jobs. At the age of 50, Herman Shooster was let go from his executive position at a frozen food company. With a family of six to support and few career options, Herman sold his house and purchased a small telephone answer- ing service with less than 20 employees. That number has since swelled to over 1,500 posi- tions during peak season today. What’s more, wages paid to those employees benefit their communities because, unlike other compa- rable call centers, Global Response has no offshore employees. Herman has been instrumental in estab- lishing Global Response as the trusted contact center for the world’s leading brands. By deliv- ering superior customer care for these brands and their enterprise, Global Response helps
Diane got involved deeper into audit- ing the billing and managing projects. Every month she would find something we missed, ensuring our clients could have faith in our bills. Stephen stayed with the technology, build- ing a team of 35 engineers to handle all the details. He continued to innovate every year making sure we stayed current with the latest happenings. These were daunting projects that he attached to clients as quickly as possible. Rolling out innovation to our clients quick- ly hardened the software into state-of-the-art projects. I was pleased with our progress and pushed Mike to build more facilities. It was a balance, but a risk well considered. I was satisfied, at 89 I could look back and see all the blood, sweat, and tears paying off. We had happy clients, an exciting workplace, and a constant flow of new prospects. INNOVATION Feb. 25, 2013, Herman Shooster, founder and Chairman of Global Response, is a lifelong entrepreneur and innovator. His enthusiasm for new ideas has turned the mom-and-pop answering service he bought in 1974 into today’s Global Response, one of the Top 50 contact centers in the world. At Global Response, Herman has been an innovator in the areas of technology, employ- ment practices, and marketing. In technology, Global Response devel- oped and patented software that enables web/ telephone integration, giving agents access to far more information and enabling them to provide better customer service. In employment practices, he pioneered the idea 25 years ago of employer-sponsored childcare benefits, earning a front-page arti- cle in the Wall Street Journal at that time. He found a way to hire hearing-impaired
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Sun Sentinel Excalibre Awards Annoucement Feb. 25th, 2013
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