DMA Teleservices Council Honors Sam Kades, Jane Bulman

2007 Awards Recognize Excellence in Teleservices, Dedication to Ethics

New York City, June 12, 2007 — Every American recognizes the question. “How would you rate the service you received during this call?” Two of those responsible for ensuring that such service is excellent were rewarded and celebrated today in Las Vegas for their hard work and dedication to the teleservices profession, courtesy of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Teleservices Council.

The council presented its highest annual honors to Sam Kades, president of SaleseeK Partners Inc., with its Teleservices Excellence Award, and Jane Bulman, executive director of national telemarketing for Comcast Cable, with its TeleProfessional of the Year Award.

The accolades were presented this afternoon during the concluding day of the 23rd Annual DMA Teleservices Conference, which was held June 10 – 12 at The Palms in Las Vegas, NV.

“Sam and Jane are teleservices professionals who exemplify the best in the business,” said Benjamin Harris, DMA Teleservices Council chairman and president of Call Center Services. “Their dedication, innovative spirits, and hard work have improved teleservices in ways that benefit both the teleservices community and the consumer. We are honored to present our highest awards to these fine individuals.”

2007 Teleservices Excellence Award: Sam Kades

The DMA Teleservices Excellence Award is bestowed each year upon an individual or organization that demonstrates a commitment to teleservices by giving back to the teleservices community, and displays a commitment to the field. The honoree serves as an example in teleservices, adhering to quality standards and making contributions to the teleservices community. In addition, the individual or organization must exhibit professionalism, good business ethics, and must follow DMA guidelines. The ideal candidate should be a leader and a role model for others in the teleservices community.

A strong advocate for teleservices, SaleseeK Partners Inc. President Sam Kades is the recipient of the 2007 award. Kades was honored for “walking the walk” on deploying and training the highest ethical standards. Kades is the former chairman of the DMA Teleservices Operating Committee, as well as the former chairman of the DMA Teleservices Ethics Committee.

While at The Martin Agency, Kades established its call center, which is highly regarded for its production of telephone marketing programs for the agency’s clients. Prior to that, Kades joined Gannett Co. at the inception of USA Today and marketed and sold the fledgling newspaper to schools and colleges, then led the sales and marketing effort to create Gannett TeleMarketing Inc.

2007 TeleProfessional of the Year Award: Jane Bulman

DMA’s TeleProfessional of the Year Award is given to a professional who is relatively new to teleservices yet who has already made outstanding contributions to the teleservices community.

The 2007 award was presented to Jane Bulman, a 29-year cable television and communications professional. When she first became Comcast Cable’s executive director of national telemarketing four years ago, she noticed not all teleservices suppliers were created equal. So she did something about it. She initiated a best practices study and reviewed all the current and potential suppliers.

Bulman’s foresight in ensuring that the customer’s telephone interaction results in a pleasant experience has provided the teleservices community with new and forward-thinking initiatives that account for sales and care results, commonality for reporting of KPI (key performance indicator) results across all suppliers on a common platform, a documented and results-oriented third party quality assurance monitoring program that improves upon script presentations and adherence, sales results, and state and national compliance adherence.

Also, Bulman was recognized for demonstrating good corporate citizenship that benefits the teleservices community and its image through her strong belief in the “customer first” concept.

By ensuring the customer has a pleasant experience, Bulman is also making sure vendors provide employees with necessary training and education. By striving to make Comcast the gold standard for the cable and entertainment industry, she is enhancing the internal processes of their suppliers; which, as noted by a number of their current vendors, has increased their quality and results of their internal facilities on all client and business programs.

About the DMA Teleservices Council

The goal of the DMA Teleservices Council is to represent and promote teleservices as a valuable part of the marketing mix by serving and educating “telemarketing influentials” and marketing practitioners. Also, the council’s mission is to identify and develop the needs of individuals in a position to influence policies and practices in customer relations.

For additional information about the council, please visit http://www.the-dma.org/councils/teleservicescouncil or contact Kelli Hornachek, council manager, at khornachek@the-dma.org or 212.768.7277, ext. 1514.

About Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) (www.the-dma.org) is the leading global trade association for business and nonprofit organizations that use and support multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable and appropriate offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the end-to-end direct marketing process.

Founded in 1917, DMA today represents more than 3,600 companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 50 other nations, including a majority of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.

In 2006, marketers — commercial and nonprofit — spent $166.5 billion on direct marketing in the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures generated $1.93 trillion in incremental sales. Last year, direct marketing accounted for 10.3 percent of total US gross domestic product (GDP). Today, there are 1.7 million direct marketing employees in the US alone, whose collective sales efforts directly support 8.8 million other jobs. That accounts for 10.5 million US jobs.

The Power of Direct: Relevance. Responsibility. Results.

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