Mindshare Leaders Named E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists
Mindshare Technologies, the leading provider of real-time customer feedback solutions, today announced that the company and its founders, Richard D. Hanks and John R. Sperry, have been named as finalists for the Ernst & Young Utah Entrepreneur Of The Year ® 2008 award.
This year, the Entrepreneur of the Year program celebrates its 22nd anniversary. The program has expanded to recognize business leaders in over 135 cities in 50 countries throughout the world. Awards are given to entrepreneurs who demonstrate extraordinary success in the areas of innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
A leading candidate for the award, Mindshare recently completed its 60th consecutive month of revenue growth and completed its 20 millionth customer survey. Mindshare has experienced exceptional customer retention among its clients, many of whom rank among the Fortune 100. The company credits this to its real-time enterprise feedback solution, which helps companies improve their operations by incorporating precise and timely customer feedback, such as "was the meal served hot enough", or "did the phone agent solve your problem?"
"These finalists are the best of the best, embodying the unique spirit of entrepreneurism," said David Jolley, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Program Director for Utah. "They positively impact our region in a major way, through jobs, community growth, development and innovation. Ernst & Young is proud to salute them."
Rich Hanks and John Sperry have diverse and impressive backgrounds:
Richard D. Hanks , Mindshare's Chairman and President was previously a Corporate Officer at Marriott, where he led the marketing strategy, sales, distribution, and revenue management efforts for Marriott's 13 lodging brands, overseeing $18 billion in sales. Rich was named "The Leading Sales Innovator in the Lodging Industry," and led Marriott into the Internet era, prompting Bill Gates to refer to him as an "important Internet champion" in his book Business @ the Speed of Thought. Rich is a sought-after speaker, an adjunct professor at Cornell University, and was a member of the Board of the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research. He obtained his bachelor's degree from BYU and his MBA from Northwestern University. He is the author of the widely-acclaimed book, Delivering and Measuring Customer Service.
"Being nominated for this award is a great honor for our company and recognizes the hard work, personal commitment, and smart decisions made by John and each of our team members," said Richard Hanks, president of Mindshare Technologies. "Mindshare has recently crossed some significant milestones and will continue to grow and deliver customer feedback solutions across a variety of industries."
John Sperry, Mindshare's CEO, worked with Rich at BlueStep, where he served as the company's CTO. John is a recognized expert at finding technology solutions to constrained business problems. While at BlueStep, he designed and implemented a collaborative web solution that was used daily by 30,000 people from organizations like the State of Utah and the University of Arizona. He also worked for SunGard Data Systems as Senior Vice President of Technology. While at SunGard, he implemented large enterprise financial and CRM solutions for companies such as State Farm, Citibank, Bank of America, and others. He has an MBA and Finance degrees from the University of Utah and BYU and is a visiting lecturer at BYU.
"Collaborating with Rich and the rest of the Mindshare leadership team has been one of the greatest achievements of my career," said John Sperry. "We believe Mindshare is now the fastest growing customer feedback company in the world, delivering robust management tools that capture customer perceptions, transforming them into actionable customer intelligence, and improving our clients' profits."
Entrepreneur of the Year Award winners will be announced June 27, 2008 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year is the world's most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The award makes a difference through the unique way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 135 cities in 50 countries.
Mindshare helps companies improve operational excellence, foster consumer satisfaction, build customer loyalty, and support employee retention. Our industry experts guide clients in building comprehensive Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) solutions. Mindshare's proprietary survey technology captures the voice of the customer in real-time and immediately transforms it into actionable intelligence through powerful and incisive reporting. As a hosted system, Mindshare is affordable and flexible, providing automated surveys and reports tailored to each client’s specific needs. The reports are web-accessible 24/7 or by scheduled email delivery. Mindshare serves more than 25 different industries including travel, hospitality, restaurant, financial, salon, automotive, and retail. Clients range from small regional chains to large multinational corporations. For information, visit www.mshare.net.
