You may have noticed the increasing number of business awards out there – industry awards, magazine awards, association awards, community awards, people awards… the list is endless. Have you also noticed that there are certain companies or individuals that always seem to win the high profile awards and get great media coverage highlighting their achievements?
The reason companies enter business awards is that they can be a fantastic way to generate positive PR for an individual or their business – especially if you become a finalist or, even better, win.
However, before you start entering every single business award out there, you need to do your homework and research and work out if:
a) the awards are relevant, and
b) it’s worth the time, investment and energy spending hours writing that ‘knockout’ award-winning entry submission.
Perhaps more importantly, if you are successful, what are you going to do to capitalise on winning? Award success can have a positive effect; both internally (for your workforce) and externally (to increase awareness of your business to you customers, clients, suppliers etc) – and it gives you a huge sense of achievement to have a reputable organisation acknowledging how amazing you, and the work you do, are; as well as going on to tell the world about it.
Here are some tips on how to write a successful business awards entry:
- Be relevant; only enter an award that is relevant to you or your business sector ie. don’t enter a ‘best company to work for’ award when there’s only you working in the business
- Be concise; try not a waffle with your award submission. Get to the point, be clear and only write what is relevant to the questions being asked
- Put yourself on the judging panel; try and think of yourself as the judge – what would you look for in an entry, what would appeal to you and make you want to give them an award?
- Be bold; your entry will need to be positive and include highlights, achievements, results and why you deserve to win it – so be bold and assertive and tell them why
- Use examples, figures and statistics; if you make a statement, back it up with the results, what was achieved, what the outcome was, how it affected sales, client retention, customer service etc
- If you don’t succeed, keep trying; sometimes your first attempt may not be successful but if it’s an award that’s important and that you truly believe you can win; try again – many people achieve success on their second, third or even fourth attempt. Remember practice makes perfect
- Double and triple check your award submission for typos, grammatical errors and just so it makes sense
- Adhere to the deadline date – if you’ve spent days pulling together a great entry, you won’t want to miss the entry deadline
- Be brave; if you think you’re a deserving winner – say so, tell them why and always back it up with facts
Remember, it’s not only about the positive PR you will generate if you are successful and become an ‘Award Winner’ (not to mention the cash prize and trophy) – most business awards ceremonies are held at a top quality venue so you’ll have a fantastic night out and get the opportunity to rub shoulders with the great and good from your industry.
