How to be an award winning business
Award success can help take your business to the next level. But applications can be time consuming and some awards are expensive to enter, let alone the cost of taking your team to the finals if you make the shortlist. So how can you increase your chances of success so you can get the greatest returns from your investment? Multi-award-winning marketer Siobhan Stirling, whose agency Sharp Minds Communications has helped many of its clients achieve award success, shares her tips on how to win awards.
There are lots of ways that awards can benefit your business – to ensure you leverage them to deliver greatest brand value, we’ve pulled together a guide on the marketing and PR value of awards and strategies for sharing your success.
The basics
Before we dive into some guidance for the award application process, it’s important to first be realistic as to whether you truly think your business stands a chance at winning the awards you put it forward for. Your business must be in a demonstrably strong position and your customers should be happy. If you’re still figuring things out or receiving 1* reviews from your customers, it won’t cut it. So, to save yourself some time, be self-critical before you start thinking about applying for awards.
Choosing the right award to apply for
Of course, your business is only in for a chance of winning an award if you have carefully chosen the appropriate awards to apply for. Start by thinking about the values or the mission of your business and look for awards which celebrate those traits. Similarly, it can be useful, if your business is niche, to choose industry specific awards which can showcase your expertise. Local awards can be very impactful if you currently operate on a local scale as it can help you reach new prospective clients. Researching your competitors and the awards they have received in the past can help you to identify awards which are achievable and will also give you the opportunity to outdo your competitors.
While awards are a great opportunity to boost your business, it’s important not to lose sight of the people who contribute to its success, so keeping a focus on your customers and employees is vital. Choosing to apply for an award which matters to your customers is a key part of maintaining their loyalty and attracting new prospects by upholding a connection with them, for example, showcasing an award for best website design is unlikely to sway potential customers – unless you’re a website design agency. The team helping you to build your business are just as important as your customers, so choose an award which will make your staff feel appreciated.
The basics of making sure your award application doesn’t fall at the first hurdle
Applying for an award can be a time-consuming and expensive process so ensuring your application is meeting the requirements is key to making the most of the opportunity. Here’s what to watch out for and what to pay attention to when you start your application.
- Check that you meet the key criteria: An easy way to waste your time with award applications is to enter awards from which you or your business are barred. Examples include: entering an award for an area that you don’t operate in; applying for a start-up award when your business was founded earlier than the cut-off date; not having the correct number of employees for a particular category.
- Check financial requirements: Some business awards ask for financial information as part of the initial questions; our experience is that these organisations don’t generally chose smaller businesses as their finalists/winners, so going for them is generally a waste of time and effort. It’s not always the case; checking previous winners will give you an idea as to how important this yardstick is to the judges. But if you think your business is not big enough yet to win a particular title, don’t be disheartened; there are lots of business awards that celebrate smaller and micro businesses.
- Make sure you answer every question/fill in every box: It may seem axiomatic, but many people don’t. When award bodies are inundated with applications, their first cull will be eliminating any submissions that haven’t provided all the information they have requested.
- Stick to the word count: Another easy mistake to make that means you won’t even get out of the starting blocks.
- Proof read your application: Spell check it, proof read it, and ask someone else to triple check it for you. Again, a simple elimination test is applications with typos and grammatical mistakes. You’re asking for professional recognition, so your application needs to be professional.
- Make sure you are able to attend the award ceremony: Some awards organisations won’t consider submissions from entrants who can’t make the finale.
Top tips for writing a good application
The key to award success is writing a high-quality application which lets your business shine and demonstrates to the judges you are ticking all their boxes. Being mindful to presenting your business in the right way will help you to connect with the judges.
- Check what the judges are looking for and make sure you answer it: This will be on the award website under the different award categories and also on the application form. Companies and individuals that win are able to demonstrate that they excel on all criteria, so create a system for cross-referencing to ensure that you answer every point.
- Research past winners and why they were awarded the title: Learning from your competitors can help to increase your chances of winning as you can gain insight into what they did right and also seek areas which you can identify for improvement, where your business could have a chance to outcompete them by being one notch better.
- Be objective: Fancy adjectives and wish lists will only get you so far; almost every business/entrepreneur claims to have a ‘passion’ for what they do, so saying you’re passionate – about your beauty parlour, helping your clients, making a difference to your community etc – will not make you stand out. You need to demonstrate how you have turned that passion into a successful business/delivered on your values. Support your application with objective evidence: new hires, new clients, new product lines, increased turnover, expanded premises, investments.
- Demonstrate your Points of Difference: The judges will expect hairdressers to make their customers feel good, marketing agencies to be creative, accountants to keep their clients solvent. What do you do that makes you stand out in a crowded market place? How do you deliver above expectations?
- Show how you give back: Businesses that win awards tend to do more than their job; they give back to their local communities, implement meaningful ESG policies, provide innovative career pathways to widen opportunities… What can you demonstrate about your business that shows that you do more than think about a strong bottom line?
- Tell a story: There is lots of evidence to support the power of stories over facts; if you can weave a story into your application, it is likely to be more memorable to the judges. Some awards are looking for strong personal stories (how you overcame difficulties etc); others will be looking for a more corporate story about how the business has developed; others may look for an element of both. Research past winners to find out what elements stand out to the judges to make sure you hit the right mark – a personal triumph story can fall flat in the wrong forum.
- Make the most of the word count: If there’s a 500-word limit to a section and your answer is only 75 words, the chances are you’re not selling yourself enough. The word limits provide a good indication of how important the judges think every section is, so deliver to their expectations by making the most of the space they give you.
The importance of supporting information
Most awards allow you to submit supporting information. Like the word counts, to make your application as strong as possible, you need to leverage the limits set for any supporting information. Depending upon the particular award, the judges’ criteria and the category that you are entering, appropriate supporting information might include:
- Client testimonials: It’s all very well saying you’re brilliant, but it’s much stronger if someone else says it. Most clients will be happy to offer a testimonial, but they may not know where to start or may be too busy to deliver to your deadline. Writing a draft for them will speed up the process immeasurably, as well as enabling you to make sure their feedback evidences what you are trying to demonstrate to the judges. Our experience is that 85% of people will approve a testimonial written on their behalf with new changes, 5% will make minor tweaks and 10% will make the review even more glowing!
- Staff testimonials: Vital if you are entering an employer/leadership award, but helpful for any category to evidence company culture, career opportunities and work-life policies and support.
- Media coverage: This demonstrates that you are a leader and others are taking note of you/your business.
- Statistical evidence: This might be to support financial claims, or it could be a graph to show growth (in staff, turnover, premises etc).
- Reports, white papers, expert articles
- Images: Especially if you are demonstrating creativity or team culture.
- Social media posts with particularly strong engagement.
- Screenshots of social reviews and ratings , such as TrustPilot, Google, Checkatrade.