How to Influence Judges and Win Business Awards
Picture this: You're standing in a room filled with your industry peers, holding a shiny trophy that you’ve just been awarded.
The crowd erupts in applause, as you walk up to accept it, and you can feel the energy and buzz of excitement in the air. That moment of recognition and achievement is a testament to your hard work, dedication, and the exceptional value you bring to your customers.
Winning an award for your business doesn’t end with receiving a trophy. Oh no. There’s a lot more to be gained.
Inside secrets from someone who’s helped win over 480 business awards
Watch the video, where we sat down with Karen Hall, founder of Reputation by Design, to explore the benefits of entering awards and how to win one for your business.
Karen and her team achieved a 100%-win rate in the 2023 Asia Pacific Stevie Awards for clients they worked with to create submissions. Hugely impressive achievement!
In the video Karen graciously shared her knowledge, insights and experience on:
- How to choose which awards to enter
- The types of businesses eligible to be nominated for an award
- How to create a winning submission and differentiate your submission from other entrants
- How much time it takes to create your award entry
- What to do if your business is nominated for an award, and goes on to win a prize
What do you need to include in your award submission?
Certainly, having the time to put into the award submission is really important. Don't leave it till the last minute.
- The first tip is to ensure you answer every element of each question asked in the entry form. So sometimes a question can have three components to it, and a judge will sit down and they'll have a score sheet, and that you have to answer every single component of that question.
- Beyond that technical aspect, you definitely have to have compelling stories that connect. How you tell the stories can be quite important, and they don’t always have to be rosy.
- Thirdly, is backing up claims with statistics. You need to prove your claims.
In the video interview Karen also talks about the process they use to elicit the right information from business owners and present in the way the judges like it presented. The award submission information needs to be succinct, grammatically perfect and not exceed the stipulated word count, which can range from 300 to 5000 words.
The journalists at Reputation By Design are well trained in interviewing techniques, and writing submissions that deliver a compelling and complete set of facts and stories.
What are the benefits of entering your business for an award nomination?
When potential clients are choosing someone to help them and weighing their options, they'll be drawn to the business with that extra sparkle—the one with the accolades to back up their claims. It's like having a secret weapon that puts you head and shoulders above the rest. And that's just one of the benefits of winning awards for your business.
There’s the enormous benefits of boosting credibility and authority, and really setting you apart from your competition.
Karen shared some interesting stories on the impact of winning awards has had on some of their clients, from all kinds of business sectors.
What do you do once you’ve been selected as a finalist or winner?
It's not just about winning the award or becoming a finalist. It's actually about what you do with it that really counts. Once you've been nominated or won, you need to do more than let the award badge just sit in your inbox.
Karen shared a wealth of fabulous ideas to really capitalise on becoming a finalist or winner, including social media strategies, publicity, and updating printed and digital assets.
Interested in entering business awards?
Karen has kindly offered those who watched this video the opportunity to receive free awards research. This is bespoke research tailored to determine the most relevant awards for your business sector, when they open, and what’s required. These can be local, national, international and industry specific.
To learn more about this fantastic offer, contact Karen through the button below and mention the Commonsense Marketing special offer of free awards research.
Once you’ve sent off the contact form, Karen and her team will be in touch with a few questions, and then will take a couple of days to dive into the research. Then they’ll come back with some recommendations. There’s no obligation, they just ask that you review their research and provide feedback.
