How to win business awards

Congratulations are due to three of our clients who’ve been the latest to win prestigious business awards with our help.

Market Makers telemarketing agency www.marketmakers.co.uk and the Lead Forensics software company www.leadforensics.com (they have an extremely natty piece of kit that tracks all visitors to a website, perfect for jumping on hot leads) are celebrating success in the Best Business Awards. Market Makers won Best Customer Focus and Lead Forensics won Best Innovation.

Fabulous online florists Serenata Flowers www.serenataflowers.com won Independent Retailer Site of the Year in the Online Retail Awards, and are through to the finals of the very highly regarded National Business Awards. We worked on all their entries through our link with Awards Intelligence: www.awardsintelligence.co.uk

Great news for them, but what can other companies do to maximise their chances when entering business awards? Putting together a powerful entry form is essential. Here are a few tips:

Don’t leave it until the last minute. You may need to collect case studies, financial information, pictures and quotes, and choose with care which categories you enter.
Focus on the question. Yes, you can tell the judges your great story, but make sure you divide up your material in a way that fits each section of the form.
Don’t be modest. Awards go to outstanding entrants and if that’s you, say so.
Avoid jargon, acronyms and anything that will confuse lay judges. Keep it simple and powerful. Judging panels usually include specific industry experts but also entrepreneurs with general business acumen.
Include concrete proof of financial success. Judges feel safe awarding titles to company with a shining track record of growth and rosy forecasts. They don’t want to end up embarrassed if their winner goes under.

What are the benefits of winning awards (apart from the trophy or seat at a glitzy gala)? Wearing our Awards Intelligence hat, we’d say: