Tips for entering business awards

Entering business awards can be great for business by providing public recognition of your business’s achievements and increasing awareness of your brand.

Ideally, to get the most from business awards, you must aim to become a finalist as the minimum. Although, winning will be the icing on the top of the cake.

As, it’s not just about winning, becoming a finalist of business awards will raise the profile of your company. Back in March, the Eventus Recruitment team won the professional services award at the Red Rose Awards. Here we bring you our top tips that helped us win the award.

General Tips for Entering Business Awards

Start with smaller / regional awards
There’s lots of business awards to apply to – local, regional, national, international and industry specific. If it’s your first time entering business awards start small.

Smaller awards generally receive less entrants, meaning there will be less competition. It will give you the opportunity to practice written awards submissions, which you can build on / enhance for larger business awards.

Choose award categories wisely

Most business awards have several award categories that businesses can enter. Choose categories that are relevant to your company only. Don’t enter them all.

Also, each award category will have different criteria to meet. As a result, it’s important to reflect fully on the individual award criteria and decide whether your business will meet it before entering.

It’s a waste of time entering categories where your business doesn’t meet the criteria fully, as you won’t get shortlisted by the judges.  Furthermore, tailor applications to each category, if you are entering more than one.

Get your team involved through the awards process

At each stage of the awards process, involve different people within your company. As, different people will offer unique and different perspectives. This will help enhance your application, and may give you insights into your business in relation to the award criteria that you hadn’t thought about.

Evaluating past winners

Studying previous winners to gauge the standard and style of successful entries.

Tips for Written Business Awards Submissions

Often, the first round of business awards involves a written submission, which will be reviewed and rated by the judges. This is likely to include a description of your business and a series of topics or questions to answer.

First impressions are so important in business awards and the written submission is often where they happen. The judges are likely to be a group of people who may not have heard of your business before or know what you do. As a result, you must introduce and sell your business to the judges to be successful in the first stage of business awards.

Thoroughly consider the criteria

It’s important that you thoroughly meet the award category criteria in your written submission. As, often the judges will rate your response to the criteria during the selection process. Ask different people within the company for their views on how the business meets the criteria. Also, consider asking your top customers / clients their views on the business to give you an outside perspective.

Stick to word counts

Normally business awards will provide a word count for the written submission. This could be a word count for the full submission as a collective or individual word counts for each section / question.

It’s vital that you get as close to the word count as possible. Never go over the word count and don’t go too under. If your submission is way below the word count it will give the impression that you haven’t put effort into it, or that your business doesn’t do enough to meet the award criteria. Often, the judges will consider applications in relation to the word count to eliminate businesses from the awards quickly.

Sell your business - back up what you say

When drafting an awards submission be succinct and be persuasive. Back up what you are saying with statistics, figures and testimonials. Also, to produce a compelling awards entry, use a narrative to make it more engaging and memorable.

Additionally, don’t repeat the same points over and over in written awards submission. Select a range of the most relevant and impactful achievements to showcase that meets the criteria.

Consequently, if you repeat the same points the judges will think your business doesn’t do enough to meet the criteria.

Proof-read your submission

Always proof your awards submission before submitting and ask other people to proof it too. It can be hard to spot spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in our own work.

Named a Finalist - What's Next?

After the judges have reviewed all submissions, they will make a decision and announce the awards finalists. What comes next?

To be named an award finalist is super exciting, although it can also be slightly nerve-wracking when considering what comes next.

Every business award is different, but often they will use a pitch / interview and / or visit to your office / business premises to decide on the award winner.

Interview / Pitch

This could be a series of questions to answer, or a pitch /presentation, or a combination of both. If it’s a pitch or presentation, they will give you a time limit. Here’s some tips for success within this stage:

• Stick to the timings - If you are pitching or presenting the judges will stop you at the end of the allocated time. As a result, it’s vital that you finish within and as close to the time limit as possible.
• Make use of resources that the award organisers offer - If the awards organisers offer resources on this stage, make sure you utilise them when planning. Often, they will give you clear instructions and criteria of what they want to see. It’s vital that you stick to their instructions in order to be successful. Sometimes, they deliver a webinar on what they expect from finalists. If the business awards you are finalists for deliver this, make sure you attend or watch the recording.
• Get creative - Don’t worry if you can’t physically show your product / services. It’s difficult for businesses who work with people and don’t have a physical product. You can still tell the story of your business. However, there’s other ways you can show your services when presenting through using testimonials, videos or role play. Again, consult different people within your company when forming your pitch or presentation. Having different perspectives could provide you with the information you have missed, which could give you a winning edge over the other award finalists.
• Decide who will best represent you - It’s important that you don’t take too many people to the pitch or presentation. Each person who attends must have a role. You don’t want people just standing there through most of the pitch. Also, it’s important that the people who attend provide a good first impression, are well dressed and are good at public speaking.
• Practice, practice, practice - It can be tempting to read off a script or the presentation slides. However, doing so will give the award judges the impression that you haven’t practiced. There’s no harm in using cue cards as prompts, but it’s important that you aren’t constantly reading. By knowing what you are saying or improvising a little, will show passion, knowledge and allow you to make eye contact with the judges. So, it’s important that you practice your pitch or presentation many times, so everyone speaking is confident and know that they are saying. Also, by practicing you can make sure you finish within the time limit and that it isn’t too long or short. Often, we find when we do the first practice of an awards pitch, it is too long and requires shortening.

Tips for Interview Questions

• Acknowledge the question - Don’t just rush into answering the question as soon as the judge has asked it. Start by acknowledging the question. Thank the judge for the question or say something along the lines of “what a good question”. It will give you time to mentally compose yourself and consider your answer. 
• Brainstorm what could be asked in advance - Consider the award criteria and brainstorm some questions that could be asked during the interview. Then form some answers to the questions. Even if those questions aren’t asked, doing this prep will give you some adaptable talking points and make the interview less daunting.

Office visit

Some business awards visits the offices or business premises of all finalists when deciding on the winner. This gives the judges real insights into your business.

If the judges want to visit your office, be authentic. Don’t change things and don’t worry if certain people within the business aren’t available on the day. For one business who won an award from a business visit, it was speaking to an apprentice in the spur of the moment, that cemented the company as the winner of the award.

 Tips for Getting the Most from Business Awards

Whether you are a finalist or crowned a winner, business awards present businesses with many opportunities to take advantage of.

Promotion and publication

When you become a finalist, promote on social media and in the media that you are a finalist. Follow and interact with the awards body and other finalists on platforms such as LinkedIn. In addition, the awards organisers will publish the finalists on their website and notify the press.

Other ways you can promote your award entry and build anticipation is through email footers, newsletters, your website and emails.

Networking

Being an awards finalist presents numerous opportunities to network with the organisers, judges and other finalists. The awards ceremony is a great opportunity to network with other companies and build connections in a different environment. After the awards ceremony, connect with people you met on LinkedIn and continue the conversation.

Conclusion - Entering Business Awards

Entering business awards are great for business growth and recognition and present a unique opportunity to build connections.

Additionally, businesses should view entering awards as an ongoing strategy rather than a one-time effort.  Entering business awards is a learning curve. After you’ve entered your first awards, analyse your performance and improvements. Learn from feedback by using the judges comments to improve future entries and business practices.

About the Eventus Recruitment Group

We are award-winning recruitment specialists placing talented professionals within the Legal, Finance and Financial Services sectors.

Here at the Eventus Recruitment Group, we offer realistic, honest and tailored advice to both businesses and professionals, to grow your team or to enhance your career.

The Red Rose Awards Judges said: “From the moment Eventus walked in we were blown away by the passion, care and how well they treat their team and clients. There’s a real sense of community and doing for others, which clearly stood out. There’s a clear strategy and Eventus is putting infrastructure in place to make that happen.”

If you would like help hiring for a job vacancy, or are looking for a career move, please contact us at [email protected] or call 01524 34400 for a confidential discussion.