Tips on Entering Awards

You have to be realistic about the amount of time it will take to gather your background information and fill in all the required detail. Establish what figures you need, and what evidence, testimonials, examples you will need. Delegate to members of your team – make each responsible for a section on the form. Entering (and especially) winning awards are great for team building, so involve as many people as possible in compiling your award entry.

"If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well," adds Joyce. "Give accurate facts rather than a wordy, vague explanation. Judges will look for transparency in your figures and you will be expected to back them up if you reach the latter stages of an award scheme."

Many applicants don’t pay enough attention to the actual questions asked on the form. Politicians may be able to get away with answering the question they want rather than the one posed, but judges want to compare the entrants, so read the criteria and stick to them.

Check each category definition to make sure you are entering the correct one for the age, size, location of your business. Categories can be diverse and one which you may initially reject as being inappropriate could be the one in which your company shines.

Highlight your strengths but remember to be honest about your weaknesses. Most judges aren’t looking for the ‘perfect’ business. They’re looking for a business which shows evidence of planned and sustained development in all areas – particularly if the awards are general business awards. Instead of writing that the company grew ‘substantially’, back this up with statistics such as the company sales revenue grew by x%, or we recruited x new staff as a result.

If you plan to include case studies of work which you have done for clients as part of your submission, it is courteous to let them know this. In many cases your submission may be used for PR for the awards if you reach the finals, and it may be used as an audio visual presentation on the night of the finals.

Many awards allow you to submit back up or support materials. You should make sure that these are of the highest standard. If you have to make copies of materials make sure they are good quality copies. Depending on the materials permitted you could consider including:

• Case studies
• Photographs of products
• Samples
• Testimonials from clients

"It seems simple" says Joyce, "but doing your homework on previous winners should really be step one." Most awards will have websites which tell you about previous winners and you can search the internet for them.

Remember to have someone proof read your application. Poor spelling and grammar and unfinished answers will not reflect well on your company!

Running a business is hectic, but you should start filling in an application form sooner rather than later. A rushed last minute entry will not necessarily reflect on your business as well as a considered one. You should always ensure that your application is submitted by the deadline.