Tips for Award Entrants
Plan Ahead
Consider the award criteria when planning your projects. Set clear objectives and ensure that your achievements meet them. From the outset, take baseline measurements to evaluate the project’s positive impact and evidence it in your entry.
Start Early
Give yourself plenty of time to prepare your entry. Find out the entry deadline and start gathering the information required for your chosen category at least 3-4 weeks in advance. It’s always better to hit the deadline, as this will help the organisers with their judging schedule and will cast you in a positive light.
Keep It Simple
Focus on what the judges are actually asking for in the judging criteria. Don’t just fill your entry with the contents of existing sales and marketing materials. Always write in plain English with no unexplained acronyms or jargon. Make sure the entry is succinct, clear and easy to understand.
Keep Checking
Be sure to check your entry thoroughly before submitting. Sloppy spelling, grammar and typos may give the judges the impression that you have not put enough effort into the entry process. Allow enough time to forward the entry to colleagues or a third party for proofreading.
Get Buy-In
It’s all about teamwork… so make sure your peers and senior managers are aware of the awards and garner their support with the entry. They can provide you with useful information and invaluable feedback to help you create the best possible entry.
Learn From the Experience
If you don’t win at the first attempt, learn from the process and try again next year. In the meantime, you can use the award entry process as a tool for assessing and benchmarking your performance. This assessment will help you identify improvements and developments that can be made across the business, to provide you with that all-important competitive advantage and increase your chances of winning awards in the future.