Mastering the Art of Business Award Applications: A Guide to Gaining Recognition
Award season is high profile in the early part of the year. From the BAFTAs and Oscars, to technology, art and business awards, there’s no doubt that winning awards significantly raises a person’s or business’s profile. Enhancing credibility, winning awards opens new doors to opportunities and makes the winners ‘hot property.’ Awards set businesses apart from their competitors, increases visibility and can contribute to an increase in turnover and profitability.
Following on from our blog about the benefits of applying for business awards, we’re looking at how to write a winning business award application – because crafting a winning application requires more than just listing achievements. Read on for Bill’s recommendations on how to maximise your chances of success and write the best award application for your business.
Choose the Right Business Award:
It’s crucial to select the business award that most closely aligns with your organisation’s values, achievements and goals. Research available awards and choose the one that best reflects your unique strengths and contributions to your industry.
Firstly, don’t try to shoehorn your business into an award category late in the day. Applying for awards is a strategic move and should be built into both your annual marketing plan and overall business plan. Bill’s recommendation is to decide in advance which award(s) you want to enter, download the criteria, then build your business plan around them. When thinking about which business award to apply for, carefully assess the eligibility criteria to ensure that your business qualifies for the award you’re considering.
Decode the Application Questions:
Once you’ve identified the award that suits your goals, the next step is to thoroughly understand the application questions. Take the time to read each question carefully, breaking them down to grasp the specific information the judges are seeking. Think back to all of your achievements that relate to each of the questions that are being asked.
Where you can, investigate who the judges are and, if possible, research any awards they’ve judged previously. There may be some published information about how and why a specific application stood out for them. If this information is available, use it – incorporate those stand out points into your own award application.
Researching the judges’ values can be extremely worthwhile too. Knowing what they like, dislike and how they approach their business can help you frame your responses to be more appealing to them.
It can’t be overstated enough, it’s essential that you tailor your answers to address each question explicitly.
Highlight the Impact on Stakeholders:
Consider the broader impact of your successes on various stakeholders, including clients, contacts, and your team. Demonstrate how your achievements have positively influenced these groups and contributed to their success. Always use examples to demonstrate the tangible benefits your business has brought to others.
Authenticity is key to winning over judges. Provide real, emotional, and, where possible, visual elements to make your application more compelling. Share stories that showcase the genuine impact of your business’s initiatives and talk in emotional terms how those achievements have positively impacted your stakeholders, not just accelerated your business.
Incorporate Social Proofing:
An extremely effective way to bolster your application is to incorporate social proof. This is where you can showcase testimonials, endorsements, or reviews from satisfied clients, team, partners or suppliers. This not only validates your claims but also provides tangible evidence of the positive impact your products or services have on others.
Add weight with social proofing adds instead of just subjectively saying who you are, what you do and what’s been achieved. If the award application focuses on your business’s output, include social proof from your clients. If it’s about the culture in your business, include social proof from your team and so on.
Support Claims with Statistics and Facts:
Backing up your claims with solid data is also crucial for a winning award application. Provide relevant statistics and facts that clearly illustrate the measurable results of your efforts. Whether it’s increased revenue, improved customer satisfaction or other quantifiable metrics, this information adds credibility to your application and reinforces the value of your achievements.
Many judges will be visual people, so charts, graphics, diagrams and photographs should also be included in the application, not just business narrative.
Our Recommendation for Business Awards:
As part of ActionCOACH, we encourage clients to enter the BizX awards. BizX is an annual networking and business event that celebrates, rewards and recognises the achievements of businesses from the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa across 19 award categories. This year the event is being hosted in Liverpool on the 18th and 19th April.
In 2023, we took 23 representatives to BizX from 12 client businesses. Eight of those clients submitted applications for awards, from which we had seven finalists and one winner. Our goal for BizX 2024 is more applications, more finalists and more winners!
In summary, crafting a winning award application is a strategic process that goes beyond merely listing accomplishments. Building these crucial elements into your application will significantly increase your chances of receiving the recognition your business deserves.
Remember, a well-crafted application not only showcases your achievements but also tells a compelling, authentic story. Back up your application with evidence, facts, figures and visual elements to stimulate curiosity. This will resonate with the judges and set you apart from your competitors.
The deadline for applications for BizX 2024 is Friday 1st March at 5pm. The BSBC team will be attending along with many of our incredible clients. If you’d like to attend BizX, or like feedback on an application, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.
