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Winning business awards can help your channel company not only achieve recognition, but also add credibility to your business and help you get new customers. But navigating the large number of awards available, then deciding which ones might benefit your company the most and how to position your company to win, can be a daunting task. Join us to learn how to identify the awards that are the best fit for your company to go after, and how to submit a winning application without spending days and days on it. Plus gather tips on leveraging the awards in your marketing efforts once you’ve won them. Presenter Echo Ilott, Director, Boost Marketing Ltd., shares his expertise at the CompTIA EMEA Conference. Access the full EMEA Conference information from CompTIA at http://www.comptia.org/emea/agenda or access CompTIA's suite of education and research at www.comptia.org.
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DEMYSTIFYING THE BUSINESS AWARDS PROCESS ECHO ILOTT BOOST MARKETING
Agenda
§ Common misconcep7ons
§ Why enter awards?
§ Which awards should you enter?
§ How do you choose the right story to enter?
§ How do you write a great award entry?
§ How to give a great presenta7on
Common misconcepAons
“Only the big companies win the big awards”
“I’ll start with a regional award as they’re easier to
win”
“If I sponsor a category I’ll have
a stronger chance”
“If I buy more seats at the awards
dinner, I’m more likely to win”
“I can’t enter it into awards because it’s confiden7al”
“We don’t need to do a survey because we’ve
got loads of quotes from customers to show our
product’s great”
“I’m not sure if it’s innova7ve or not, I’ll let the judges decide”
“It’s not gone live yet but it’s a great
project so it should win”
But why?
Get m
ore budget /funding
Attr
act
tale
nt
Get more budget /funding
Increase employee engagement and
reten7on
Benchmark against the best
Prove you’re the best
ALract talent
Who wouldn’t want to work for an award-‐winning team?
Impress investors or senior management
PR opportuni7es, impress suppliers/resellers
Which wine would you buy?
Which wine would you buy now?
Conversion rate
8
“Your solu)on will be so amazing it will probably win awards”
“Don’t just take our word for it”
9
The awards planning process
1) What sort of awards would add
value?
3) Matchmaking – crea7ng the awards plan
4) What evidence do we need?
2) What are our best stories?
What awards would add value?
1. Who do we want to impress?
Clients (new and exis7ng), employees, poten7al recruits.
2. What are our key messages?
Themes: Innova7on, customer care, growth, Green/CSR
11
What are our best stories?
Strength of innovation
Strength of impact
Project C
Project B
Project E
Project A
Project D
What sort of awards can we enter?
12
Company of the year
Team/Dept of the year
Individual of the year
IT innova7on/product
Great place to work
Customer care/service
Green IT Project of the year (client’s sector)
Picking the right awards and categories
13
www.boost-‐marke7ng.co.uk/awards Search by sector or keyword – don’t forget your clients’ sectors (HR,
financial services, contact centre etc)
How to spot the good awards
Credible organiser or sponsor (e.g. BSC, CompTIA)
Credible judges
A good name and good logo (does it pass the signature
test?)
Sensible fee for entering
No fee for winning
A photo opportunity
Feedback
14
Is an amazing story enough?
Three key elements
There are three things that make a winning entry: ANGLE, INNOVATION and IMPACT
1.Angle: Tell a story! Challenges or
ambi7ous objec7ve. Industry implica7ons
2. InnovaAon: What superla7ves
can you apply? First? Only? Biggest? A first
for your client’s sector? Applica7on is as important as the technology itself.
3. Impact: More than just
opera7onal metrics. IT as a business
enabler – what has been the impact on the client’s strategic
objec7ves?
You can win with 2, but rarely just one.
An average story
Well written and
Well presented and
Well evidenced
Badly written Or
Badly presented Or
Badly evidenced
An amazing story
Contender Serious contender
No hoper Long shot
More than just a story
Planning your submission
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
RESEARCH / STRATEGY
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
MET
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
MET
DESIGN / EXECUTION
WriAng your submission
PreparaAon is key
Research previous winners
Read and re-‐read the criteria
Format
Suppor7ng material? Confiden7ality Client
endorsement?
Second stage?
What is “well wriLen”?
§ Bigger picture (“Why?” x5)
§ Strong narra7ve (passion)
§ Great first impression
(grab the judges in the first paragraph)
§ Visibly factual
§ Skimmable
§ No waffle!
WriAng submissions – more Aps
§ Choose person (I, we or they) and s7ck with it. § Write your headings and subheadings first. § Combine sta7s7cs with examples. § Get someone else to read it. § Dare to be different.
Common pi]alls
§ Not explicitly answering quesAons.
§ Not substanAaAng claims.
§ Last minute panics.
§ Going over word count.
§ Entering without approval.
§ Leaving it up to the judges to decipher.
§ Using jargon (your judge may not be an expert in your area).
§ Using copy/pasted content.
So what is “well presented”?
PresentaAon is about...
Being well (but not overly) illustrated.
Balancing bullets with narra7ve.
Using graphs and diagrams well.
Drawing aeen7on to the key messages (signpos7ng, formafng).
26
Same story + awards. Which won?
What is “well evidenced”?
INNOVATION / INGENUITY
CASH CUSTOMERS CULTURE CSR
TACTICAL OBJECTIVES MET
IMPACT
Evidence of...
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES MET
Top Aps for evidence gathering
§ Look at the bigger picture. § Show cause and effect (clever use of surveys). § Use surveys if needs be (your own team, end users).
§ Research uniqueness. § Balance quan7ta7ve with qualita7ve evidence (bring it to life – what does it mean ‘on the ground’).
§ If you’re entering a project – get the client on board before anything else!
§ Cost savings
Face-‐to-‐face presentaAons
§ Pick the right team (three if allowed) § Book dates in diaries (include rehearsal) § Script presenta7on – but DON’T read from a script § Keep responses to ques7ons short § Passion yes, nervous OK, boring NO.
The face-‐to-‐face presentaAon
32
How to keep abreast of deadlines
Capitalising on your win
§ Press releases to regional/trade press
§ Ar7cles in client and employee newsleeers
§ Short case studies for use in proposals
§ Mid-‐sized case studies for marke7ng collateral
§ Convert entries into tweets (i.e. survey results)
§ Including awards logos in all customer facing communica7ons
§ Placing award winning case studies in conferences, par7cularly those run by the awards organiser.
QUESTIONS?
Up Next
§ 13.00 – Conference Lunch in the Exhibit Hall – 5th floor Mountbaeen Lounge
§ 14.00 – Maximising Your Partnering Opportuni7es to Grow Your Business
– 6th floor Mountbaeen Room
§ 15.00 – Networking Break in the Exhibit Hall – 5th floor Mountbaeen Lounge
§ 15.45 -‐ Closing Keynote: Jez Rose, The Behaviour Expert – 6th floor Mountbaeen Room
THANK YOU.
