Quantity or Quality?

I love the big hitters like the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, Nobel Prizes and National Business Awards. That’s because I know that they are top quality awards and are very tough to win.

The truth is that I’ve engaged in enough dinner party tittle-tattle over the years to realise that most people don’t have a clue what the pecking order is when it comes to awards, other than very few premier league exceptions.

So with over 1,000 awards open to UK businesses, should you agonise over which ones to enter or simply crack on?

Let’s face it, the average customer just wants to feel safe when buying from a company so seeing a selection of award-winner logos on the homepage will work wonders for building trust and credibility.

The answer is that you should enter the awards you have the best chance of winning based on your strengths.

So that said, what you need is an awards plan which identifies what your strengths are and the awards and categories you have the best chance of winning. Then crack on.

You have to be in it to win it. It’s a numbers game. The average success rate is 1 in 10. Our success rate is 1 in 2.  So decide how many awards you want to win then go for it. It’s not rocket science but you do need to have that vital winning edge. That crucial 1% or USP. You don’t need to be the best in the world, just 1% better than everyone else entering the category you want to win.

Oh, and you need to be able to craft a compelling story for the judges too. So don’t let the company accountant or lawyer draft your entry. In fact don’t let them anywhere near it, they’ll just delete all the good stuff. Honestly, I’ve seen it happen a million times. Make sure you hide your masterpiece from them or submit it while they are on holiday!

Best of luck.

Mark