Win awards. Boost credibility.
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 - by Becky Sheetz-RunkleWith a shiny new year upon us, there is no better time to begin or refine your corporate awards program. If you desire to boost your company’s and/or executive’s credibility and profile, this is a great way to do it. It takes time to gather data on award opportunities, so get to work now, if you want to reap rewards in 2009.
Here are the four steps for creating (or improving) your successful awards program.
Find the awards. So you’ve seen your competitors win awards for technology innovation, fast growth, leadership, corporate philanthropy, etc. Or you’ve read about distinctions like these and wondered how to bring this positive attention to yourself. Or, just as likely, senior management is irritated because it should be your company in the spotlight, not the competition.
You can find award opportunities in your regional business publications. In the Washington, D.C. region, both the Washington Business Journal and Smart CEO award companies for everything from growth to philanthropy to financial excellence, achievement by women and minorities, and more. You can also find opportunities through your chambers of commerce and other regional and national business organizations, industry associations and industry magazines.
Qualify for the awards. Once you’ve found the awards, the next step is to make sure you qualify for them. Restrictions include number of years in business, revenue thresholds and more. Make sure you qualify before you dedicate your resources. When in doubt, contact the organization directly and gather more data.
Submit the awards. Once you’ve found the awards, you’ll need to determine how far in advance applications must be submitted. Often they are six months or longer. So now is a good time to build your matrix and track when opportunities will fall. Yes, these awards can be time consuming. However, once you’ve gathered the data for the first time, submitting for subsequent opportunities is often much easier.
Yes, you will often open your kimono to the world and share your otherwise private information like revenue numbers, etc. Make sure you are ready for this step before you proceed, if you seek awards that highlight financial growth.
Promote the awards. This is the “duh” step, the ironic step, the “why are we doing this again” step. It’s great to win the awards. But remember, the whole point of winning them is to let the world know you won them and use them as part of your marketing portfolio. More on this next time.
