The impact of being an award-winning business
For many companies, competition can be rife when it comes to entering business awards. This prospect, plus the time and effort spent creating your application, can often be enough to perturb potential candidates.
Regardless of the size of your business, you could and should enter business awards that apply to you. Many firms won’t be aware of the positive effects that even an award nomination, let alone being an award-winning business, can have on their reputation. Awards to enter can range from national and regional accolades to industry-related recognitions and honours based on specific criteria, as such there’s an endless variety of brand enhancing opportunities at your fingertips.
Paul Kelly, the founder of Kelly Turkeys, has seen his family business go from strength-to-strength by being recognised as an award-winning turkey supplier. He discusses the impact this has had on his brand and why it’s important to apply for awards, helping you to find widespread professional acclaim.
Positive PR
Successes occur within companies all the time but regularly publicising these achievements often isn’t a consistent part of a business’ strategy. Award wins provide a fantastic opportunity to produce a newsworthy press release; consider your audience and who would benefit from hearing about the news and then distribute the information locally, nationally or to trade-specific publications. Not only does an award win, and the associated PR, publicly celebrate the accomplishments of you and your team, it seriously maximises the visibility of your brand. Plus, as the award process runs across several weeks, or even months, you’ve got a steady stream of updates to provide the press, keeping your brand in the public eye even longer.
Kelly Turkeys use the platform and awareness they’ve built up thanks to award wins and recognition from celebrity chefs to promote their marketing campaigns. We are currently encouraging businesses to introduce corporate gifting of our turkeys at Christmas!
Good for business
Whether it’s industry-related recognition or a regional accolade, this doesn’t just impress potential clients but suppliers too, along with anyone else who comes in to contact with your company for that matter. Winning a business award can open doors to getting new contracts, breaking into new markets and finding new supply chains. This boosts your credibility and people make the connection that if you’re good enough to have won or be nominated for an award, you’ll be an efficient and dependable business to work with too.
The business world is competitive no matter the industry you work in, so standing out to attract future clients is vital. Being known as award-winning is a great way to do this.
Increased motivation
Many of your employees are likely to have contributed years of their career to building your business with you. To see the positive impact of their work on the business as a whole is a great boost to team morale; award nominations and wins provide recognition for the team’s efforts. After all, your business wouldn’t work without them and who doesn’t want to work for an award-winning company?
Award nominations give recognition to your employees, showing that without them, you wouldn’t be valued within your field. Receiving a nomination for, or winning, just one award alone is enough to fill your employees with invaluable motivation to successfully obtain more, driving your progress moving forward.
Attracting employees
Quality candidates in your field will instantly be drawn to award winning companies; they want to work for the best of the best and with these titles you’ll be able to attract the highest caliber of talent.
This then allows your reputation to grow even further, with outside businesses recognising the impressive talent filling your employee pool and as a direct result, your professional performance.
Benchmarking
As well as standing out and battling the competition, being an award-winning business creates a benchmark which allows you to compete with yourself internally.
If you set yourself a high benchmark for the work you produce and your reputation in turn, the standard of your results will only increase. A positive result that every business strives for, awards are an efficient way of setting exceptional ongoing standards within your organisation.
Marketing tool
Not only is winning an award great for morale, it’s hugely beneficial to your marketing strategy. Whether you’re hosting an event for fellow businesses in your industry or creating email newsletters, having an award-winning stamp on your website gives your brand credibility, proving you’re a market leader.
Nominations and wins are also a great reason to reach out and reconnect with clients both old and new, making them aware of your recent success whilst sharing your gratitude for working together.
Networking
Not only do these accolades enhance your company’s internal culture, but the increased interest in your company also allows for growth and expansion. Kelly Turkey’s now service America and have started a corporate gifting initiative as a result of the awards they’ve won, for example.
Your network outreach booms as you’re able to attract clients from around the world due to your recognised successes. Adding credibility and solidarity to your international presence, companies previously unaware of your brand will trust your capabilities after seeing the awards you’ve accumulated. Meanwhile, your achievements will allow you to consistently develop your business’ networking reach; as more companies than ever before engage in conversation, you’ll find more success at networking events closer to home. Awards enhance your presence and trustworthy image, in every sense.
Backing of being a specialist
In the business world, we’re all looking to stand out and be the number one specialist in our field. While many of us do specialise in one particular area, it’s often difficult to support our claims objectively. One way to substantiate our achievements is through awards, given to us by recognised, objective, external bodies.
If you’re nominated for or win an award within your specialised sector, this gives you the backing to promote and market yourself with demonstrated evidence – another way to vastly stand out.
Employee retention
In a world where employees rarely wish to stick with one business for many years, employee retention is low. We as business owners need to not only provide an environment within which our employees feel content and supported, but far exceed the efforts of our competition.
If your employees know that you’re continuously being nominated for awards, they’ll appreciate this progress and hope to remain a part of this growth. As mentioned, motivation will continue to rise as their efforts are being rewarded in the work place.
No complacency
Putting your company forward for prestigious awards shows that you’re constantly looking for new ways to improve your business’ current standing.
Actively working to set yourself apart from the competition, offering your clients the best possible service you can, this emphasizes your willingness to go above and beyond. We all hope to work with, and for, a company that refuses to settle, showing unwavering determination to achieve and exceed all expectations; listing awards on your website will highlight these traits within your own organisation, showing that you work tirelessly to deliver seamlessly impressive results.
Faultless organisation
Taking the time to monitor awards available to you, relevant deadline dates and countless applications demonstrates your company’s ability to organise its own successful PR. Awards aren’t something that all businesses consider and implement. This success sets you apart, showing that you have the resources to invest in all of the ingredients that are important to a thriving, award-winning business. Drawing attention to the many different ways by which you enhance your own brand, potential customers will feel that they can trust your policies, procedures and results.
This trust will undoubtedly help to develop the relationships that you share with clients, as they value your attention to detail and up-to-date monitoring of industry-specific developments.
A solid future investment
By putting yourself forward for and subsequently winning prestigious awards, you’re showing potential clients that you’re a solid investment moving forward. Producing impressive results that have been recognised by stringent judges, those considering your services will find reassurance in your award accolades. These highlight your prosperity moving forward, demonstrating your ability to far outrank the competition, something that makes you a sure bet in comparison to those who fail to consider awards within their PR and marketing strategy.
For more information about Kelly Turkeys please visit www.kellybronze.com
