Secrets of successful business award entry writing

Winning a business award can do wonders for your business’ reputation and credibility. Whether it’s about the business itself or you as a business leader, winning an award is proof positive of your achievements and why you’re better than your competitors. A professional award writer can help you claim your rightful position on the winner’s podium. So, how can you maximise your chances of winning? Read on to find out.

Award entry writing timing is important

One of the first things to ask yourself is, ‘Is this the right award for me and my business right now?’ Carefully consider if you have the time and resources to put towards creating a winning entry – time and resources taken away from your core business – but also consider whether you have sufficient evidence to answer all of the questions in a compelling and persuasive manner. Imagine you’ve just developed an innovative piece of software. It can be tempting to immediately enter the next innovation awards that come along. However, it’s likely the award will ask for solid evidence of your innovation’s impact such as sales figures, profit margins, market reach, revenue growth, client testimonials and more. If your innovation is very new, you may not be able to answer these questions fully. Consider too that you’ll be competing against other entrants who can. In this instance, the timing may not be right for you to enter these awards. But with 12 months’ data behind you, next year might be a totally different story.

Pay attention to the details

When entering a business award, it’s vitally important that you make yourself familiar with the business award guidelines. Some awards will provide this information upfront on the award website; others may require you to create an award profile and log into a portal before you can view the rules. Be sure to look out for such things as:

• Eligibility criteria
• Word count limits
• Question weightings
• Writing style e.g. first person or third person
• Mandatory and optional inclusions
• Attachment allowances
• Closing date and time
• Entry format e.g. by PDF or cut and paste into a portal.

It’s very easy to fall foul of the judges by not adhering to the guideless, so study them well before you begin your award entry.

Bring your entry to life

Judges frequently read scores of award entries, all claiming to be the best. You can help your business award entry stand out and hold the judge’s attention by bringing it to life with great examples and genuine stories. Always make sure that the examples you describe are as up to date as possible and match what the question is asking – you’ll lose points if you don’t. Judges are also very receptive to hearing about the human stories behind the achievements such as what motivated you, the challenges you faced and how you overcame them, what you’re most proud of. Along with impressive sales figures and outcomes, they’ll want you to describe what kept you going and what impact your achievement has had on you and your business. It’s for this kind of story-telling that a professional award writer can be of huge assistance. Many people are naturally reticent; they find it difficult to write about themselves or articulate their successes in ways that resonate. A professional award writer can take that stress away from you and tell your story to maximum effect.

Be authentic

The judges will see through your tactics pretty quickly if you use language that’s simply designed to impress. What they’re looking for isn’t pages of salesy waffle, but genuine passion and enthusiasm shining through. Achievements don’t always have to be big to impress, either. One recent winning submission for a mortgage industry award didn’t have six-figure sales numbers to report. In fact, the business was only just hanging on. However, it was the tenacity to simply keep going shown by the entrant that made a truly compelling story and won the judges over.

Be clear. Always.

The importance of clarity cannot be overstated. It shouldn’t be up to the judges to interpret what you mean; it should be clear from the get-go. Making a statement like ‘Our customer service performance improved dramatically over the last 12 months’ is nowhere near as informative or compelling as ‘Our improved customer service procedures saw customer complaints reduced by 71% over the last 12 months.’ It makes a world of difference. If you’re not familiar with writing awards, cutting to the chase and making every word count can be a bit of a challenge. However, when it comes to clearly conveying a message of winning performance a professional award writer is adept at how to showcase your achievements in ways which directly connect with each question’s criteria. They’ll make your award submission sharp, focused and engaging.

Is it cheating to engage a professional award writer for award entry writing?

Not at all! In fact, it may surprise you to know that behind a great many winning entries can be found the deft touch of a professional award writer. Writing winning award submissions takes considerable time and effort – both of which you may have in short supply. What’s more, a professional award writer will take the stress out of the process, ensuring you can focus on describing your achievements and enjoy the process. Award Writers, 95% of the award entries we write are shortlisted. Of these, 73% clinch the win. And guess what? This win rate is the result of experience, with our experienced writers putting their magic touch to over 70 award entries each year. Thinking of diving into the awards circuit? With us by your side, it’s more than just an entry; it’s your success story waiting to be told. For assistance with award entry writing, contact us on 0448 566 377 or 02 8036 5532 or head to the contact page.