From a very early age, we have learned that winning awards, however small, can mean a lot to building self esteem, pride and confidence. There is something special about when you are recognized as the best at something. In the adult world, winning awards can advance careers (including being more respected, earning more money and being promoted).
Awards recognize the hard work and achievements. Awards can boost employees’ morale and motivation as it acknowledges their contribution to your company’s success. Awards can also help attract new recruits. In today’s highly competitive workplace, attracting and keeping the best talent is mission critical to a company’s success. Awards can help tip the balance.
Award recognition also encourages customers to choose and stay loyal to your company. Being able to say that you are an award-winning or an award-nominated business increases your chances of building and strengthening partnerships.
There is research data that talks about award-winning companies being able to generate 37% more sales as compared to those who don’t win. Research also shows that winning awards can have potentially more value to the employee than money. As the younger generation enters the workplace, they are looking for social motivation in positive culture where contributions are appreciated. Awards can make a difference.
I can go on about the many virtues of awards, but whatever you believe, it’s simply a good thing to win awards!
Here are the top 8 things that you should do when you win ANY award:
- Pre-award Ceremony: Prepare for the moment leading up to actually receiving the award. Socialize that you are excited to be nominated and looking forward to joining your peers at the Awards Gala. Share your journey on social media like LinkedIn, Facebook, Snapchat, blog etc. Digitally bring your community of customers, suppliers and staff along in your journey leading up to the awards gala.
- During-Award Ceremony: Celebrate the actual moment in real-time of being recognized and winning the award. Take pictures and video, if possible. Do a short but thankful acceptance speech (try putting it on video). Socialize in real-time with all of your social networks especially on LinkedIn or wherever you are connected to your community.
- Post-Award Ceremony: Ensure that everyone in your company likes and shares as well as add their comments. Why wouldn’t everyone in your company like and share the story to celebrate the moment. Amplifying your award-winning message as loud as possible. It benefits you!
- Think about your image: Remember to “dress” appropriately for pictures as it is important to represent your company in the best possible image. An awards gala is generally a black-tie affair. If you look at most award ceremonies, people invest a lot into their image and speech (especially to thank people). It is an important opportunity to shine so shine bright!
- Celebrate with your team: Hold an internal celebration (or at least a meeting) with your employees to thank them for earning this award. Take pictures and share with all social networks. Write some brief content for your social media properties and blog (include pictures on this internal celebration). Some companies offer additional rewards to staff to recognize their special efforts. Use the opportunity to build the team spirit!
- Amplify the good news: Share on social media and create a press-release about your company and its award win. Talk about your team and their hard work in servicing the needs of your customers every day. Acknowledge that it is an honor to be recognized for doing the hard work that is necessary. Use this opportunity to highlight your other achievements and company. Share with all sources including local news media and groups on social media networks. Ensure that you follow up with news media outlets to do interviews. Hiring a PR agency for this purpose can be a good way to achieve this goal. Forward everything to your customers and suppliers. If you can, do a video on the topic and share with your customers and suppliers.
- Continue to leverage whenever appropriate: Integrate the award logo with all of your marketing tools and materials. This includes your web sites, social media profiles, e-mail signatures, proposals, invoices, profiles and presentation slide decks. Of course, you should have your award displayed prominently in your office. Some companies do poster “banners” to continually remind everyone about the achievement! Anything that will tout your recognition is a good thing for you!
- Plan for next year: Most awards repeat every year. Plan to apply and improve your game. There is always room for improvement even if you are the best. This is especially true if you did not win this year! Of course, never be a sore loser! Always be thankful and grateful as there is always next year! The only thing cooler than winning one award is winning more awards every year!
Here are our three cool annual awards that you may want to consider. These awards are supported by our news media division eChannelNEWS.
1. Reseller Choice Awards. This IT industry award means a lot to vendors and distributors who win because it is 100% voted on by the channel partners. Companies with the most votes win. There is no subjective judgement or bias through personal favoritism or financial considerations. As such, winning this award means that the winner can be proud to know that the channel partners think that they are #1. Actually, just being ranked on the list of finalists, is significant. This is also a great benchmark to gauge your channel success, year over year. The channel team and all those that support the channel can be proud to know that their partners believe that they are doing a great job. Recognition just does not get any stronger that this! Even to end-users, just the name “Reseller Choice Awards” sends a clear message that many companies believe that they are the best! See Reseller Choice Awards. Or click here to vote for Britain’s Reseller Choice Awards 2019!Beyond this award, vendors can learn more how we can help them to build a stronger channel partner ecosystem.
2. 50 Best Managed IT Companies Awards: This award recognizes the VARs, MSPs or ITSPs for their management skills in all areas of best business practices. To win this award, they must complete a 200-questions application and score within the top 50. This award is a great recognition for the channel partners but it is also impressive to their end-customers. To end-users, the “50 Best Managed IT Companies” name sends a message that the company runs on best management practices. This is a clear value that end-customers can easily identify with and embrace! The name of the award says it all! At the same time, this award sends a message to suppliers that they are a well-run company! It also sends a great message to the employees and management that their hard work is being recognized. A well-managed company is an important value that also attracts new employees. Learn more at Best Managed IT Companies. Beyond this award, learn more about how we are helping VARs, MSPs and ITSPs to future proof their businesses.
3. Women In Tech Awards: This award sends a strong message about the individual winner. It indicates that the winner has done something very important for women in the tech industry. In an industry that’s made up of 80% male and 20% female, it is important to recognize and tell the story of women who are doing great things in the industry to support themselves as well as other women. Each year, this award recognizes three women for their efforts in moving the needle up for all women in the industry. It is also a beacon of motivation to attract more women to enter the tech industry. This award works equally well for both inside the industry as well as outside as it can influence customers’ decision for doing business! To be considered for this award, please request the online application to ECN Editor. Beyond this award, I encourage you learn more about how we are supporting more women to accelerate their success in the tech industry.
