- Increase profile and recognition of your business
- Differentiate your business from your competitors
- Value of winning an award
- Short and long term PR
- Something you and your staff can be proud of - a great achievement!
Must do's
- Check and double check how the process and how the award applications need to be submitted
- Check the dates the award application is valid for
- Allow time to plan, organise, collate information and complete
- Be sure you want to win the award - the timing might not be right or it may be better to wait
- Put the required effort in. Award applications can be very time consuming so you must allocate plenty of time to complete
- Check if there is a mystery shopper element to the awards scheme
- Be afraid to ask for an extension if you need it. Some award schemes will allow this but others won't but it is always worth asking
- Be afraid to ask questions if you are not clear on something
- Leave completing the application till the very last minute. You may miss something crucial which needed to be included
- Use the same entry for every award - it needs to be tailored for each category
- Entering awards is like applying for a job and the more detail you include the better chance you have of being short listed/ winning
- Look at the criteria you need to meet in great detail - you must meet every criteria!!!
- Make it relevant to the award you are entering - not one size fits all!!
- Supporting evidence is essential and adds weight to your application. For each claim that you make you should always try and back it up with supporting evidence
- Why you believe you should win?
- Thank you letters/ testimonials/ Guest book comments. Keep copies all year round so have them when you need them. For some awards testimonials for key partners/ suppliers may also be necessary
- Any press releases/ press cuttings
- Examples of marketing initiatives, strategies, plans, adverts, direct mail initiatives - particularly important for marketing awards, ROI, budget,
- Access and environmentally friendly initiatives - hot topics at the moment and are standard in regional and national tourist board awards. Include access statements or what you have done to become DDA compliant/ environmental saving initiatives/ local suppliers etc
Staff newsletters, training plans, staff development initiatives, certificates etc
