How Awards Can Benefit Your Company
The recognition and press gained from receiving an award can be hugely beneficial to your company. These awards could be industry specific or general awards, the benefits will be similar regardless. It’s an easy thing to see such recognition as a nice to have, rather than a need to have, but before you write them off completely here’s some information that may change your mind.
The Cost Is Minimal
Most awards are free or have a very small fee associated with the application. This makes the nomination process accessible for businesses of all sizes. In fact, many awards will have specific categories for each business size: small, mid, and enterprise. Dividing the nominations in such a way provides a level playing field for small and mid-size businesses specifically.
Aside from the monetary cost, the nomination process typically does not take much time to complete. You will usually have to answer a few standard questions about your company and finish with some open ended questions about why your company is a fit for the award. To make this process event more efficient, have a single team member take full responsibility and ownership of the awards process from start to finish.
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That ownership, and the recognition they receive as an individual when an award is won, will create a sense of pride and value in that employee. You may even see increased motivation and dedication to the process as you win more and more awards.
Morale Will Improve
Winning awards can also help to improve team morale and elevate the culture within your company. Similar to the effects on the employee responsible for the award nominations, all other employees will have a sense of pride when an award is won and feel that they are truly part of something special at your company.
When an award is won, emphasize how the direct efforts of your employees and the time they invested contributed to the win. Celebrating the win as a team will unite everyone and provide a sense of accomplishment across the company.
Validates Your Company
Depending on the award, you will see benefits in at least one of two areas: employee recruiting and customer acquisition. For recruiting, potential new hires will see the types of recognition your company is receiving and it will increase their interest in applying or interviewing. Team culture awards in particular can have a significant impact on your hiring efforts. In today’s highly competitive environment for the best talent, these types of awards help your company stand out among a candidate’s many options.
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As for potential clients or customers, industry awards specifically will add some credibility to your company or product. While you might not see a new lead come in directly from receiving an award, they will definitely increase a prospect’s confidence in working with you. These awards can help show that a company practices what they preach and is growing as a result. All good signs to prospective customers.
Creates Thought Leadership
For any Business to Business (B2B) companies, awards can help identify your company as a thought leader in your industry. In B2B sales, thought leadership marketing is key and will help you be successful over time. As your company or individual employees win these awards, it will become much easier to get press coverage and syndicate your content across platforms further helping you market your thought leadership pieces.
At Power Digital, we have experienced the benefits of awards first hand and recommend putting forth the effort. If you are worried about the cost, start by finding free awards to apply or submit nominations for. If you don’t know where to start, try looking for industry or company size specific awards. Awards based in company culture are also easy to find and easy to apply for if you have unique benefits at your company.
With minimal effort and costs, you can gain recognition in your industry, improve your company culture, provide validation with customers and recruits, and generate thought leadership for your company.
