7 Reasons Why SME Businesses Should Apply for Awards

1. Trust and Credibility

• Awards provide validation of your business’s quality, innovation and success.
• Winning (or even being nominated) can raise your reputation and contribute towards customers, partners, and investors feeling more confident in your business.

2. Competitive Advantage

• Being recognized as “award-winning” helps you stand out from competitors in a crowded market. Once you’re award-winning, you’re always award-wining but continued wins year on year can keep you at the leading edge.
• Awards give you a unique selling point that you can use in marketing, sales and tender processes.

3. Increased Visibility

• Awards often come with great PR: media coverage, press releases, and social media attention.
• The increased exposure can attract new customers, partners, and even potential star employees.

4. Networking Opportunities

• Awards events provide a platform to connect with leaders in your field and in other sectors as well as potential clients and collaborators.
• Building relationships with decision makers in other successful businesses leads to long term business growth and you may even win business at or soon after the event.

5. Motivation and Team Morale

• Recognition boosts your team, recognising and celebrating their work
• Being an award level business reinforces a culture of high performance and can improve employee retention and satisfaction.

6. Benchmarking and Improvement

• The application process forces you to reflect on your business’s strengths and weaknesses, what you have achieved so far and what your future vision is.
• Feedback from judges can provide valuable insights for improvement, whether or not you win.

 7. Marketing and Brand Impact

• “Award-winning” status can be highlighted in ads, your website, brochures, profiles, email signatures and more.
• It increases brand credibility, awareness and customer trust, which can promote greater lead generation and higher conversion rates.

Even if you don’t win, just being shortlisted can provide many of these benefits – so entering awards is often a win in itself!