What’s not to love about awards? They’re great for boosting your brand profile, positioning you as an industry leader, making you stand out from your competitors and generating leads, but…

There’s no guaranteeing you’re going to win.

Plus, there’s the fact award entry-writing actually takes a lot of time and effort to get right. And when you’re flat-out busy focusing on your day job, having to research, write and submit awards entries is a headache you can really do without.

However, as we all know, those awards are out there for the taking – at the end of every presentation ceremony there’s always a happy camp of winners and a disappointed and frustrated camp of losers.

I want to make sure you are in the winning category

Credit: Yan Krukau, Pexels.

It’s why I’ve launched The Awards Clinic, an awards-writing service for businesses of all sizes and across all sectors.

You see, I’ve been writing for more than 20 years.

During this time, I’ve worked my magic on dozens of awards entries for the widest range of B2B and B2C clients, ranging from global professional services giants and highly specialist infrastructure pioneers, to family-run recycling leaders and UK-wide corporate property agents.

Fast forward to the here and now, and I’ve racked up an impressive success rate – out of all of the organisations I’ve written awards entries for, 91% have gone on to become finalists or winners!

Believe it or not, there is a science to writing successful awards entries, which starts with fully understanding what the judges are looking for and making sure you provide them with that and only that.

Once you have clarity on exactly what you are being judged on, you then make sure your entry clearly evidences the criteria. When I’m working away on awards entries, I often think the approach isn’t too dissimilar to applying for a job – first you analyse the job description and person specification, then you write your application so that it evidences the key requirements.

Easy, right?

One of the biggest mistakes companies make with their awards submissions is…

Credit: Giorgio Trovato, Unsplash

Including anything and everything and hoping it will impress the judges. Unfortunately, this approach immediately dilutes the strength of your entry because it’s not clear what you are entering and why you think it’s worthy of winning.

You won’t impress the judges either. Just as your time for crafting your entry is limited, the judges’ time is just as limited when it comes to reviewing your forms and all of the many other entries within the required timescales.

If you want to be shortlisted or go on to win, award entry-writing should be viewed as being more than just a tick box exercise.

That’s where The Awards Clinic can help

The most successful awards entries are successful because they:

• Have been properly thought through, i.e. fully evidence the judging criteria
• Are well written and structured
• Have been fully completed
• Contain plenty of relevant proof points (e.g. facts, figures, testimonials and wider positive feedback)
• Essentially SHOUT OUT to the judges why you deserve to win!

3x packages, 1x outcome = success

Whether you’re entering an award for the first time or have been entering them for several years, every organisation’s approach to creating their entry and submitting it is completely different. This invariably means some companies require more support and guidance than others, which is exactly what you can choose to receive from The Awards Clinic:

If you need 100% support

You’ll need the Done For You package – which provides you with everything you need. This includes identifying the best awards to enter, selecting your award-worthy projects, writing your entries, collating all of the required supporting evidence and submitting everything.

If you need me to write your entries

Choose Done With You – your projects are analysed vs. the judging criteria, and all of the key information gaps are analysed and shared with you. Once the gaps have been completed, I get to work on drafting your entries in line with those all-important guidelines.

If you just want your entries reviewing

Select Done With You Light – I review and refine your entries in line with the judging criteria.

Interested in learning more about The Awards Clinic?

You’ll find all of the details right here. This includes comprehensive checklists that explain what each package covers, the benefits of entering awards and feedback from several happy awards customers. And if you fancy following in their footsteps, you can discuss your awards aspirations with me by booking a no obligation, 30-minute Zoom chat.