2018 Lismore Property Managers Business Excellence Awards

A business award is a publicity goldmine for the lucky winners, with many reaping benefits such as publicity, interest from potential business partners and more customers. So how do you go about winning?

Winning a local business award depends 100% on the quality of your written entry. There is no opportunity to build rapport beforehand. You won’t have any idea who the judges are. Your competitors will be businesses that may vary greatly to yours, each with their own, unique story to tell.

We have compiled the following top tips from a number of different resources to give you the best chance to be a successful award winning business.

Be yourself. Judges are looking for great businesses, but they’re also looking for the human stories behind them. Be open about your failures as well as your successes and show how you’ve learned from the challenges you’ve faced. Write like you’re writing to just one person and use your natural tone of voice.

Find the uniqueness and value in what you do. Don’t just talk about how you do it. Long laundry lists and detailed descriptions of business processes are prime nod-off material for judges.

Don’t make stuff up if it doesn’t actually happen. A long, theoretical answer is a dead giveaway that you’re thinking about something but not actually doing it. Minimise the theory and use real examples to illustrate your claims.

Respect the judges’ time and rules. The judges are assessing your entry within a predetermined framework, which means you need to answer all the questions thoroughly, not just the ones where you think your answers will be strongest.

Answer every question a blank question equals zero for that question. The difference between being a finalist and not is a matter of points so when you forget to complete a question, you’re guaranteeing that you will not only fail to win, but fail to be considered as a finalist.

Read the Question, Answer the Question for judges, it is arduous to read submissions that veer off the point or do not answer every part of the question. If there are a number of components to a question, you can be guaranteed you need to answer each of these to score maximum points allocated to that question

Easy to Read/Follow Lay out your answer clearly. Write in clear sentences. Make sure you proof read it, and review it with a critical eye.

Don’t use Jargon You understand all the ins and outs of your industry, but the judges may not. Speak in plain English. Let your passion flood out. If you can use less words, use less words. As few as possible. Judges have lots to read, make sure your best points come out clearly, so they are not missed.

Involve your staff Invite relevant members of your staff to help you with the submission. Writing the piece actually makes you all look back collectively at what you’ve achieved, where you are going and think about what you want to do. This is a good process in itself, irrespective whether you win or not. And take them along to the gala dinner where the winners are announced.

Be Yourself Be human. Explain some of your mistakes, and what you learned from them. What you would have done different. Talk about your biggest wins, where you took a risk, planned your action, and went for it. Explain why you’re in business. I doubt it’s “to make money”, there’s a deeper reason. T

Enjoy it! Awards should be fun. Make the submission sing, and enjoy the night. You never know, you might just walk away with a gong. And if not, no worries, come back next year, or choose another one.

RESOURCES:

http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/marketing/public-relations-pr/advice-for-entering-small-business-awards

https://www.rising-stars.com.au/images/Advice-on-Winning-Business-Awards.pdf

https://www.digitbooks.com.au/5-tips-for-writing-winning-business-awards-entry/

This award recognises businesses that have made valuable contributions to their industry and provides a quality experience to both the tourism and local markets.

To enter this category you must meet the following criteria:

• The organisation has been trading for a continuous period of TWO years or more, not bankrupt or trading insolvent at the time of entry.

1. Business Overview. Please include date of establishment, what your product or service is, target market, and other relevant information about your business.
2. How does the business maintain a competitive edge?
3. What marketing & promotional activity does the business undertake?
4. What lessons have you learned from successfully overcoming difficulties in business?
5. Please describe your business community support & charitable activities.
6. How does your business provide excellence in staff training and/or professional development and how do work with your staff to identify these needs?
7. How has the business contributed to the Tourism Industry in your Region?
8. Describe your business’s commitment to workplace health and safety? You may consider addressing the following in your response

• What are the key areas of your WHS system and how long has it been in place?
• Examples of how your WHS system has been integrated into the business? For example – design, purchasing, contract and contractor management,
• How are your workers engaged in the ongoing development and improvement of Work Health and Safety at your business?
• What are the results? Include performance information such as injury frequency changes, financial benefits etc?

This award recognises businesses that continually build on their successes and actively measure their client satisfaction

To enter this category you must meet the following criteria:

• The organisation has been trading for a continuous period of TWO years or more, not bankrupt or trading insolvent at the time of entry.

1. Business Overview. Please include date of establishment, what your product or service is, target market, and other relevant information about your business.
2. How does the business maintain a competitive edge?
3. What marketing & promotional activity does the business undertake?
4. What lessons have you learned from successfully overcoming difficulties in business?
5. Please describe your business community support & charitable activities.
6. How does your business provide excellence in staff training and/or professional development and how do work with your staff to identify these needs?
7. How are you planning to build on your business success in the next 3-5 years?
8. What sets your standard of professional service apart from your competitors?
9. How do you measure your client satisfaction?
10. Describe your business’s commitment to workplace health and safety? You may consider addressing the following in your response

• What are the key areas of your WHS system and how long has it been in place?
• Examples of how your WHS system has been integrated into the business? For example – design, purchasing, contract and contractor management,
• How are your workers engaged in the ongoing development and improvement of Work Health and Safety at your business?
• What are the results? Include performance information such as injury frequency changes, financial benefits etc?

This award recognises businesses that provide quality service that sets them apart from their competitors and actively seek customer feedback to ensure that they are continually improving their products and services.

To enter this category you must meet the following criteria:

• The organisation has been trading for a continuous period of TWO years or more, not bankrupt or trading insolvent at the time of entry.

1. Business Overview. Please include date of establishment, what your product or service is, target market, and other relevant information about your business.
2. How does the business maintain a competitive edge?
3. What marketing & promotional activity does the business undertake?
4. What lessons have you learned from successfully overcoming difficulties in business?
5. Please describe your business community support & charitable activities.
6. How does your business provide excellence in staff training and/or professional development and how do work with your staff to identify these needs?
7. How are you planning to build on your business success in the next 3-5 years?
8. How do you create a good standard of customer service? Do you actively seek customer feedback? (Provide an Example)
9. What are the key challenges of operating your business?
10. Describe your business’s commitment to workplace health and safety?

You may consider addressing the following in your response

• What are the key areas of your WHS system and how long has it been in place?
• Examples of how your WHS system has been integrated into the business? For example – design, purchasing, contract and contractor management,
• How are your workers engaged in the ongoing development and improvement of Work Health and Safety at your business?
• What are the results? Include performance information such as injury frequency changes, financial benefits etc?

The StartUp Superstar category recognises a business that has been operating for less than two years that delivers a product/service/idea/invention with credible potential. This award recognises early-stage start ups that have a solid chance of market success, and strongly displays the entrepreneurial spirit.

To enter this category you must meet the following criteria:

• The organisation has been trading for a continuous period of less than TWO years, not bankrupt or trading insolvent at the time of entry.
• This business has not been purchased or acquired
• This business is not part of a franchise.

1. Is this your first start up? (If no please specify other business ventures and their degree of success).
2. Date when you commenced trading.
3. Number of other owners
4. What problem (or need) has your business solved?
5. How did you identify the market need and who is your target market?
6. Describe your competitors and your business’s innovative competitive advantage?
7. Outline your business success since its inception.
8. Detail and include your current research, customer marketing strategy, logistics and service delivery.
9. Describe how you funded your business.
10. Detail how your business has the potential to scale and achieve financial sustainability
11. Provide commercial and technical evidence your team has the ability and competencies to achieve success and detail strategy and time frame involved.

The Outstanding Employer of Choice award recognises organisations that put in place strategies and initiatives to create stimulating and supportive workplace environments for their employees. These strategies or initiatives must have a positive impact on both employees and the organisation as a whole.

1. Outline your current staff level, retention rate and turnover.
2. Have you had any unfair work dismissal applicants occur over the past 24 months including measures to adapt and improve.
3. Explain any specific HR and WHS programs and policies you have undertaken in the previous 24 months to improve workplace culture.
4. Why did your business embark on this project/s and/or initiatives?
5. What measurable results have been achieved and how have they positively contributed to workplace productivity and employee satisfaction? (i.e. reduction in voluntary staff turnover, absenteeism, training and development hours, employee satisfaction measures).
6. Identify and describe the benefits you offer as an Employer of Choice?
7. How does your business adopt inclusive practices and recognise the needs of a diverse community (including people with disability and seniors)?

The Outstanding Business Leader award recognises the positive contribution made to business by business people and professionals. The award recognises those who demonstrate outstanding entrepreneurial spirit, strategic business direction and innovative ideas, whilst providing inspiration to a new generation of upcoming business leaders. Individuals entering into this category can be self-employed or employed by a business.

To enter this category you must meet the following criteria:

• I am aged 36 years and over at the time of entry

1. Provide a current profile of yourself including your scope of responsibilities, details of your role, any direct reports, your budget, your financial and organisation reporting line.
2. Detail your achievements in business with clear measurable examples.
3. Outline how you have reshaped your business, organisation or industry to create a smarter and more inclusive future with examples of how you have used your leadership skills?
4. Provide an overview of your five year strategies for future growth and key milestones, detailing how you are working towards achieving each of them.
5. Describe the key challenges you have faced as a business leader and how you overcame each of them.
6. Describe the activities and initiatives you have undertaken to help the community (and or the business community).

This Award recognises demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement of workplace health and safety outcomes in small business through the implementation of an integrated business approach. It is open for any business with 20 fulltime equivalent employees or less.

Direct entry to this question is unavailable through the portal. If you would like to enter this category and not any others, please contact LCCI and we can direct you into it. The winner of this category will be chosen by SafeWork NSW based on their answer to the WHS question of each category.

Winner will proceed through to the 2019 SafeWork NSW awards