Listicle: 5 tips for a winning award entry

5 tips for a winning award entry

The NACFB Commercial Broker Awards 2022 have now opened for entries from Members. The awards return on Friday 23rd September to Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. As ever, NACFB Members can enter as many of the relevant award categories as appropriate for no cost whatsoever.

Entries require the completion of a submission form outlining your case for receiving the award and, to help you make a successful entry, here are some top tips to assist you in completing a compelling entry. Best of luck…

1

Give yourself enough time

Give yourself plenty of time to prepare your entry. The process invariably takes longer than expected, particularly if you need to get sign-off. Allocate yourself more time than you think you will need and enter early – a last minute rush is likely to impact on the quality of your submission. Make a start on gathering the information required for your chosen category some weeks ahead of the deadline. This year the entry deadline for the NACFB Commercial Broker Awards is Friday 24th June.

2

Assign someone to the job

Designate someone in your company as the coordinator who can take responsibility for collating information, contacting referred clients, consulting colleagues, checking facts, chasing up, writing the initial draft, and keeping an eye on the timeline and deadline. Make sure that person is given enough time to carry out this task along with all their other responsibilities.

Stay on topic

3

Focus on what the judges are asking for in the judging criteria. Read the questions and guidance carefully, and ensure you target your answers to the question. Don’t just fill your entry with the contents of existing sales and marketing materials. Ensure that each submission is completely different and tailored to the specific category. Be concise, clear, and focused, with clean, easy-to-digest copy. Always write in plain English and avoid jargon, inflated claims, and unedited copy-and-pasting.

4

Get buy-in from colleagues

It can be extremely hard to write objectively when writing an award entry, so ensure you enlist the help of your colleagues and managers. Teamwork really will help. This might be by providing useful information, proofreading and or giving feedback to help you create the best possible entry. Suggest a brainstorming session – you never know what interesting nuggets may appear that could set you apart from the competition.

5

Follow the rules

In the likely event that we are once again flooded with entries, please bear in mind that the judges, who give their time voluntarily and free of charge, will be on a deadline, so it’s important not to overstep the maximum word count requirements of each question. Each entry must be uploaded into the online entry form on the awards website, so it’s a good idea to use the relevant category’s downloadable Word document first to collate your answers.

For more information about the NACFB Commercial Broker Awards 2022, visit commercialbrokerawards.co.uk