Turning a Winning Product into an Industry Award

You may have heard that “Winning isn’t everything”. While that may be true in a soft and fluffy, spiritual kind of way, in the startup game, if you don’t quickly rack up some wins, you are going to be out of the game. A win may be that first big client, your first round of funding, or your first thousand users. Those are some of the necessary “win” milestones in a startup’s journey to the exalted “exit. One great tool to help get you there is winning an industry award. These awards add prestige to your company and products, and are helpful in getting you to those milestones you’re working so hard to reach. Over the years, I’ve written many award submissions, and even won a few (OK, “I” only wrote the award submission, but it really feels that way). Here are some things I’ve learned.

Qualify the award

Opportunities to enter awards come at you from many different directions; various sites you’ve registered to, business partners, colleagues and friends, your PR company (if you already have one). Even the organizations hosting the awards may seek out relevant candidates - for some of them, this is a thriving and lucrative business, and you pay to participate. But this doesn’t mean that you must enter them all. 
First and foremost, make sure you really have something to submit. If your product is not mature enough, or you haven’t introduced enough innovative new features since your last submission, you may be wasting your time. Take a good honest look at yourself, and make sure you really have something that is worthy of submitting.
Then, consider that awards may have very specific entrance criteria. Some awards are only for companies who do NOT yet have a product, others are only for companies whose product has already been launched. There may be limitations on the size of the company, targeting of a particular market (“How does your product help SMBs?”), commercial activity in a particular geographic region of the world (“What were your sales in APAC last year?”), or some special feature you must display in order to be eligible to apply (“How does the Ffitproduct reduce your carbon footprint in the world?”. These criteria are usually clearly stated on the award website. Read it carefully and see that you meet them.

Make sure you’re on the right playing field

But beyond these dry criteria, there’s also what I call the “award-company fit”. Some awards target early stage startups, while others go for more established companies. If you already have  50 customers and over a million dollars in sales, you may not want to be competing with startups of 4 people or less showing their first prototype. To get an idea if you’re in the right place, check out the award website, and see which companies participated in previous years.

So before you spend any time on preparing your submission, make sure you qualify to enter the award and there’s a good award-company fit

The price

Entering an award has costs. At a minimum, someone has to spend the time to make the best submission you can (otherwise why bother). In some cases there is a submission fee (which may take a hefty bite out of your marketing budget), and in others you may even have to send someone abroad to an award ceremony where the winners will be announced. You may even have to spend additional resources to quickly scratch out some particular feature from your development team, or set up a demo server for the required live demo. Anyway you slice it, entering an industry award costs you something, so make sure you are ready, willing and able to pay the price.

Answer questions carefully and accurately

Remember taking exams? For many young entrepreneurs, that is a not-too-distant nightmare. Did you ever write a great answer, but get zero points because it didn’t really answer the question? Well, it’s the same for industry awards. The panel of judges gets tens, if not hundreds of submissions. They want clear, concise, precise and most importantly, relevant answers to the questions. Nobody is going to spend too much time trying to decipher “techno-babble”, or to understand convoluted texts. If they don’t get it right away, you will simply fall out of the running.

Submit on time, and keep your antennae up

It’s a no-brainer that you must submit on time, but we’ve all been in a situation where “one more day” would make all the difference. Well, sometimes you get lucky, and submission deadlines are extended (quite possibly, several other contenders are in the same situation as you). So keep an eye out for emails from the award organizers and make sure you are up on all the latest information. And if you are really stuck, you can even try to contact them and make a request for an extension. It sometimes works.
Tell the best “truth” that you can

Entering an industry award is in the realm of marketing. You don’t want to lie about anything, but you do want to present the truth in the best possible light. And as in many marketing tactics, your audience’s perception of the truth is more important than the truth itself. “Close to a hundred thousand users” sounds better than “over 85 thousand users”. If a feature is only available on your demo version, or even just on your near-term roadmap...it’s a feature you support.

You actually won something? Hallelujah, spread the word

Winning an award is a big deal. You need to tell the world about it. First, start internally and spread the word within your organization. Everyone likes to feel that they work for a winning company. Depending on how big it really is, you might even consider rewarding all those directly involved in the win somehow. Then, it’s time to tell the world. Go on all relevant social media, add it to your website, include it in your marketing materials (both texts and graphics), add a note or image in your email signatures (and tell all other relevant colleagues to do likewise), put out a press release. Winning an award can create a buzz that goes a long way in getting you to your goals. It supports the decision your clients made when they went with your products, and it can even tip the scales for prospects you are currently pursuing.
So, winning an award may not be everything, but, as the saying goes, not winning an award isn’t anything. Awards can be a great boost to your company spirit, not to mention your business reputation. If you choose your awards well, and really give it your best shot, you may be looking for larger office space sooner than expected.