Corporate Awards

Getting publicity is a real challenge for any business or individual. Free publicity is a commodity, and there are many companies vying for it. If you are hosting an awards ceremony or an individual in your company has won an award you want to publicize, there are certain steps you can take to catch the media’s eye.

A press release is the standard way to get your award noticed.

1. Send out a press release to various media members. Remember to keep your release short. If they are too wordy and need extensive editing, journalists will pass them by. Stick to pertinent facts – the 5 W’s and the H (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How). Proofread once and then proofread again. Nothing says “no go” like typos or incorrect words.

2. Consider joining or subscribing to a news service. A public relations newswire can distribute your awards presentation story for a minimal fee; this ensures that the media names you choose will receive the release. Also, consider subscribing to online media sources such as Newsle. This allows you to keep track of your favorite people when they are publicized online.

3. Humanize the story. Find some newsworthy tidbits about the person receiving the award. Did they do something truly exceptional to achieve this award? Do they have special circumstances or challenges in their life? The public likes reading about other people’s accomplishments, but more so if there are unique obstacles or tough odds along the way.

4. Tie your award with a charity. Choose a local charity – or local office of a national charity – and allow them to have a table, hang a banner, and speak at your awards presentation. Give them an award for serving the community. This makes your award ceremony event more newsworthy, especially if you present a donation to the non-profit at the event.

5. Partner with a NEW local business. Find a building that was just restored, a restaurant or hotel that recently opened and host your award ceremony there. Then have them co-promote the story with you, as they need the PR too! Because they are new and haven’t been in the news yet, the press is more likely to cover them.

6. Follow up! Contact the outlets that you sent the press release to and pitch the story in person. Offer that they interview the award recipient(s) and invite them to attend the award ceremony. Do this by phone, not just email. Follow up will get you noticed.

As this is a heavy corporate awards season, I hope these tips help you get the press you want for the accomplishments of your organization!

Cheers,
Jessica

The Honey Badger Trophy

This crazy nasty creature is our 2013 Product of the Year!

Eewww… what is that nasty thing? Why it’s the Honey Badger, the fiercest trophy on the Trophies2Go website! Honey Badger don’t care, he’ll just eat that cobra!

Pop culture icon, the Honey Badger was popularized by the YouTube video sensation. Click here to view the video (warning: contains profanity, not for young ears). This tenacious critter is a symbol for overcoming adversity and just going for what you want in life.

As part of our year-end recognition, we award a Product of the Year. This year our fierce honey badger wins the honor! Designed by our staff and created by JDS Industries, this little critter is full of color and personality.

Chosen by companies for a variety of office awards and by sports team for participation awards along with coaches’ gifts, the honey badger is an extremely popular and versatile trophy that can be used for any recognition. Funny and edgy, he brings smiles and laughter to any event. Made of resin, this spunky guy is hand painted in full color. Our customers give him 4.8 out of 5 stars – read the reviews to find out what others think.

We offer a honey badger alone, or as a perpetual trophy that can be passed around from person to person. Check them out!

Congrats Honey badger! You  rock!

Cheers,
Jessica

The week before last my blog topic was about Making Sports Trophies Meaningful.  This week I’d like to touch on corporate awards and how to make a memory in the workplace that lasts a lifetime.

Not only are these crystal awards beautiful, but they represent the success and hard work  of the recipient and company.

The corporate awards season begins soon.  Many companies and organizations will be ordering End of the Year Awards, Employee of the Month Plaques, Sales Awards, President’s Awards and so on.  Below are some ideas for making your corporate award as meaningful to the recipient as possible.

What Not To Do:

Last year, a friend told me a story of an award her husband received at his work.  He worked extremely hard during the poor economy to reach his quota, and ultimately was a top sales person in his department.  He received an award, and it was mailed to his desk at work.  That was it.  No words.  No thanks for a job well done.  No peer acknowledgement.  Even though the award was a lovely crystal trophy and probably cost the company a fair deal of money, it lacked the effect that it was designed to do – to motivate and to recognize.  In fact, it did the exact opposite, as her husband was rather mad that management in the company didn’t acknowledge his extra effort.  Since then, he has moved on to another job within the organization.

Don’t let this happen to your company!  Don’t lose good people because they weren’t recognized for extraordinary contributions to your organization.  If you go through the work to set up an awards program and the time and expense of ordering awards, be sure to follow through on the presentation.  This is what really makes an award meaningful and shows true appreciation to the employee.

Four Steps To Making Corporate Awards Meaningful

Step 1: Set up the awards program with measurable outcomes.  If you have goals and metrics associated with your awards, it makes award giving clear and predictable.  Read my past blog on Recognition Awards - Formal vs. Informal for specific ideas.  Our President Jeff is a Certified Recognition Professional; if you have any questions about creating a new program or modifying an existing one, feel free to contact him at [email protected].

Step 2: Choose your engraving wisely.  What you say on the award has an impact.  Be sure to spell the person’s name correctly.  For ideas, read a past post on What Should My Engraving Say.

Step 3: Plan the presentation of the awards.  Where they are presented isn’t as important as how.  Some best practices include:

- Make it a crowd.  Whether at a gala or a team meeting, be sure to include other staff at the presentation.  Acknowledgement in front of peers has two benefits.  It increases recognition value for the award recipient and it also motives others to strive for the award in the future.

- Bring in the VP.  The award should be presented by a senior level person in the company.  It means more when coming from management, as it shows caring and buy in from the upper echelons of the organization.

- Timing is important.  Present the award as close to when the achievement was earned as possible.  The longer you wait to present, the less impact the award has.  Especially with our instant-gratification-social-media society, fast action is important.

Step 4: Plan what you will say and practice.  Some key things to remember:

- Pronounce the person’s name correctly.  Basic, but this small detail matters.

- State how the award was earned.  Discuss what the person did to help the organization and how that’s important to the overall mission, vision and goals of the company.

- Keep it brief.  With awards presentation, less is more. Keep the speech to the point yet heartfelt.

Awards earned at work are something the recipient will cherish for many years to come.  Often they represent a defining moment in an employee's career.  Make the accomplishment count by going the extra mile to plan ahead to make it meaningful.

Cheers,
Jessica

If you are great at what you do, at some point you will be recognized and rewarded.  When you win an award and have to give an acceptance speech, what should you say?  The key is to make your words brief, meaningful, and humble.

An award winner giving his speech at Seattle Business's "Best Places to Work" Awards Gala.

Preparing For Your Speech

Before beginning to write your speech, it's helpful to gather information.  Ask these questions:

Do I have to give a speech?  No need to worry about preparing something if you don't have to say anything when receiving your award!

How much time do I have to give my speech? This helps determine how brief you need to be.

When will I be giving my speech?  Knowing the program ahead of time can help you relax before having to speak.

Writing Your Speech

When stepping up to the podium at an awards gala, the goal is to keep your acceptance speech short, impactful and humble. Here are key ingredients to include in an acceptance speech:

Start with thanks.  Thank the organization for the award, and state how honored you are to receive it.  Mention the award by name.  Make it about the organization, not yourself.

Personalize the speech.  Next tell a brief inspirational story about what the award means not only to you, but to the greater good.  If possible, make this statement bigger than yourself.  This is what makes a speech memorable.

More thanks, but keep it short.  Thank those who helped you professionally, followed by those that inspired you personally.

Wrap Up.  End with a general thank you, statement of gratitude, or call to action.

What Not To Do

Avoid the following when delivering an acceptance speech:

Rambling on and on.  If possible, come prepared and practice before the event, so you don't sound like a babbling mess.

Making Jokes.  Usually jokes in a speech are a good thing, but not so in an acceptance speech.  Jokes trivialize the award, which insults the organization and the other nominees.  Save the self-deprecating comments for another time.

If you follow these general tips, your speech will convey how humbled you are to receive the recognition. Your award acceptance speech will come across full of grace and humility. Congratulations on your award!

Cheers,
Jessica

Is your staff lacking the spark to make your company great? Improve the energy of your company by creating a Sales Incentive Program! If you already have a program, but it isn’t providing value, consider refining it. Below are some tips for creating new incentive programs and for updating existing ones.

Why A Sales Incentive Program?

How do you motivate people? Reward employees who perform at top levels with sales awards. The recipient of the award feels like they have made significant contributions to their company. They also feel like they are doing a better job than others, creating competition. Employees that do not receive recognition are often motivated to work harder to reach the goal next time. If created correctly, a program can be measured  and updated to ensure success.

How Do I Create A Program?

Important metrics are set by the company. Meeting or exceeding these measurements is the basis for the awards.  Some examples of metrics include gross dollars, percentage growth, unit sales, market share increase, and number of new clients.  Regardless of the measurement, tracking occurs and the top tier performers are recognized for outstanding accomplishments. If your company doesn’t have a sales incentive program, put one into action.

If you already do, consider refining it by adding new goals or adjusting it to recapture the hype behind the program. You can also add a short-term program for a one-time sales boost. Collect ideas from outside your sales department, such as customer service, operations, shipping department and management. Often times great ideas are generated by others outside of the sales team.

When implementing or refining a program, it is very important to stick with it over time. Keep in mind that recognition for sales improvements has both a short and long term pay-off. Short term recognition helps boost self-worth and confidence. Long term benefits include employees feeling like their contributions are important and vital to the company’s success.

If you need assistance in setting up a sales award program, please feel free to contact our President, Jeff Anderson at [email protected].  Jeff is a Certified Recognition Professional and can help you with your program.

Award Suggestions

Give a designer crystal award, such as this Premium Crystal Tower, as a reward for larger sales accomplishments.

Trophies2Go carries a wide selection of corporate awards to fit your needs. A Designer Crystal Award is a great choice for a President's Award or larger sales milestone.  For an ongoing program, a perpetual plaque that can be displayed in the office is a good choice. Acrylic Awards are affordable for programs with a budget.  We have many corporate awards that would be appropriate choices for recognizing outstanding sales achievement.  Just browse our online catalog for ideas or call our helpful and friendly customer service staff at 1-877-926-4700 for suggestions!

Tips For Presenting Sales Achievement Awards

The presentation of sales awards can occur at staff meetings, monthly sales meetings, or annual corporate events.  Recognition is more meaningful from the leaders of the company.  Have the sales manager or higher-level executive, such as a VP or CEO, present the awards. It is also best practice for emphasis to be placed on the importance of the metric and how much above and beyond the recipient excelled.

Engraving Ideas For Sales Awards

What message do you engrave on your awards?  Below are four examples of text that can be used on your sales awards.  These are only guidelines; be creative to capture the essence of your company.

Example #1:

First Name and Last Name

Congratulations on achieving

XXXXX

Company name or logo

Time period

Example #2:

Sales Award

Presented to

First Name and Last Name

For achieving XXXXX

Company name or logo

Time period

Example #3:

Award of Excellence

Presented to

First Name and Last Name

For superior service in achieving XXXXX

Company name or logo

Time period

Example #4:

Company name or logo

President’s Club

Time period

Presented to

First Name and Last Name

In recognition of

Superior sales results

Sales Incentive Awards Programs are a great tool for motivation, recognition and employee retention. Your employees deserve to be recognized in a meaningful way for the time and expertise they give to your company, and that recognition will add value to your business in the form of satisfied employees!

Cheers,
Jessica