SAANICH PENINSULA – Each year the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce hosts the Crystal Awards, an opportunity to showcase and celebrate local business excellence. I’ve had the honor of participating on the judging committee for the past three years and am always excited to read about the achievements noted by the applicants in their submissions. I continue to be surprised by the number of great businesses, which I know are out there, that are not nominated or that choose not to submit an application.
It seems, some local business owners are too humble; they are reluctant to seek out nominations or submit applications on behalf their own organizations. Perhaps they are not aware that the majority of award winners have crafted their own application and actively seek nomination support.
For all you humble business owners, you know your business the best and are therefore the best qualified to craft a Crystal award application! Well-intentioned applications submitted on another’s behalf are certainly enticing and welcome, but it’s tough to compete with applications prepared internally by those with a passion and in depth knowledge of the organization.
With respect to those reluctant to ask for nominations, I suggest that there should be no shame in it. The majority of nomination and support letters I have read state how honored the writer is to have the opportunity to speak on behalf of the business. After mustering the courage to request support letters for the application, some business owners have since found it easier to request such customer support and feedback and have made it part of their standard marketing and customer service practice.
For those who aren’t confident about their ability to complete a winning application or can’t find the time, consider the benefits!
Once the initial time has been invested into collecting and organizing the required information, subsequent applications will be much easier, and you may find the information gathered may be useful in many areas of your business.
The benefits of being part of the Crystal awards are certainly real, evidenced by feedback from past participants. Business awards offer a significant opportunity to provide brand exposure; to showcase a product or service your team may be particularly proud of; and to garner the interest of potential employees, customers or investors. On awards night, it is a pleasure to witness such pride on the faces of owners and employees alike when their organization is mentioned, and especially if they win!
If you’re interested in learning what it takes to complete a winning application, come see us at the Chamber offices, we can help point you in the right direction. For now, here are a few key tips:
Read the application carefully and include exactly what is asked for. Many award competitions, including the Crystal Awards, require the application be judged on its own merit. This is to remove bias that can result from judges using their own prior knowledge (or lack thereof) of the businesses being judged; therefore, all information to be considered must be included in the written application.
Keep your submissions professional. It may sound obvious but I have reviewed more than one hand-written, partially-legible application submitted on wrinkled paper. It is worthwhile to invest the time to have the application prepared, reviewed, edited and printed.
Don’t assume; ask for help! If you have questions about what to include or perhaps about the intent of a given question, don’t assume, please ask us! We would be more than happy to help.
Chamber offices are located at 10382 Pat Bay HWY or visit www.peninsulachamber.ca.
– Craig Norris is president of the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and can be reached at craigenorris@eagalus.ca.
