Top tips for entering the 2017 SMAs

CRN has put together some tips aimed at helping our entrants pull together a winning submission

Congratulations for making the decision to shout about your successes! Below are some tips that will help you on your way to victory!

1. Decide which categories you are going to enter and read the criteria fully before starting your entry. The criteria tell you everything you need to know about the award and the types of company it is covering. It also tells you what information to include. Remember these awards cover the UK market ONLY.
2. When writing your entry - keep it concise and remember the word limit - don't ramble and include loads of marketing/corporate speak - it does not sit well with the judges. Instead try and inject some personality and life into the award and make it interesting to read. Think of how it will look visually as well - blocks of text are just so passé! Think about what would make yours stand out from the crowd?
3. Make sure your entry actually fits the description of the award category - If you are entering the Technology Innovation Award for example, please make sure it describes why the product is innovative and how it is helping your channel. Don't just talk about speeds and feeds and describe the product itself.
4. Always include facts and figures - if you are making a claim about one of your staff or teams being the best at something - back that claim up with something tangible. It helps put it into context.
5. Resellers - explain what value you have provided to your end user customers through your entries- why are they using your company, what do you offer them that nobody else can? What have you done differently that makes you stand out from the crowd?
6. Distributors - explain what value you are providing to your resellers and vendors and why they continue to work with your different teams. Don't feel ashamed to shout about your success.
7. Vendors - Please keep your entry UK relevant - these awards do not cover other territories, so any programmes, events, websites etc must be relevant to your UK partners. Injecting some passion and personality into entries is always welcomed by the judges. Please don't just cut and paste from corporate websites.
8. Testimonials - include testimonials - resellers these should be from your customers, distributors from your resellers or vendors, and vendors from your distributors or resellers (not end users). Again make sure the testimonials are interesting to read and are not full of corporate/marketing speak and keep them short and to the point.
9. Don't just submit the same entry in different categories - if you don't have the time to spend on tailoring multiple entries, focus on just one and make it a winner! The judges do penalise those who just submit the same entries in multiple categories.
10. PDF entries - feel free to submit a PDF entry if it is easier to make it look attractive and more legible. The judges are not huge fans of attachments. If you do just paste your entry, try and make it easy to read and don't feel you have to answer each criteria point in order - they are just there as a guide - and keep attachments to a minimum.

Thanks for entering the CRN Sales and Marketing Awards 2017. Best of luck with your entry!