Top 10 Entry Tips

• Decide which categories you are going to enter and read the criteria fully before starting your entry. The criterial tells 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 USA market ONLY.

• When writing your entry keep it concise and remember the word limit. Don't ramble or include extensive marketing/corporate/technical speak - it does not sit well with the judges.

• Try and inject some personality and life into the entry and make it interesting to read. Submit it as a PDF or even a video entry to make it really stand out. Do whatever you think will make it stand out from the crowd.

• Make sure your entry actually fits the description of the award category. Make sure you have invested in what you are entering, show how it has helped staff and customers, and also prove that it offers something different that your competitors don't.

• 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.

• Solution providers - explain what value you have provided. Use your end user customers through your entry as examples. 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?

• Distributors - explain what value you are providing. Use your solution provider customers and vendors as examples and why they continue to work with your different teams. Don't feel ashamed to shout about success both from individuals and teams.

• Vendors - please keep your entry USA relevant and don't generalise. These awards do not cover other territories, so any programs, events, websites etc must be relevant to your USA partners. Please steer clear of just copying and pasting a corporate statement. Originality is key.

• Testimonials - include testimonials. Solution providers these should be from your customers. Distributors from your solution provider customers or vendors. Vendors from your distributors or solution providers (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.

• Multimedia entries - we are actively encouraging people to submit PDF or video entries. It makes the judging process much more varied and allows for personalities to shine through. If you are a fun company, show that in your entry. Of course, a traditional written entry is still welcome. However, 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.