SME business awards – a winning strategy for pioneering billing specialist
PRD Technologies is a Hampshire based billing software company established in 2006 responsible for developing Intelligent Billing – an innovative technological solution that addresses the complex data processing, invoicing and analytics challenges faced by service providers within telecommunications and the IT channel. This includes distributors, VARs, resellers, CSPs, MSPs and other organisations.
For the past three years, Brevity has helped PRD Technologies increase its brand awareness and lead generation by providing strategic marketing consultancy, with a focus on targeted content creation, such as blogs, case studies and website copy. Two years ago, the Brevity team expanded its strategy to include award entries looking at UK business awards, and for PRD Technologies specifically Telecommunication and IT awards.
You may be asking yourself the question ‘Why enter business awards?’ Beyond the fruitful networking opportunities of attending awards events, there are numerous additional business benefits to winning awards.
Making industry awards work for business
Winning an industry award is something on the wish list of many businesses. Recognition from peers and the industry at large is a credibility builder, helps raise your profile and boost brand awareness. Winning an award is also a great tool for promoting your services through PR, marketing and social media, and to use in new business environments. Award wins can also work hand-in-hand with reviews, helping customers make decisions in their buying journey.
What’s needed to win isn’t just having a solid case study backed by facts, figures and customer testimonials – it’s the way in which you create a compelling story and present your entry.
At Brevity Marketing this is just one of the expert services we offer – drafting award-winning entries. And it is a service we’ve delivered with much success PRD Technologies, one of our long-standing clients.
How to win business awards – the Brevity approach to winning submissions
The first step in our process was working with the PRD Technologies team to identify their award goals – that is, their motivation for winning awards. It became clear that the goal was to use the wins to complement brand awareness programmes and help in customer retention and the procurement of new business opportunities.
To put that into context, award-winning businesses enjoy an increase in turnover compared to competitors without awards – smaller organisations by 63% and larger ones by 48% with an additional 37% increase in sales. There are also longer-term benefits; award winners experience a growth in staff motivation and are better placed and more attractive to prospective employees.
The next step was identifying the right awards. In the past there has been much criticism of industry awards with many businesses having the perception that award winners spend money to do so, sponsoring awards, etc., in effect buying awards. While this might be true for some awards, credible awards, awards worth winning, don’t follow this model.
Working together for SME business awards success
Our approach to sustainable marketing is based on our mandala approach – five key principles. These principles, Personality, People Power, Performance, Personalise and Purpose help us drive meaningful marketing performance for our customers and deliver a positive impact on their business.
The creation of award entries fits into our ‘Personalise’ principle – building sustainable deeper connections with your target audience.
The Brevity team worked closely with PRD to identify awards and categories that recognised one of PRD’s core values – innovation. Its Intelligent Billing platform is highly automated, scalable and adoptable. It has been deployed in many industries, customised to meet the unique needs of customers, particularly in the channel, and ultimately helps them reach their growth potential.
The next step in the process was looking at what PRD had achieved in the past 12 months – particularly around growth targets, customer success, product launches and Channel support. One of the criteria of the Brevity process is identifying and exploring impact and influence, not just on the business of PRD customers, but on the wider community and the industry as a whole.
From there, the Brevity team compiled the award entries, working with the team at PRD to ensure the goals were used as a guide.
We have helped PRD Technologies win multiple IT industry awards including – CRN Channel Awards, Comms Business Awards, Comms National Awards and Technology Reseller Awards.
The right award for the best result
The Comms Business Awards (Services to the Channel category) was particularly notable as it was the ideal match for PRD. The award seeks to recognise nominees that have made an impact on the channel. In 2023, Simon Adams, MD and founder of PRD Technologies, was nominated in this category and won the award for his achievements and ongoing commitment to resolving key challenges faced by service providers within the Channel. He established the business in 2006 based on the challenges of deregulation and rapid evolution of the telecoms sector, all of which had an impact on billing systems. Importantly, he continues to set trends while PRD and its flagship software, Intelligent Billing, continue to set the standard in the industry.
“The Brevity team truly understands our business, our goals and our values. Particularly our pioneering drive and commitment to our customers. We worked closely with them in identifying the right awards for us – those that would really add value to PRD and were aligned with our values – and relied on their skills in creating the strongest, most compelling award entries. The results over the last two years have been exceptional and I would recommend Brevity, not only for their marketing consultancy, but especially for their execution of an awards strategy.”
– Caroline Enger, Head of Marketing, PRD Technologies Ltd
Over the course of two years, PRD was recognised in all the awards that it entered and gained the following high commendations and wins:
Following the success of this award strategy, Brevity will continue working closely with the PRD team to ensure the results and future entries are integrated into the company’s broader marketing strategy and optimised to reap the benefits they bring.
“The one thing to remember is that award entries are only one element of a more comprehensive marketing strategy. It’s all about creating a sustainable foundation from which to build that out and from there it’s a constant loop of improvement. Marketing is more than just lead gen, advertising or PR. Here at Brevity we use our own approach, based on a mandala, that covers five principles – Personality, People Power, Performance, Personalise, and Purpose.”
– Kaia Vincent, MD of Brevity Marketing
Business awards – gain industry recognition and unlock opportunities for growth
Entering business awards has become an integral component of a winning marketing strategy. As industries evolve, the significance of accolades in boosting credibility, raising brand awareness, and fostering connections cannot be overstated.
Businesses, such as PRD Technologies, recognise the value of strategic participation in business awards. Beyond the tangible benefits of networking opportunities and industry recognition, winning awards acts as a powerful tool for amplifying services through PR, marketing, and social media.
In a world driven by innovation and competition, securing accolades not only distinguishes a company but also influences customer decisions in their buying journey. For those navigating the complex terrain of the business world, incorporating business awards into their strategic roadmap is a significant step towards sustained success and industry prominence.
If you’d like to discuss how the Brevity team can help your business with your awards strategy, whether that is for start-up awards, small business awards, local
business awards, industry awards or general business awards, get in touch today.