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Small Business Awards Guide: Category Descriptions
Use this Guide to help you decide which category is the best fit to recognize your business.
- Best Practice Award
- Best of the Year Award
Customer Service
Nominees will be judged on their customer service techniques and implementations that resulted in an overall increase of client satisfaction leading to higher client retention, referrals and/or profits.
Examples for Customer Service:
• Implemented company-wide customer service procedures that established and delivered a high standard customer service resulting in improved profit margins and higher client retention.
• Developed a process to tailor each project to meet the needs of each individual client resulting in a higher customer referral rate leading to growth of the business.
• Demonstrated a commitment to hiring employees that were overzealous with respect to delivering high customer service that resulted in an increase in client retention and/or repeat business.
Green Business
Nominees will be judged on their green business initiatives and implementations for their own company that have resulted in a positive impact on the environment as well as the company’s profits.
*Note: The green initiative must have been created for and implemented for results within your company, not a client/customer. The green initiative must have been process, program etc. not a product or service.
Examples for Green Business:
• Implemented a series of steps to reduce the negative impact from the manufacturing of its products which resulted in a reduction of greenhouse gases and an increase in sales volume.
• Developed a program to get 100% employee involvement in going green with measurable results.
• Implemented a marketing campaign to communicate its earnest “green business” related advantages to clients. This practice resulted in an increase in annual sales.
Leadership
Nominees will be judged on the processes they have implemented to identify, attract, retain, and/or motivate a workforce that establishes a culture of empowerment. Nominees inspire an ownership mentality among employees and provides the company with a competitive edge.
Examples for Leadership:
• Created an employee recognition system that resulted in an increase in morale, productivity and employee retention.
• Implemented a mentoring program for new hires and existing employees that led to an increase in employee retention and efficiency.
• Developed a multi-step interview process that all potential applicants must go through that resulted in a 50% reduction in turnover.
Sales & Marketing
Nominees will be judged on the uniqueness, creativity and results of a marketing
and/or sales program that has resulted in a significant increase in the company’s profits/revenue.
Examples for Sales & Marketing:
• Implemented a social media marketing campaign that resulted in an increase in revenue.
• Implemented a referral program used by its salespeople that resulted in an increase in new clients.
• Developed a standardized sales process that resulted in an increase in revenue.
Technology
Nominees will be judged on their use of one or more technologies that have made a major impact on the company’s ability to generate profits and create a competitive advantage.
*Note: The technology must have been created for and implemented for results within your company, not for a client/customer.
Examples for Technology:
• Implemented a business intelligence and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that resulted in an increase in leads-to-deals ratio and an increase in sales.
• Implemented an Intranet and online meeting process that enabled employees in different office locations to access information on all company initiatives. This resulted in a reduction of customer service complaints and an increase in sales.
• Created a virtually paperless office with a semi-customized workflow system that resulted in an increase in office pipeline efficiency and a decrease in the company’s expenses.
Requirements (for all Award categories)
• A description of your product/service as well as your target customers. (up to 500 words)
• A description of the Best Practice employed for the selected category. (up to 500 words)
• A description of the results achieved during 2012 from the listed Best
Practice(s). (up to 1,000 words)
International Operations Program of the Year
Nominees will be judged on their successful use of international operations to increase in sales and or profit. This category is open to import/export companies as well as businesses that provide services.
Example of International Operations of the Year:
- Implemented a new overseas manufacturing operation, which allowed them to cut cost of goods by 50%.
- Opened up a new overseas market for its product which resulted in a 15% increase in revenue.
- A services company outsourced its backend operations overseas which resulted in 30% reduction of costs as well as a faster turnaround time due to its new 24/7 capability.
Non Profit of the Year
Nominees will be judged on their achievements. The award will be presented to the non profit organization that, through its achievements, demonstrates innovation and continues to create programs and activities that help fulfill their mission.
Example for Non Profit of the Year:
- Developed a new fundraising initiative that enabled the organization to increase the number of people it served by 24% despite a reduction in government funding.
- Developed a new relationship with a for-profit organization that significantly increased messaging (to a new audience) which led to a new model for partnerships and an increase in people served.
- Established and implemented a new program to track volunteer efforts within an organization that lead to more volunteers being rewarded for their work and efforts which in turn lead to a 20% increase in volunteers the following year.
Supplier Diversity Program of the Year
Nominees will be judged on their success in leveraging M/WBE certification to participate in government and/or corporate supplier programs, developed strategic partnerships with other businesses to grow their business' resources, and sought and won significant contracts and/or bids over the last 12 months, all with the end result of increasing revenue.
Examples for Supplier Diversity:
- Leveraged certification to supplier diversity programs to partner with other suppliers. The partnership not only increased the small business' resources, it also enabled that business to bid for larger projects.
- Implemented a thorough contact management process to track RFPs from over 200 supplier diversity programs and implemented a newsletter containing capability updates (sent to prospective buyers). These two initiatives resulted in a 122% increase in revenue from supplier diversity initiatives.
Requirements (for all Award categories)
• A description of your product/service as well as your target customers. (up to 500 words)
• A description of the program implemented for the selected category. (up to 500 words)
• A description of the results achieved during 2012 from the listed Program(s). (up to 500 words)
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