Kent Excellence in Business Awards 2016 - Why enter? 5 expert opinions

"Awards are one of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing tools and winning a prestigious KEiBA will help your organisation to stand out from the crowd, send a positive message to your existing customers and attract new business. Whether yours is a large or small company, there are lots of very good reasons to enter the Kent Excellence in Business Awards.

Helps with business planning: You get to carry out a valuable analysis of your company’s performance which can contribute to strategic business planning.

Invaluable media coverage: You have the opportunity to gain extensive media attention and valuable publicity which will help you attract new customers, as well as increasing the respect from your existing client base.

Network with fellow business leaders: Attending the awards dinner and subsequent events gives you the opportunity to network with other business leaders and professionals.

Expert assessment of your company: By entering, you benefit from a free and independent assessment of your company from knowledgeable business experts. This can contribute to planning and strategy.

Boost staff morale and retention: Achieving recognition in the awards can have a positive effect on staff morale, motivation and retention as it acknowledges their contribution to your business success.

Impress potential investors: If you aim to grow your business, recognition in the awards can help impress potential investors.

Acknowledge staff and customer loyalty: Attending the awards night gives you an opportunity to thank staff and customers for their loyalty to your business, as well as impress potential new customers by offering them your hospitality.

Helps attract quality new staff: When recruiting new staff being an ‘award winning business’ can help you attract high quality candidates

Raise your company profile: Winning these awards can significantly raise your company profile in the county and gain you respect from your peers.

Impressive trophy: Successful businesses are awarded an impressive trophy and certificate which can be displayed within the workplace creating pride in your staff and favourable impressions on visiting customers, both existing and new."

"The KEiBAs are an absolutely fantastic celebration of businesses in Kent from small start-ups through to large businesses covering all sectors. The categories are diverse meaning that most businesses should be able to strive for at least one category.

Having won a KEiBA in 2015 I can say without a doubt it made positive impact on Reflect Digital, it brought a new air of confidence to the whole team, we were award winners in our home county against some strong competition. It helped us gain further recognition in Kent and has definitely opened doors that previously were maybe only slightly ajar!

If you are a business in Kent striving to be the best at what you do, with care for your team and goals to keep growing then you should most definitely be looking at this years KEiBA categories.

"The awards allow you to benchmark your business against other Kent businesses, writing your award entries also gives you an opportunity to reflect on your achievements and clarify your future strategy and goals.

As a result of winning 3 Awards last year Swanstaff’s profile within Kent has increased and it has opened doors to new business, networking and sales opportunities.

It also gave us an excellent opportunity to celebrate and has motivated our staff and increased their engagement levels."

"Speaking recently to Gary from Wire belt Ltd who were last year’s winners of the manufacturing category – he gave a very simple reason to enter - Don’t assume your business is not capable of winning.

Having visited so many excellent Kent companies myself over the years, I know there are quite a few businesses out there who would stand a very good chance of winning."

Entering the KEiBAs is a great opportunity to benchmark your business, even if you don't win it can still be a hugely valuable learning process".

"The KEiBAs are great awards to enter. Firstly, the judging process is the most rigorous that we have ever encountered, which gives you peace of mind that the judging is fair, and makes being shortlisted or winning even better. With the process being so intense, it gives you the chance to stop and really look at your business, something we should all do but don’t normally have the time to do.

The main things that make entering the awards so good, is the exposure you get within the Kent Messenger group and having your business mentioned on the awards evening in front of 500 business people. Given that the awards are so prestigious and difficult to win, it really does make a difference to how you appear to the outside world and, generally, people know you’ve done something special if you have been shortlisted or won.

We have had contact with businesses from having these awards, and it has helped us improve our offering."