WOW! What incredibly glorious weather we’ve had this week, with temperatures skyrocketing to their highest on record in the UK – and the sun has been well and truly shining down on First Impression Training over these last 10 days too.
So if it’s OK with you, I’m going to self-indulge for a moment (YET AGAIN) and blow my own trumpet, just as you kindly allowed me to when I bragged about all the recent successes we’d enjoyed in one of my February blogs, remember?
Well you know what they say – you’ve got to become your own publicity agent in today’s competitive marketplace if you’re going to stand any chance of showing up and standing out in your particular field, right?
I mean, it takes a lot of hard graft to be a Purple Cow doesn’t it?
We’ve always practiced what we preach here at FIT, as you know. The team have all truly been there, done it, got the t-shirt (actually, we made the t-shirt), recorded the video and written the book (yes, we really have – ‘Make Their Day: Awesome Ways to WOW Your Customers’ is going great guns on Amazon and we’re getting some lovely 5* reviews in the process.)
So when we set out our Business Plan back in Dec 2018, it was agreed that we would go hell for leather this year to ‘practice what we preach’ and put ourselves up and out there as exemplars of our craft, by entering a few industry-specific award programmes – both independently and in partnership with a couple of our big-project clients.
I knew we’d need to get some proper professional help with this arduous task – not because I don’t know how to write a really good award submission (I’ve been on the judging panel of almost every awards programme on the planet over the last “cough-cough” years, so I know exactly what the experts are looking for), but being a publicity agent for your clients is one thing – being your own is quite another altogether, isn’t it?
So back in March, I booked myself onto what is considered the Awards Training Masterclass, run by the fabulous Donna O’Toole, CEO of August Consultancy, to learn all the tricks & tips of writing an award winning entry and, more importantly, learn how to ‘blow my own trumpet’ in a super-slick and professional way.
I know Donna well – she’s a consummate pro and she’s an extremely experienced and articulate journalist, PR guru and marketing whizzo. I’m going to give her a really big shout out now, just in case I get lost in all the hype of the upcoming awards ceremonies and forget the part she’s played in getting us (and our clients) to the finalist stages of 2 National Award programmes in 3 specific categories this year.
If you’re ever considering entering one of the many National Award Programmes which Donna and her team at August are closely connected with, and you’d like some pucker advice and help in getting you onto that winning podium, then get in touch with Donna and let her help you blow that trumpet of yours!
You can find out more at https://craftedbyaugust.com/
So here goes…drum roll please….
- We’re FINALISTS for a partnership submission with our client Equiniti, for Best Customer Experience Training of the Year at the UK Customer Experience Awards
- We’re FINALISTS for a partnership submission with our client Equiniti, for Customer Centric Organisation of the Year at the UK Business Awards
- We’re FINALISTS for an independent submission for Professional Services for our culture change programme ‘Journey to Service Excellence’ which we delivered for Equiniti, at the UK Business Awards
- We’re super confident about our partnership entry into the European Contact Centre & Customer Service Awards with Equiniti for Most Effective Learning & Development Initiative (we’ll know in a couple of weeks if we’re through to the finals for this one – fingers crossed)
- We’re also super confident about our chances at the UKCCF National Contact Centre Awards, where we’re looking to jointly submit entries for both Best Customer Experience Training of the Year and Improvement Strategy of the Year.
- Donna O’Toole and I have been asked to do an interview for Customer Experience Magazine to talk about our experiences standing on both sides of the awards-judging process and the importance of collaboration with clients when entering any well-recognised awards programme. The magazine has a readership of 45,000, so it’ll be a great bit of PR for FIT, if nothing else!
Well as always, I could go on – but for fear of becoming that prima-donna again, I’ll stop the sound of that trumpet now and leave you this final thought:
You can never be more than you believe is possible, so start believing in possibilities…..purple cows really do exist you know – we’ve proven that this week!
So what will YOU do next week to blow YOUR own trumpet, so YOU become that Purple Cow in YOUR field?
In the meantime, keep FIT!
