Telstra Australian Business Awards bring PR and insights that money can't buy

By Marcela Balart

On top of $500,000 in cash and prizes, two of the free benefits entrants in the prestigious Telstra Australian Business Awards can walk away with are increased profile and insights about their business performance. 

The Awards are in their 20^th year and Lighthouse is rapt to be a part of them. It gives us a chance to work with “the best of the best” among Australia’s small and medium businesses - and hear some amazing success stories.

Our brief is to assist past winners and current entrants work with the media to showcase their businesses and point out the support the Telstra Awards give. 

The profile really is PR that money can’t buy – as this print ad that’s running nationally from today underlines.

That other benefit – insight – comes from a free 70-page Business Health Check that each entrant receives. The detailed analysis, undertaken by the NSW Business Chamber, covers seven key areas and assesses their performance against international benchmarking, current legislation and industry best practice.
 
Some of the things it’s telling us about Telstra Business Awards entrants from last year are:

• Ninety-three per cent of them have a website and the websites (70 per cent) were the second most popular marketing channel after the sales force (80 per cent);
• About one in five of their customers (19 per cent) were 100 per cent satisfied with their current level of service while 72 per cent had satisfaction levels above 90 per cent;
• Ninety-seven per cent of businesses could clearly differentiate the benefits of their products and services from those of their competitors;
• Forty-one per cent offered incentives or bonus programs to all staff, and nearly 90 per cent reported no industrial issues.

Of course these businesses aren’t typical of all Aussie companies with 200 employees or fewer. They’re industry movers and shakers who are setting the pace, but the focus they have on seizing the challenge of digital marketing and sales, customer satisfaction, branding and staff retention are telling.

You can enter the 2012 Telstra Australian Business Awards here. Entries close on April 2.