Should we win an award? The question no one dares to ask

There are a ton of awards. Seriously, a ton. Best Employer. Most Innovative Small Business. Most Sustainable Company. Fastest-Growing Startup. Friendliest Customer Service. There’s even an award for the best-dressed executive of the year.

A significant portion of those awards is simply a marketing ploy for the organization that presents them. They make money from entry fees, sponsorships, gala evenings, and mentions in their own magazine. The winner is therefore less the best in their field and more the person with the most impressive portfolio—or the strongest connections among the judges. That’s not cynical; it’s just honest.

What’s more, submitting an entry for an award takes time. You have to write supporting documents, gather data, prepare presentations, and schedule meetings with the jury. Expect to put in two to four months of serious effort to put together a solid entry. If you don’t win the award, you won’t recoup that energy.

And then there’s the risk of losing. You’ve given it your all, your team has become invested in it—and then your competitor ends up on the podium. That’s demoralizing. Not just for the duration of the evening, but for weeks afterward. “Why did we do this again?” isn’t a pleasant question to have to answer.

Finally, not every award resonates with your target audience. An award that no one outside your industry has heard of won’t do you much good. Customers and candidates respond to names they recognize. An award from an unknown platform won’t make you a household name either.

In short: there are plenty of awards that aren’t worth the investment. Entering just because it looks professional, or because your competitor is doing it too, isn’t a strategy. It’s just following the crowd.

Now for the other side of the story. Because prestigious awards—credible, widely recognized, and hard to win—really do pay off. Here are three concrete benefits we’ve experienced firsthand.

Recruitment. People want to work for winners. Having "FD Gazelle Winner" on your job listings attracts a different kind of candidate: someone who is ambitious and wants to be part of a growing company. After our win, we saw an immediate increase in applications. Not just more, but better ones: people who already knew us, who understood why they wanted to be part of Live Impact. An award is the best recruitment budget you never planned for.

Customer trust. A business award is external validation. It’s not you saying you’re good—it’s an independent third party confirming it based on objective criteria. That’s different from a nice quote on your website. Especially in an industry where promises are plentiful but proof is scarce. Customers are looking for certainty. A recognized award gives them that, even before you’ve had your first meeting.

Team pride. Perhaps the most underrated benefit. Winning gives your people a moment of genuine recognition. All the hard work, the challenges, the overtime—it all counts. An award is like a mirror that says, “You’re doing a great job.” That motivates people longer than a team-building day, a bonus, or a nice speech from the CEO. Seriously.

Three insights that, taken together, prove one thing: the right price isn’t an expense. It’s an investment in your brand, your people, and your growth. The trick lies in choosing the right price—and then making the most of it.

You can't bet on every horse at once. So how do you choose the one that's worth your time?

Kijk eerst naar de geloofwaardigheid van de uitreiker. Wie is de jury? Op welke criteria worden winnaars geselecteerd? Is de methodiek transparant? Een prijs van een gevestigde instelling — een landelijk dagblad, een sectororganisatie met dertig jaar reputatie, een onafhankelijke jury van business leaders — is meer waard dan een award van een platform dat twee jaar geleden is opgericht.

See who has won in the past. Does your target audience recognize those names? A prize is only valuable if the people you want to reach see its value. If the list of winners is unfamiliar to them, it won’t be very effective for you either.

Weigh the investment carefully. Realistically, how much time will the application process take? What are the registration fees, the costs of any jury presentations, and the awards ceremony itself? Compare that to what a win could bring you in terms of recruitment, sales, and PR. If the numbers don’t add up, don’t waste your energy on it.

Make a conscious choice, and pick just one. It’s better to have one application that you’ve thoroughly prepared than five that you submit half-heartedly. A jury can tell the difference. And so can your team.

And last but not least: see if the criteria align with who you are. The FD Gazelle measures revenue growth. Objective, transparent, and verifiable by an external auditor. If you’re growing, you’ve got a case. If you’re not growing, you don’t. That kind of honesty makes an award credible—and participation worthwhile. You enter because you have something to prove, not because the award sounds good on your website.

The FD Gazelle is an award presented by the Financieel Dagblad to the fastest-growing companies in the Netherlands. The criteria are objective: revenue growth over a three-year period, verified by an external auditor. No lobbying, no jury favoritism, no hefty entry fees. It’s all about growth—or no growth.

That made the decision easy for us. We were growing. We had the numbers. We signed up.

And we won.

But what did it bring us? More than we expected. The recognition itself is one thing—a nice evening, a trophy, a photo for LinkedIn. The real value lay in what we did next: on our website, in our proposals, and during introductory meetings. "Live Impact is an FD Gazelle winner" is a phrase that carries weight in a conversation. Not because we’re bragging about it, but because it’s an objective fact that naturally inspires confidence in new clients.

Internally, the impact was greater than expected. The team celebrated—for real. Not just for fifteen minutes, but wholeheartedly and with genuine joy. Because it confirmed that things are going well. That we’re heading in the right direction. That all the choices we’ve made were the right ones. You can’t buy that kind of recognition. You have to earn it.

And recruitment: in the months following the announcement, we saw a clear increase in applications. The candidates were better qualified, too. They were people who already knew us, understood where we were headed, and wanted to be part of it.

De grootste les: een prijs is geen eindstation. Het is een startpunt. Alleen als je ermee aan het werk gaat — intern en extern, consistent en zichtbaar — levert het zijn volledige waarde. Een award die na twee weken verdwijnt van je communicatie, is een gemiste kans.

Winning is step one. Step two is just as important: what do you do with it?

Too many companies win an award, post the logo on their website, and then carry on as usual. Three months later, it’s forgotten—by them and by their target audience.

Show it off everywhere. Add the award logo to your website, your email signature, your quotes, and your LinkedIn company page. Don’t be shy. You’ve earned it, and people need to see it.

Communicate internally before going public. Share the news with your team before it’s released to the outside world. They contributed to it, so they deserve to be the first to know. An internal announcement, a celebration, a moment of genuine recognition—these things strengthen your company culture and employee engagement more than you might think.

Use this as a fact, not just a sales pitch, in your sales conversations. "We are an FD Gazelle winner—which means our growth has been objectively verified." Customers prefer to buy from growing, recognized companies. It gives them confidence when they’re on the fence.

Extend the award’s impact. Write an article about it. Share it on social media. Incorporate it into your recruitment materials, company presentations, and value proposition. An award can have an impact for several years—if you keep leveraging it.

A well-deserved business award serves as an incentive for your entire organization: it motivates, recognizes, and provides direction. Use it to your advantage. And if you’d like to explore how to celebrate your award with a custom awards ceremony for your team or industry—we’d be happy to help you plan it.

Whether you want to win an award, celebrate, or create your own special moment, Live Impact is here to help.

We know how to create something that leaves a lasting impression. From corporate events and kick-offs to awards ceremonies and incentive programs—we’ll put your story in the spotlight. Just as we’ve told our own story, with the FD Gazelle award as proof that it works.

But there’s more. We also help you think strategically about how to use an award. Winning is one thing. Making the most of it—that’s the real work. And we know that work.

Would you like to know how we can help your organization? Or would you like to discuss which business award is right for you and how to go about it? Please contact us at live-impact.nl/contact.

Because the best companies aren't just good at what they do. They also show it.

Seriously Fun.