Do Awards Really Matter?

Everyone enjoys receiving awards. According to studies, when people are recognized with any kind of award, it can be more powerful than receiving money.

I'm not here to convince anyone that winning awards is a good thing (some sceptics may disagree), so you can do your own research. All I'm saying is that receiving praise for a job well done is priceless, especially when you believe you earned it.

Money has the ability to sway some award givers. Others are motivated by self-interest. Some you have to work for.

Even some start-up vendors are awarding partners in an attempt to mimic what the more established vendors are doing. Too soon? I would only caution that the awards arena is not for everyone.

In general, it's not a bad thing. It's also not good if there are too many awards and everyone wins. Participation awards should not count! An award should be given for a genuine accomplishment, not for some hidden, unfair, or subjective decision.?

When we decided to enter the award arena, we decided to remove ourselves from the equation and instead appoint independent third-party judges. We quickly discovered that there was no way to eliminate all biases because the judges also had a history with certain companies in the race.

As a result, we decided to remove all subjective judging criteria and place the decision entirely in the hands of the channel community. After all, they are the ones who deal with these companies on a daily basis and have the most in-depth knowledge.

If you win a Reseller Choice Award as a vendor or distributor, it means you received the most votes from the channel community. Period. We believe that if it is good enough to elect a country's leader, it is good enough for us in the IT Channel.

The only thing vendors and distributors can do is promote and encourage their partners to vote for them. This, we believe, is fair game.?

Vendors and distributors can support the Reseller Choice Awards by becoming sponsors. This raises their profile, but it does not guarantee that they will win an award. Having said that, most of the sponsors eventually supported the program only after seeing it grow over time, and I guess because they were already winning some awards, they realised it was a unique and fair program and decided to become a sponsor. We thank them for supporting this important program in the channel (contact us if you would like to be a sponsor).?

Still, we get inquiries from a few companies asking “do we get the award if we sponsor”. We shake our heads, explaining that this is not how it works. There will always be sceptics, and some people are simply convinced that all awards can be purchased. This is not the case with us as we do not care who wins. We represent the voice of the channel community. Period.?

Winning or better "earning" a Reseller Choice Award is a significant accomplishment. It means that the majority of channel partners voted for you and believe you are the best! It does not mean you received all of the votes, but it does mean you received more than your competitors to win the race! Just like elections, sometimes the winner wins by a slim margin. Every vote counts!

Any channel partner may nominate any vendor or distributor. So even the list of "candidates" is beyond our control.

Many channel partners were initially sceptical that their vote would be counted or that their voice would be heard. We have demonstrated for the past 16 years that this is their voice, and their vote counts. We have also earned their trust over the last two decades through our channel publication eChannelNEWS .

Channel partners simply register and vote for their preferred vendor or distributor in the appropriate categories and we do have special checks and balances in place to ensure a fair contest.

Everyone who votes is automatically entered to win one of our thank-you-for-voting prizes. That is the only incentive we are providing and it is fully transparent.?

The winners and runners-up are notified and invited to the Awards Gala at no cost. It is a fantastic social networking evening with a special dinner. The awards ceremony takes place, and the winners are given the opportunity to say a few words. We also use our news media to spread the word. It’s a significant channel PR opportunity.

One last note about the Reseller Choice Awards survey. The data we get to see is quite interesting. We see the voting pattern of the channel over many years and by region. It helps us to better understand how well and where each vendor and distributor is performing. This may help them to improve their services to the channel.??

Another important reason to attend the Awards gala is that we ALSO honour the top 50 channel partners in the country for best business practices. This is another difficult award and recognition to obtain. They must pass the 200-question test and place in the top 50.

To be clear, we did not create this assessment to award channel partners. It was created to assist all channel partners in assessing their strengths and weaknesses in key areas of best practices. The award came after the assessment and was actually suggested by the channel partners. Indeed, many people have told us that it was the first time the questions opened their eyes to questions they should have asked themselves a long time ago. It made us feel proud and happy to know we were really helping our channel community. As you progress through the questions, you will receive intuitive feedback after each section. Take the evaluation to find out for yourself.

You can actually feel your progress in real-time as you take this assessment year after year. We revise the questions every year, but sometimes major changes are required to reflect current best practices. That is exactly what we did for 2022.

Every year, complete this assessment. Do it with your team, and ask them to answer questions relating to their jobs and departments. Answer the questions truthfully to receive an accurate assessment of your company. The award is given to the top 50 scorers. When you take this award home, you will feel a sense of accomplishment and recognize many opportunities to leverage the win. It's important!

We give awards in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom based on the same principles, but not the same amount of award categories in every country. We will eventually do more and in more countries, but only when we can do it right.

READY TO JUMP IN?

Reseller Choice Awards VOTE in Canada and the United States

Reseller Choice Awards in United Kingdom

Take the Best Managed IT Companies Assessment (all countries)

For Canada, The awards ceremony will take place in Toronto, on February 2nd. For more information, visit ChannelNEXT .?

For the UK, the awards ceremony will take place in London on March 2nd. For more information, visit ChannelNEXT .?

For the USA, we will announce the award winners on February 16 in Phoenix. For more information, visit ChannelNEXT .?

We believe the Reseller Choice and the 50 Best Managed IT Companies Awards do matter.