ACE Awards encouraged reflection and boosted client relationship says ElectroNet
Entries for the 2024 ACE Awards are now open. We talk to 2023 Silver award winner ElectroNet about how entering the awards encouraged the team to reflect on its achievements, and the resulting boost to its client relationship and business profile. Business Development Leader Kieran Kennedy shares the company's experience.
What was it like entering the awards?
It was a really good experience. It’s very easy to go from one project to the next in the power industry, particularly at the moment because there is so much on. The awards create a reason to stop and reflect on your achievements as a team. This was the highlight of applying as certain questions in the application process make you stop and realise that what you’re doing is pretty neat.
How did winning an award affect team morale?
The team attending the awards on the night got pretty excited. We’d won a similar award with Transpower the previous November so it was the second award we’d won for this project. But what was really cool about this award was that the client was at the table with us, so we were celebrating with them. It was also neat how Transpower received an award certificate addressed to them. The award boosted our client relationship by having them as part of the awards and our team morale.
Have you had any exposure following the award?
We refer and link to the award in many of our proposals, especially when we talk about our ability to collaborate with the client and be innovative, because that was the nature of this award. I think this boosts our profile when we’re bidding for work.
Would you enter the awards again?
Definitely. You just need the right project. I took the lead on the application because I’m business development leader. It wasn’t too much work because we’d submitted the same project for an award with Transpower the previous year. Some of the team provided input and reviewed the submission but it wasn’t an onerous amount of work to submit. I think it’s easy if you have the right project, especially if you have a supportive client.
We had a great time on the night. It was cool going to the awards knowing you’d won something but with an element of surprise because you didn’t know what you’d won. This knowledge also enabled us and our client to prioritise attending the awards, because obviously there’s an associated cost.
We were chuffed with the Silver award, especially when you look at the Gold and Merit award recipients.