EFC’s 8th Annual Future Forum

 

October 16, 2018

By John Kerr

It’s hard to believe the concept pioneered by Sonepar’s Tom Mason is celebrating its eighth anniversary. These awards continue to gain in value and importance to the Canadian electrical industry every year. 

I have spoken to many who ask if there is any value here and if these awards are more trouble than they are worth, and here many people fail to see the bigger picture. After all, winning awards is much more than a trophy or a plaque that lives in reception. 

The awards hosted at EFC’s 8th Annual Future Forum are a key component of this event, not only for recognizing excellence, but for providing so much more. 

From my perspective, the one key benefit for the industry is that our award program helps define Canada as a unique market, one that can’t just rely on methods used elsewhere but one that has unique demands and requires suppliers and their wholesaler partners to think differently, implement differently and support differently. 

Today too, awards drive employee engagement and enthusiasm. Entering the event alone celebrates the journey your team has taken to get the results they have. Whether one wins or not, the value to your teams goes a long way toward building collaboration and team work, to crossing over departments and building a solid foundation. 

For the numerous partnerships we all witness day to day in the electrical market, working with key partners and strategic stakeholders creates a bond and focus on success as well. Reaching beyond the four walls of any company is so important. Collaboration among the staff, as noted, is one win. Getting that across to your suppliers’ staff makes anyone even stronger while building deep linkages that will continue to serve you well for a long time.  

Gaining awareness and building your brand goes without saying, but building a reputation for being competitive in all you do won’t hurt either. These awards give an external lift or validation of your company and your teams’ credibility. This not only can build your business but can attract great new partners and great new staff.  

Awards give the perfect opportunity to benchmark too among industry colleagues. Being out front and being open will help the whole industry raise the bar.  

The reality today too is awards also sell internally. Well executed marketing programs are often under siege internally where any advertising and marketing spend needs to be justified. The current metrics one gets currently fail in comparison to being recognized by your industry colleagues. Selling the value of marketing internally and demonstrating the marketing and advertising programs’ value can and will help in the ROI of any program.     

Winning and entering awards is a great content marketing tool that can further support. Leveraging the opportunity to drive any recognition externally that comes from within the industry. 

And of course, there is the external reputational benefit that comes from the independent endorsement of your programs and campaigns. A little external PR is not ever a bad thing. To get a sense of the program, attend this year and work on your plan to enter and compete in 2019.

Find out more: http://www.cvent.com/events/2018-future-forum/event-summary-3752140392a740ea9a35c062201d453e.aspx

John Kerr is Publisher of Canadian Electrical Wholesaler.