As the deadline for The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service approaches on November 18, we've created 9 simple tips to help you submit entries that are worthy of receiving a Stevie Award for Sales & Customer Service:
1. Request an Entry Kit
The entry kit contains everything you need to know to be able to prepare and submit your entries. Click here to request yours.
2. Watch our How to Enter the 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service Video
Our brief video gives an overview of the world's premier customer service awards and sales awards, with a step-by-step guide to how to select categories, prepare entries, and submit them.
3. Determine Who or What You Want to Nominate, and in Which Categories
Decide which individuals or teams in your sales organization that you will nominate, then select the most appropriate categories for those entries.
4. Prepare Your Entries
Take the time to tailor each entry for each category you apply for.
Stevie-winning entries are:
a. Well-written. They are terse and succinct. Their tone is modest, even when describing the most impressive accomplishments.
b. Focused on a few accomplishments. Describe in detail just a few accomplishments, instead of listing many accomplishments in brief.
Stevie-winning entries are not:a. Fluffy and hyperbolic. Avoid flowery language and overblown claims. The judges tend to deduct points for immodesty.
Want to read entries that judges have scored highly in the past? The full-text of most Stevie Award-winning entries are published on the web site. Start by looking through the 2011 winners.
5. Submit Your Entries By The Entry Deadline
The final entry deadline for The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service will be November 18, 2011. Late entries will be accepted through January 10, 2012 with payment of a $35 late fee per entry. When you're ready to enter, begin here...
6. Subscribe to the Free Stevie Awards Email Newsletter
The weekly email newsletter is the best way to stay informed about entry deadline extensions, new categories, and other announcements from the organizers of The Stevie Awards. We have a very strict privacy policy, so we will not share your email address with anyone else for any reason. Click here to learn more.
7. Get Social with The Stevies
Connect with The Stevie Awards on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube for latest announcements, blog postings, photos, and videos regarding our awards programs.
8. Participate in the Judging Process
Apply to be a preliminary-round judge. As a judge you will be able to see the entries submitted by many companies around the world, and you will develop a better sense of the types of entries that judges score highly. (You will not be allowed to judge entries in categories in which you have submitted entries, however.) Click here to complete the application form.
If your application is accepted you will be assigned categories based on your function and experience. As a preliminary-round judge you will be able to judge as few or as many nominations as you like, at your convenience, over the Internet in November-January.
9. Contact The Stevie Awards
Contact us with your questions about the most appropriate categories, entry fees, and so on. Our phone number is +1 703-547-8389, and our email address is help@stevieawards.com. Note, the first question we’ll ask you is: what do you and your organization want to be recognized for?
What has helped you write successful entries for The 2012 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service?
The final entry deadline for the 2011 
We had the early-bird deadline a few weeks back and entries submitted through that deadline were up about 25% from last year. We have another deadline on November 12, and then we'll continue to accept late entries through the end of the year. (The late penalty is just $35 per entry.) If you don't have your entry kit yet, 