Exporter of the year 2011
EXPORTER OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2011
FEEDBACK FROM FINALISTS
BELL EQUIPMENT
I can only imagine that a competition of this nature is never really easy to judge and cannot always satisfy everybody who entered. I personally think it is well organised by the committee members and a great deal of gratitude and appreciation should be extended to the people involved…
The event of the awards evening was great albeit a bit small in size to house all of the guests. The MC and Guest Speaker were excellent and great food presented; the only disappointment was that the placement of the loud speakers and noise decimal levels were excessively high and deafening to the guest placed at the tables situated in close to the loud speakers. You need to bear this in mind and change the placement of the loud speakers.
Otherwise a great evening and look forward to the next event, if we are invited?
Johann Ungerer
Forwarding Manager
IMPERIAL ARMOUR
My overall and lasting impression of the Competition is that it has had a positive effect on Imperial Armour. We have been entering since 2004 and so I can literally track our progress each year! By participating, we create a new benchmark for ourselves – enabling us to measure our improvement in sales, exports, clients, growth, turnover and profitability. In 2004, for example, Imperial Armour employed 8 staff compared to 36 today! Assessing our progress is both interesting and motivational.
There are also other benefits such as the Competition being a morale booster for staff. Last year, when it was announced that we were finalists, all the administrative staff were invited to the gala dinner and it was a wonderfully proud moment for us all to celebrate when Imperial Armour won an award!
The video that the Chamber made of the evening was later shown to our factory personnel and it was truly a pleasure to watch their delight and jubilation!
Another benefit is the exposure and credibility that the Competition provides us. It shows clients that Imperial Armour is professional and that we believe in our products! Recently, a prospective client contacted the Chamber and decided to grant us a tender on the basis of our credibility and Awards.
There is also the fantastic opportunity of meeting all the special men and women who make up the Nominees. They are always inspirational and I find myself more determined than ever to do better each year!
Louisa Garland-Els Chief Executive Officer
RAPIDOL
Rapidol has taken part in two DCCI Exporter of the Year Competitions; winning the Exporting into Africa category in 2010 and coming in as a runner up in the 2011 competition. Receiving the awards was a great honour and raised the moral of the Export sales department. The award also generated substantial corporate PR for Rapidol and assisted in building the corporate brand of the company. A strong corporate brand is always beneficial when trying to attract talent to a company or even to a certain degree when negotiating with suppliers and other stakeholders.
The Awards Ceremony Dinner always a grand affair and very well attended. It is a fantastic forum for networking with various parties involved in the export arena. For companies new to exporting or who are looking to develop an export department the DCCI is a good starting point and for established exporters the DCCI Exporter of the Year Competition is a wonderful platform upon which to test your mettle against some of the bigger exporters in the province.
Craig Sydenham
Export Manager
SLUVIN DESIGNS
I would first like to thank the Durban Chamber for giving us the opportunity to market, evaluate and see how far our company footprint has gone in the market-place.
I am pleased to say that I was satisfied with the process of selection, Chamber visitation to produce the video, company interview and presentation of the awards. The actual event itself was professionally handled and was a huge success.
By participating in the exporters awards, I learned a lot of things with regard to my marketing strategies, display, knowing my company and being able to professionally present and tell someone else in a short space of time what Sluvin Designs is all about. As I practised in preparation for the interview I discovered that there are so many important features of our company profile that we take for granted and sometimes not even know how to tell the next person about, which I believe has hindered our company growth.
I believe that whoever enters this competition takes away with him/her a lot of lessons and growth is earned through experience with the process.
It has opened my eyes into knowing the importance of production layout, delivery, packaging and client service as I sought advice in preparation for the video shoot.
I trust that every company, whether big or small can learn a lot by taking part in the competition.
Silungile Mokoena
Founding Member