By GARRY HOWE
WHEN Silvio Marinelli made his way to the stage for the third time at the inaugural Casey Cardinia Business Awards presentation dinner last year, he apologised for mumbling through his speeches.
Accepting the night’s top prize as Business of the Year, Silvio said he was better with numbers than with words, looked at the framed certificate in his hand and remarked that, to him, three sounded like a nice number.
It bought laughter and applause.
Those three framed certificates – including those in the Business and Professional Services and Environmental Sustainability categories – now sit proudly in the reception area at Highview Accounting Service’s head office in Cranbourne.
The benefits of those wins, however, go deep into the business, well beyond the reception desk.
The impact was immediate.
Highview’s social media went into meltdown with messages of congratulations.
As Star News Group’s commemorative awards edition hit the streets – with Silvio, his partner Darren Crowther and members of the team plastered all over the front page – the response went to another level.
Congratulatory hampers began arriving at reception.
“God only knows how many messages of congratulations we received,” he said.
“We received a lot of positive feedback.”
Highview picked up a few clients too as a direct result of the award wins.
“We probably signed up a half a dozen new clients,” Silvio explained.
“They had heard of us and were considering coming across, but that (the awards) was the tipping point.”
So great was the marketing and exposure that Silvio was frightened to return to his beloved Cranbourne Cricket Club for a few weeks for fear of what it might cost him in fines (handed out to members who appear in the press).
Silvio’s public speaking has picked up a bit too. It had to, because he became hot property on the local business networking circuit.
One involved addressing a group of about 50 NAB business bankers, set up by the Berwick branch.
“I have never been a great public speaker but I’m getting better at it,” he said.
“And I’m essentially talking about our business, so I guess I know my stuff.”
The award wins also had a positive impact on staff who all walked a little taller for weeks.
They got to share the spoils as well, each receiving a $100 voucher from the prize money and being shouted out to a celebratory lunch.
“I think we had the prize money spent within 24 hours,” Silvio said.
He would highly recommend the awards process to any business – describing the process from start to finish as professional and rewarding.
The fact that winners and sponsors were invited to a debrief luncheon afterwards was a nice touch, he said.
“We go to a lot of networking events and a lot more people recognise us now,” Silvio said.
“It has been a fantastic experience.”
