If you are late
The deadline is close
Most award work happens in a panic, so this is the normal case rather than the awkward one. Here is honestly what is possible at each point.
What is possible, and when
| Time to close | What is realistic | What you need to do today |
|---|---|---|
| More than 3 weeks | Everything. Full entry, questions to your team, a rebuild once they answer and time to review it properly | Send the material. Nothing else |
| 2 to 3 weeks | Full entry and the question pack. The rebuild is tight but doable if your team answers inside a week | Send the material and warn whoever ran the project that six questions are coming |
| 1 to 2 weeks | A complete entry built from what you already have. The questions still come, but only the quickest ones are worth chasing | Send the material today and tell us the exact closing time |
| Under a week | A complete draft, usually in two to three days. No rebuild. It will be a good entry built from existing evidence rather than a strengthened one | Email before you gather anything. We will tell you honestly whether it is worth it |
| Under 48 hours | Be told the truth: probably not, and you should lodge whatever you have | Ask anyway. Occasionally the material is strong enough that it works |
What being late actually costs you
Not the writing. The writing is the same either way. What you lose is the question pack, which is the part that turns a competent entry into a winning one, because there is no longer time for anybody to go and find the missing number.
Late costs you the evidence, not the entry.
What we will not do
We will not tell you it is fine when it is not. If there is not enough time to do it properly, you will be told that before you pay anything, and told which programme on the list would be a better target.
If you have a live deadline right now, say so in the first line of your email. hello@probative.com.au
Start with two answers.
Send an award you are actually entering and whatever project material you already have. You get two complete answers, the case we would make, the questions we would send your team and the claims that one more fact would unlock.
Credited in full if you go ahead. If you read it and walk away, you owe nothing further.