Claim Standards
Awards.com and Successories | Reference sheet for LinkBuilder.io | Version 1.0, August 2026
Use this for anything carrying either brand’s name: quotes, syndicated pieces, pitches, bylined articles. Every figure matches what is published on the site. If a placement states something different, it contradicts the page it links to, which costs more than the placement is worth. If you need a number that is not here, ask. Do not estimate.
The two brands are run separately. An Awards.com piece should not mention Successories, and a Successories piece should not mention Awards.com. They share a parent company and some legal boilerplate, but they are different products for different buyers and their operational figures genuinely differ. Read the right column.
1. Operational figures
Every time figure is in business days. That is the unit on both sites, including checkout estimates.
2. Company facts
| Item | Awards.com | Successories |
| Founded | 1985 | 1985 |
| Online since | 1997. One of the first to let businesses design and order awards online. | (not a claim we make) |
| What it is | Custom awards, plaques, trophies, corporate recognition | Employee recognition, corporate and employee gifts, motivational products, and tmwrk |
| What we are | Manufacturer and decorator, not a reseller. Engraving and printing in house. | Manufacturer and decorator for awards and recognition products. |
| Origin | Every award is decorated, assembled, and shipped from our US and Canada facilities. | Awards and stock products are decorated and assembled at our own facilities and ship from multiple warehouses. Promotional products are sourced from partner suppliers. |
| Selection claim | The largest online selection of crystal awards | (not a claim we make) |
| Customer rating | Over 4.5 out of 5 across more than 900 Trustpilot reviews | 4.6 out of 5 across more than 1,100 Trustpilot reviews. Separate profile from Awards.com. |
| Materials | Crystal, glass including jade, acrylic, metal, stone, wood | Varies by product line |
Shared across both brands
Same parent company, so these are identical and may be used on either.
| Item | Approved wording |
| Customers | 80% of the Fortune 500, all branches of the U.S. military, and more than 17,000 nonprofits, schools, universities, and small and medium-sized businesses |
| Tenure | Since 1985. Forty years. |
Note the military wording. It is “all branches of the U.S. military,” not “every military and government agency.” The broader version is being removed from the Successories about page and should not be used.
3. Recognition statistics
Cite the source AND the year with every one of these. Undated statistics are the fastest way to get a placement corrected, and these are older than they look.
| Approved wording | Source and year |
| 69% of employees say they would work harder if they were better recognized | Good.Co |
| Happy people do work harder | Observer / Guardian |
| Disengaged employees cost U.S. businesses more than $300 billion a year in lost productivity | Gallup Business Journal. Older figure, date it or ask us for a current one. |
| Organizations whose recognition programs are highly effective at improving engagement have 31% lower voluntary turnover than organizations with ineffective programs | Bersin & Associates, 2012 |
| 89% of HR leaders say their employee recognition program improves the employee experience | SHRM / Globoforce |
| 85% of HR leaders say their recognition program improves organizational culture | SHRM / Globoforce |
| 89% of companies celebrate 20-year service anniversaries | SHRM / Globoforce |
Two of these are commonly misquoted, including on our own site until this week. The 31% figure compares EFFECTIVE recognition programs against INEFFECTIVE ones, not programs against no programs. Every company in that study had recognition. And the 89% figure is about employee EXPERIENCE; the culture number is 85%. Both findings are about recognition programs in general, not milestone or service awards specifically. Use the wording in the table exactly.
The last row is the most useful one for Successories and it is currently unused. For a business whose strongest category is years of service, “89% of companies celebrate 20-year service anniversaries” is more on point than either of the two above.
4. Spokesperson
Same person, different title per brand. Use the right one.
| Item | Awards.com | Successories |
| Proof | Within 2 business days | Within 2 business days |
| Design or rendering | 2 to 4 business days. Free renderings and free revisions. | Same: 2 to 4 business days. Free. |
| Stock ship | 5 to 7 business days after proof approval | Unpersonalized stock: 1 business day. Personalized stock: 2 business days. |
| Award items | (covered by stock figure above) | 5 business days |
| Logo and custom-imprint items | 5 to 7 business days from art approval | Proof within 2 business days, then 5 to 7 business days production |
| Custom project production | 2 to 6 weeks after final design approval. Crystal about 6 weeks; acrylic and metal 2 to 3. | Same as Awards.com |
| Rush | As little as 48 hours. Rush fees run 10% to 100%. | Same as Awards.com |
| Unique or made-to-order | Own production times, shown on the product page | Own production times, shown on the product page |
| Minimum order, stock | None. As few as one. | None. As few as one. |
| Minimum order, custom | None. Most cost effective at 10 pieces or more. | None. Some custom-imprint items require case quantities. |
| Free shipping | Orders over $500, contiguous US and Canada | No standing offer. Promotional only, terms stated with the offer. Do not claim free shipping. |
| Restocking fee | 20% | 20% |
| Phone hours | 9am to 5pm ET, Monday to Friday | 9am to 5pm ET, Monday to Friday |
| Guarantee | 100% Satisfaction, 30 days from receipt. Lowest Price Guarantee, 30 days. | Same |
5. Do not write these
- Any unqualified “Made in USA” claim, on either brand. Use the origin wording in section 2 exactly.
- “Every military and government agency in the United States.” Use the approved military wording.
- “The first company to sell awards online.” Use “one of the first,” or cite 1997.
- Free shipping on Successories. There is no standing offer.
- The two unsourced tmwrk statistics in section 3.
- Any client or customer name. We do not yet have written permission from any of them.
- Any price, turnaround, discount, or statistic not in this document.
- Cross-brand mentions. Keep Awards.com and Successories pieces separate.
6. Voice
Our house style exists because generic copy is what every competitor publishes. The rules that matter most:
Cut outright
- No em-dashes or en-dashes anywhere. Use a comma, a period, or rewrite the sentence.
- Banned words: delve, leverage, seamless, elevate, unlock, robust, harness, comprehensive, holistic, myriad, plethora, foster, tapestry, realm, embark, game-changing, transformative, revolutionary.
- Banned openers: “In today’s [anything] workplace,” “In an era of,” “Now more than ever.”
- Banned closers: “In conclusion,” “Ultimately,” “At the end of the day.”
- Banned construction: “It’s not just X, it’s Y.” The single most recognizable AI tic.
- Empty filler: premium, meaningful, thoughtful, impactful, exceptional, unforgettable, curated, world-class. If deleting the word changes nothing, it was filler.
Do instead
- Commit to a claim. “Recognition improves morale when people believe it’s genuine” beats “recognition can help morale.”
- Use specifics. A number, a date, a real scenario.
- Break the symmetry. Let one sentence run long and the next be four words.
- Include one line only someone in the recognition industry would write.
- Grade 7 to 8 reading level. A B2B HR piece can run to 9 or 10.
The difference in one example. Generic: “Service awards are a great way to show appreciation.” Ours: “A years-of-service piece often sits on a desk for twenty years, while most branded promo gets tossed inside two. That’s why the material matters more than the logo.” The second could only come from someone who sells these.
7. Notes
- Successories site copy is being corrected to match this sheet this week. Where a live page still disagrees, this document is right and the page is being fixed. Write to this sheet.
- FineAwards is not covered here. That engagement is link building only, with no copy carrying the brand’s name. If that changes, ask us for a separate sheet before writing anything.
- If you need a figure that is not in this document, ask. Do not estimate and do not take it from a live page, because some pages are mid-correction.
8. Questions
Anything not covered here, or any figure you are unsure of, comes to Vinny before it publishes. A short delay costs less than a correction in a placement we cannot edit.
Vincent Nero | vincent.nero@successories.com | 1-800-4-AWARDS