“It just saved us so much time. But even if we tried, we couldn’t have done it ourselves. Green Door Co captured exactly what we said, all the key points and wrote it so well.” – Sarah Vandertop, Group Marketing and PR Manager, Rhima
Rhima
Ready-made and bespoke washing products. The perfect all-in-one washing solution for industrial, commercial, and medical businesses.
www.rhima.com.au
Objective
Celebrating a family business’ innovation and success on their 30th anniversary through nationwide award recognition.
Solution
- Research and present a selection of suitable awards for the company’s consideration.
- Provide transparent cost and timeline proposals based on Rhima’s goals and budget.
- Draw out 30 years of company insights during an in-depth yet stress-free interview.
Value Created
- Achieved 100% finalist positions and almost 70% wins.
- Acknowledgment of Rhima’s industry-leading innovation in technology and sustainability.
- Family business celebrating 30 years of success as a tribute to their founder and source of pride for future generations.
Australian company Rhima imports and customises the very best European equipment washing systems for clients in the hospitality, healthcare and industrial sectors. Launched in 1990, the business has been an Australian market leader for over three decades, also expanding into New Zealand and Singapore.
The ability to wash and disinfect to the highest possible standard is essential in our society, from disinfecting medical equipment so it can safely be reused to cleaning food pallets to meet food safety standards to cleaning engine parts during production. What sets Rhima apart is that they can truly wash anything for their customers. Customers who come to them with a unique washing challenge will find a customised solution.
Objectives
Despite three decades of running a successful, multi-national company, Rhima never sought recognition for their many achievements.
A 30th-anniversary rebrand and website redevelopment presented them an opportunity to shine a light on their well-established family business. As the only Australian-based company specialising in washing equipment for the three sectors of hospitality, medical and industrial, Rhima is unique in the Australian economic landscape. Additionally, on the heels of surviving the COVID downturn when many other companies collapsed, Rhima continued to lead the way in industry innovation with their emphasis on environmental sustainability and the development of robot technology.
“We needed to focus more on promoting our brand,” explains Group Marketing & PR Manager Sarah Vandertop, “before, we mostly relied on word of mouth. Awards allow us to get that differentiation and exclusivity out there.”
It was also an opportunity to celebrate Rhima Managing Director—and Sarah’s dad—Michael Vandertop, who launched the company from nothing after quitting his job two weeks before his wedding day over thirty years ago.
“My dad built Rhima from scratch. We’ve all contributed, but the company wouldn’t be where it is today without him. So winning an award was a way we could acknowledge all his hard work on our anniversary.”
Solution
For Rhima, Green Door Co researched and presented a buffet of likely awards for the company’s consideration. Outlining the different categories, timelines and costs involved in each submission.
“Green Door Co just had everything laid out for us. We could pick and choose based on our goals and budget, do some now and others later. It was so easy; there were no hidden costs.”
An in-depth, guided interview helped Green Door Co gather the needed information for Rhima’s chosen awards. “I thought the interview was going to be difficult,” says Sarah, “but between me and the CEO, it was just a huge discussion around the table. Heather from Green Door Co asked a lot of questions and kept us talking; the time was gone in no time at all.”
With Green Door Co-writing and preparing the awards submissions, Sarah had to do little more than review and approve the applications and wait for the finalist results to drop into her inbox.
“It just saved us so much time. But even if we tried, we couldn’t have done it ourselves. Green Door Co captured exactly what we said, all the key points and wrote it so well.”
Value Created
The results, when they came, was a 100% strike rate as finalists, going on to win 67% of those in their first year of awards.
“Winning the awards was actually pretty exciting. Because we didn’t really expect it, it was awesome.”
The awards provided Rhima with an abundant amount of marketing content for their new website and across their social media. Authority building collateral that firmly cemented their industry-leading status, “it gave us a lot to talk about”. Displaying the accolades in their showroom also motivates their employees, who are proud to work for an award-winning company.
Submitting for more awards is part of Rhima’s future plans. Setting their sights on some of the more prominent, well-known awards as they continue to grow awareness of their achievements and recognition of their brand.
“This recognition has made us realise our achievements. We’ve lasted over thirty years, made it through a worldwide pandemic, and are industry leaders in robotics technology and sustainability. So many more innovations are coming up in our industry; let’s keep going and working towards other things.”
The value of that official acknowledgement to a long-standing family business is also significant. The award wins are recognition that future generations can look to in appreciation of a successful company that was grown from just an idea and a lot of hard work.
AWARD WINS
WINNER
2021 International Business Awards
Company of the Year – Retail – Small
2021 Australian Business Awards
Business Excellence category
FINALIST
2021 Small Business Champion Awards
Specialised Retail Small Business
