A strong sales pipeline doesn't always translate into closed deals when prospective clients are wary of a company's short track record.
Trofeo, a Tampa, Florida-based Microsoft Cloud AI partner, entered its second year of operations in 2025 with strong momentum. While the company was consistently landing sales meetings with potential clients, one challenge kept surfacing. Prospective customers were hesitant to invest in Trofeo's services because the company was new to the market.
The Tampa Bay technology landscape also contributed to the challenge. Trofeo was competing for attention against other companies. To win over potential clients, industry partners and technology leaders, Trofeo needed more than visibility. It needed credibility.
Solution
B2 Communications used this trust gap to shape Trofeo’s reputation and awards strategy around the technology background and expertise of founder and CEO Jake Halusic.
The team began conducting in-depth interviews with Jake to learn about his education, career background, entrepreneurial journey and goals for the company. B2 then conducted an analysis of relevant, respected awards programs in Tampa Bay alongside a media analysis. This step allowed B2 to identify the publications most read by Trofeo's target audience of business leaders and decision makers.
With this research, B2 created a spreadsheet to monitor upcoming awards programs, reviewing each award's timeline and past recipients before mapping out a submission strategy.
The awards strategy centered on three components:
- Highlight Jake Halusic's technology background and industry expertise
- Spotlight Trofeo's recent accomplishments
- Emphasize the company's core service offerings
B2 drafted and submitted nominations to five programs between June and September 2025:
- Tampa Bay Business Journal's 40 Under 40 awards
- Tampa Bay Inno's Fire awards
- Business Observer's 40 Under 40 awards
- Tampa Bay Tech awards
- Titan 100 awards
Each nomination was tailored to highlight a different facet of Jake’s leadership or Trofeo's capabilities, from his founding journey to the company's proprietary managed security offering. As awards were announced, B2 amplified the recognitions on Trofeo's LinkedIn page to extend their reach among the company's network and potential customers.
Success
Trofeo won three of the five awards it submitted for: Tampa Bay Tech's People's Choice award, Tampa Bay Inno Award in the B2B category, and Business Observer's 40 Under 40 award.
Each win reinforced a different aspect of Trofeo's reputation. The People's Choice recognition, voted on by event attendees, signaled that Trofeo was already viewed as a trusted partner within the local tech community. The Business Observer feature gave Jake's founder story a platform in both print and online editions, building his profile as a thought leader among Tampa Bay decision-makers. The Tampa Bay Inno win validated Trofeo's cloud and AI capabilities in front of an industry-specific audience.
As the awards accumulated, so did media coverage. Trofeo’s award wins reached a combined potential audience of 6.7 million.
By turning a credibility gap into a structured awards strategy, B2 helped Trofeo establish itself as a recognizable, trusted name in Tampa Bay's competitive cloud services market.