Differentiate your Company and Offerings; Develop a Winning

Capabilities Statement.

John Santisteban President, Principal Consultant

GovBiz Advisors

1

Credentials

25 Years sales and business development experience

18 years leading federal government business development and sales for technology companies including Hewlett Packard, Ingersoll Rand, and HID Global

Directed effort to develop and close over $870,000,000 in federal government contracts

President and Principal Consultant, GovBiz Advisors a Federal Sales and Business Development Consultancy based in DC area

We use our 30 years of experience to help our clients find prospects faster, develop critical relationships, and close deals as we fast track the learning process for you.

Agenda

Discuss:

Federal Market and new contractors

Getting ahead of the crowd: Differentiation

Developing a Winning Capabilities Statement

The Federal Government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world – FY13 $394B in Contract procurements

Nearly 50% of procurements happen outside the Beltway

Federal Government Employees = 3.1 Million

Number of Buildings Owned = 420,000

Number of Buildings Leased = 77,000

Federal Market Analysis - Facts

How different is it to sell to Federal Market?

It is essentially the same as the commercial market. You have to find out who buys what you sell Knock on their door Prepare for rejection if unknown to federal buyers Government buyers are risk averse Find a way to get around their resistance to newcomers

In the federal market, as in the commercial, businesses must sell to the end users of the product or service they offer.

To succeed you need to stand out from the crowd!

The keys to standing out?

Differentiate your company and product or services

Create a dynamic Winning Capabilities Statement

A Differentiation Primer

Simply put, a differentiator is something that makes your firm meaningfully different from other firms. Yours doesn’t have to be the only firm with that characteristic. You just want to set yourself apart from the competition.

The Rules of Brand Differentiation

While “breaking all the rules” sounds like something that would set you apart, this is a case where following the rules really distances you from your competitors.

The Rules:

1. Your differentiator must be true. In other words, you can’t just make one up. You have to live it. If you promise a differentiator but fail to deliver, you will damage your brand.

2. It must be important to your client.

3. It must be supportable. Prove it. That is the challenge that every differentiator must overcome.

Finding Your Differentiation

The following five steps will help you find a real differentiator for your firm – and not just find it, but own it.

1. Choose an approach to differentiation

There are two basic approaches to identifying your differentiators:

Making conscious management decisions that differentiate your firm from the competition. Put another way, you can decide how you will be different.

Discovering the existing characteristics that distinguish your firm. This is a process of discovering differences, not creating them.

Finding Your Differentiation

2. Assess possible differentiators through research

Whether you’re considering new, differentiated directions for your firm or trying to understand your existing differentiators, you’re going to want to conduct research on yourself and on the marketplace.

Why? Time and time again, we’ve seen that firms misperceive their audiences’ priorities, their own relevance to client needs, and even who their competitors are.

Research empowers you to base your decisions on facts rather than hunches.

Finding Your Differentiation

3. Identify the differentiators you want to pursue

Choose the ones that you will focus on to define your firm in the marketplace.

Consider the many ways to differentiate your firm and consider how you might combine some of the differentiators you’ve identified to craft a unique identity.

Consider the pros and cons, consider what kind of firm you want to be, and consider where opportunity and true distinction lies. Then select your differentiators accordingly.

Finding Your Differentiation

4. Validating with the marketplace

Once you’ve identified your differentiators it’s important to validate them with the marketplace.

Verify that it’s relevant and that you can carry it out.

Can you back up the claim effectively.

Evaluate your proposed differentiators to see whether competitors are taking a similar tack

Make certain that what you’ve identified is true, relevant, and supportable.

5. Living your differentiators

Once you’ve validated your differentiators, it’s time to live them out, proving and re-proving them every day.

Your differentiators must be communicated. Ensure that your website and marketing materials describe, reflect, and prove your differentiators. Likewise for the way you talk to people, you need to speak to your differentiators.

If no one knows it, it’s not a differentiator.

Examples of Differentiators

1. Specialize in an industry.

2. Specialize in serving a specific role within your client’s organization.

3. Specialize in offering a particular service.

4. Offer a truly unique technology or process.

5. Focus on understanding a particular target audience.

6. Specialize in serving clients of a certain size.

7. All of your staff shares a specific characteristic or credential.

8. Focus on solving a specific business challenge.

Capabilities Statement – Your Identity

A capability statement is a promotional or marketing statement about your business and its capabilities and skills that advertises who your company is, what it does, and why you are the best company to be hired.

A capability statement is not only required when dealing with the government, but also when seeking to work as a sub-contractor for a company that is the prime contractor on a government contract.

Capability Statement – Acceptable Format

The five sections that are customarily expected for an acceptably formatted Capability Statement are as follows:

Core Competencies

Past Performance

Differentiators

Corporate Data

Contact Information

Capability Statement – Acceptable Format

The Core Competencies section is the most important of the entire document.

It essentially answers two questions “Who are you?” and “What do you do?” and in order to fit with the other sections, it allows only 2 -3 sentences to provide those answers.

It is critically important that all the words are carefully chosen and that everyone is comfortable with this section before proceeding.

Visiting your existing Mission Statement or Vision Statement is a good first step

Capability Statement – Acceptable Format

The Past Performance section should be included if the experience applies directly to the contracting opportunity. Contracting officers prefers to have the section read as a reference list for an employment opportunity: contact name, project name, company name, phone, e-mail, and website. IF YOU HAVE NONE, DO NOT INCLUDE.

Capability Statement – Acceptable Format

The Differentiator section is your opportunity to communicate the results of all your research and effort.

The Corporate Section should include:

Company website URL

Company address and contact numbers

DUNS Number and CAGE code

Certifications – 8a, Hubzone, ISO 9001, etc.

NAICS Codes

GSA Schedule and Contract number.

Tips for your Capabilities Statement

• Make it easily identifiable as being from your company

• Use color or other simple methods to draw attention

• Make it easy to navigate

• One page preferred, but two is max

• Include thorough listing of your products on the back if two

• If you have a long list of NAICS codes, include on back

• Make sure you include a specific point of contact

• Maintain in a form that can readily be modified and then converted to a .pdf.

• Create a “Wow factor”

Example

A Critical and Dynamic Document

The Capabilities Statement must be unique to each contracting opportunity it cannot be a template or boiler plate type document. Each time your business submits for a government contracting bid, the capabilities statement must be unique to that potential opportunity.

It is a critical document that if developed correctly, can bring new opportunities in government contracting to your small business.

Good Luck!

Thank youJohn Santisteban

VIScon ID LLC

Johns@viscon-id.com

(c) 202-997-7241

(0) 410-721-1344

Attendee Offer : Contact me to schedule a no cost or obligation 30 minute telephone consultation to discuss your Federal Business Development plans.