Clearly communicating to your audience about what your business does is critical, but it can sometimes be hard to establish the most effective way of doing it. You do such a great job running your business, developing your products or providing a best-in-class service, but it can often be hard to articulate it well to your customers, staff, investors, or even potential new employees.
There are endless ways to present your company’s capabilities. It might be in a presentation, a brochure, in person, on film or even an animation. You may even choose more than one way of delivering it. The key is getting the right mix for your audience.
Just as you need to plan what messages you need to get across, you must also get a few things straight about how you plan to present it.
Think of your capability communications like a prospectus – a marketing tool that showcases exactly who you are as a business, your expertise, core competencies and services. It gives your customers and prospects real confidence in your ability to deliver the products or services they need.
Every business is different, of course. But the following 12 suggestions will help you package up a nicely presented capability piece that keeps your audience’s attention, as well as you getting your message across effectively.
1/ Put yourself in their shoes
What would they want to see or understand about your business in the time available. Is it in person or are you submitting your work?
2/ Why choose you?
What is your customer value proposition and how do you communicate what you do better than everyone else?
3/ Explain why you do what you do
What drives you? Provide an overview of your company’s history, purpose, mission, vision, and values – the DNA of your business.
4/ What are your product benefits?
Ensure you clearly explain the benefits of your company’s products or services – not the features alone.
5/ Introduce your team and credentials
Include bios of key personnel, qualifications, and relevant experience – let your audience get to know your people.
6/ Case studies
An effective way to demonstrate your company’s capabilities, expertise and track record. Feature examples of successful outcomes and sometimes challenging scenarios you overcame.
7/ Testimonials are powerful
Showcase your company’s credibility and expertise by letting your advocates speak for themselves.
8/ Proof points
Industry certifications, affiliations, memberships and ISOs can all provide reassurance and further credibility that you’re the people to do business with.
9/ Are you reflecting your brand?
Does it genuinely reflect your business, your brand personality, and how you do things – don’t pretend to be anything other than authentic.
10/ Less is more
Be selective with your words. Keep it simple and avoid jargon. If you wouldn’t say it yourself, then don’t.
11/ Presentation format
How do you need to present it? Often you won’t have a choice, but you may have the opportunity to be creative in any support material you provide for more detail – an interactive presentation, a film, or printed prospectus.
12/ Great Design
A clearly laid out, informative sales-piece is the minimum expectation, but great design makes a huge difference. Ensure it is visually appealing, clear and reflects your business and quality standards. If don’t have the resources to design it yourself, invest in getting it done professionally so it is fit for purpose.
Get it right by planning well in advance. Packaging up your proposition in the right way can be the difference between being visible, meaningful and memorable, or simply being mediocre and forgettable.
If you would like to learn more about how best to present your capabilities, why not get in touch and we’ll arrange a time to discuss.
