Posted on Jul 29, 2013

What a Prospective Client Really Wants to Know About Your Capabilities

“So, tell us about your capabilities….”

Any company that enters into a pitch for business has a “capabilities deck” – a glossy PowerPoint presentation that attempts to explain what makes their company unique and why prospective clients should hire them. Generally, this can be boiled down into a single marketing statement about the company. Or it can take 30 slides and an hour listening to a boring person tell the story (like “show and tell” with pictures of your family vacation).

Painful. Yet, it happens over and over again every day….

Does any prospective client really care about the labels of your 4-step process; the names of your other clients; how many awards you have won; or the creative titles of the people at your company?

Not really.

All a prospective client really wants to know is this:
Can you help me achieve my objectives?

Maybe its time to stop navel-gazing and revisit your core capabilities and see how they align to your prospects’ objectives.

Realigning Your Capabilities

As a differentiating value, Capability means an aptitude that may be developed; or ability to generate an outcome.

When you can align your capabilities (and sometimes just one is enough) to solving a specific need or problem of a client, half the battle is won. (The other half is just completing the work).

A few examples:

You know exactly how to solve the client’s mold problem in their new building, so they can get a building permit. (So, prove it by offering a guarantee.)
Helping the client achieving 20% profitable growth in sales is a cakewalk for your team. (Then, tell them how you propose to do it, using their terminology, and put some of your compensation on the line.)
Your team can develop the client’s custom ecommerce applications in half the time of competitors, enabling them to sell products online before the Christmas rush. (So, build a mini-prototype using one of the client’s products and prove it.)

It’s all about confidence.

The only reason for asking about capabilities is to help build confidence in an unknown – YOU. But if you have confidence in what you and your team can do, then prove it. Don’t worry about giving away trade secrets. Your competitors already have their own.

The winners in the battle of capabilities are those who focus on the needs of their clients and build confidence in their ability to deliver desired outcomes.