5 Common Mistakes You Might Be Making with Your Corporate Capabilities Statement That Hinder Your Growth

Whether you’re a commercial company, a consulting firm, or a government contractor, you need a stellar corporate capabilities statement.

Aside from being simply a proposal requirement, a corporate capabilities statement communicates what sets you apart from the competition, who your company is, and what products or services you have to offer.

Internally, your organization benefits from formally understanding your corporate culture, corporate messaging, and target market(s). Externally, your potential client sees an impactful, consistent, and professional snapshot of your company that helps them choose the right vendor. That’s why you need to stop making these mistakes:

You Change Your Messaging Too Often and Inconsistently

Ever-changing messaging can make your company seem confusing, inconsistent, and messy—not the characteristics of a potential client’s dream vendor. Your core messaging has to be consistent through your interactions in order to confirm your dependability and knowledge. From your leadership to marketing and your sales teams, your company must have a single voice that has steady, yet flexible, core messaging. Finally, if you are always changing how you describe your company, you won’t know or benefit from when you hit the sweet spot of your message.

Your Messaging Isn’t Speaking to Your Target Buyer Personas and Target Market

Don’t have a long message that simply uses buzzwords and doesn’t use words that your audience readily understands. When selling anything, you must define who your target buyer personas and markets are—it will help support every part of your potential client’s journey to choosing you. And once you’ve created messaging that speaks to who you are trying to reach, make sure you refine, tailor, and test it. This message should be solid, but contain some modularity, depending on what the project or proposal needs.

Your Messaging Is Blah and Sounds Like Everyone Else’s, Which Makes It Overlooked or Forgettable

 Does your statement stand out or simply bore you? Make it wow. Take the time to look at who your company is, what makes you different, and what you can do for your clients through the audience’s perspective. Uniqueness is not always in your product or service; it can be your vision, your reputation (brand promise), or how you treat your employees (corporate culture) or clients (customer experience).

Your Messaging Downplays Your Company

Your potential client needs to know that you have the capabilities to take on their project and scale-up. But if you’re playing small, you’re staying small. As your first and last impression, your corporate capabilities statement should be bold and confident. It should be something that you take pride in.

Your Messaging Is Too Wordy, Too Techy, and Too Long

On average, you will have less than a minute, perhaps only 10 seconds, to entice your audience. Long, overly technical messaging can come off as both disconnected and overwhelming. A well-structured design can make the text easier to read, help the message stick, and get your potential client the information they need quickly.

 

Want to learn more about creating your corporate capabilities statement?

See how Katzcy can help.