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
Federal Market Analysis - Facts
 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
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 you
John 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.