Can you send me your capabilities?

The go to response when someone is trying to sell you on their goods or services, "sounds great, send me over your capabilities and we will take a look." Capabilities can be a crucial part to marketing your business, especially if you haven't even met the other company or brand yet. The question becomes, what do we show that will separate us from everyone else?

Capabilities are your chance to showcase all of the amazing work your company has done over the years, and all of the cool clients you have. But is that what people want to see? Let's be honest, in the experiential marketing world all of us produce amazing work and we all have great ideas. So how do we get brands or other companies to choose you or at least get a seat at the table? There are a ton of different reasons to send capes, but I think it is important to understand who you are sending them to and why. Capes shouldn't just be something you attach to an email and send and say "hey check out the cool stuff we do, if we can help you with anything just let us know". Below are a few things to think about when putting together your capes and how to send them.

First, do your research. Whether you have been asked to send your capes, or you are emailing them to a prospect, you should know your audience. Especially if you have spoken to someone or met with them before, make sure to know more about the company/brand so you can tailor your capes to be relevant to them. What is their brand message? Who are their clients? What case studies have you done that directly relate to what they offer? Every person looks at things differently, so make sure you are sharing information that is relevant to the company and connects with the people you are trying to send it to.

Second, make it feel collaborative. Make them feel like they are part of the process and that you were thinking about how to grow a partnership rather than just win the business. Maybe in your research phase you noticed a pain point that the company had. Take the time to understand how your capabilities could help solve that problem together.

Lastly, don't just hit send. Make sure that you have a reason to share your capabilities with them. All of our inboxes are full of emails so make sure you send something that stands out and gives them a reason to open it. Thank them for catching up, or "hey I found this online and thought this could be something great for your brand to think about."

Again, you don't have to win the business on the first call. Create a relationship, grow the partnership and you can build something amazing together.