3 tips for clarifying what you deliver

“So what can you deliver for us?” This is a question that employers ask potential suppliers. They say: “Don’t tell us what you can do. Tell us what you can deliver – and what will be the benefits.”

Many people find these questions difficult to answer. Some embark on long explanations about ‘who’ they are – their background - and ‘how’ they will work. This may be interesting – but employers want a headline. They want to know how you can help them to achieve their picture of success. Let’s explore how you can make this happen.

1) You can clarify ‘what’ you can deliver and the benefits – the ‘why’

What can you deliver to a potential employer? Depending on offering, you may begin by saying something like: “I can … help children with learning difficulties … nurse patients … fix computer problems … run an efficient office … organise conferences … mentor talented people … renovate houses.” How can you crystallise what you offer? How can you communicate this in a compelling way? How can you show the benefits? “But I don’t like to sell myself,” somebody may say. Let’s explore this and other principles when clarifying your offering. It is important:

a) To aim to help the potential customers to succeed – you are not selling.

b) To understand the customer’s world, the challenges they face and their picture of success.

c) To clarify the specific things you offer, the results these will deliver and how these will help the customer to achieve success.

Let’s consider these steps. The starting point is to want to help the customer to succeed. Certainly you want to get paid – but the key is helping them to reach their goals. Understanding the customer is crucial. So identify the right target group – and the key decision-makers in that group – and look at the world from their point of view. What are the challenges they face? What are their goals? Most people want to be healthy, happy and successful. Translated into the organisational world, however, ‘success’ often means focusing on the 3 Ps. Leaders want to continually improve their profits/performance, products and people. If you are targeting the organisational market, you may need to show how what you offer can improve some – or all – of the 3 Ps.

Try tackling the following exercise. This focuses on ‘what’ you want to offer and ‘why’ people might be interested – the potential benefits. First, describe the specific thing – the service or product - you want to offer to potential customers. Second, describe the specific results this would deliver. Third, describe the potential benefits for the various stakeholders, such as the individual clients/employees, teams and organisation.

The specific thing – service or product –
I want to offer to potential customers is:

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The specific results this will deliver will be:

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*

*

The specific benefits will be:

*

*

*

2) You can clarify ‘how’ you will work, with ‘whom’ and ‘when’.

You have already explored ‘what’ you will offer and ‘why’ it might be of benefit. The next step is to go deeper into ‘how’ you can work with ‘whom’ and ‘when’. Great performers explain this in a crisp and compelling way. They outline their working style by moving from the ‘concept’ to the ‘concrete’. They describe the strategy they will follow, but bring it to life by giving specific examples – preferably from the customer’s world. Previously you identified the ‘whom’ in terms of your overall target group and, in particular, the decision-makers. Now it is time to explain to the customer the types of people with whom you can work. If it gets to the agreement stage, you can then settle on ‘when’ the work can be done. Bearing in mind your offering to people, try completing the following sentence.

The specific way I will work – ‘how’
with ‘whom’ and ‘when’ - will be:

*

*

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3) You can communicate what you can offer, help others to succeed and develop what you can deliver.

How to get work? First, you can be crystal clear on what you offer – which you have already done. It is vital to be clear within yourself about what you want to offer to the market. Second, you can show how what you offer can help customers to succeed. There are many ways to reach-out to potential customers. But it is vital to employ an approach with which you feel comfortable. Here are some suggestions for taking this route.

a) Write a ‘mini-brochure’ based on the sentences you have already completed.

First, describe the specific thing – the service or product - you offer, the specific results you can deliver and the potential benefits for customers. Second, describe the way you work. Third, describe a little about yourself. You may never send out this brochure – but it is an excellent discipline for your ‘script’ or the basis for a website.

b) Find a way to ‘package’ your knowledge – such as via articles, books and a website.

The future world of work will be full of people trying to sell their services, so credibility will be vital. Find ways to package your knowledge and make the ‘intangible’ tangible. Build on the work you do and turn these projects into ‘products’, such as short articles or ‘success stories’.

c) Get out into the world. Encourage the colleagues and customers in your network.

Everybody talks about the importance of networking, but it is good to remember one key rule. Real networking is about helping other people to succeed. It is not about selling yourself. Find a way to get alongside people – colleagues and customers – and understand their picture of success. Then offer ideas, tools and knowledge that they can use to reach their goals. Get out into the world, because customers buy ‘face-to-face’. They may be interested in what you offer, but will often wait until the next time you meet before mentioning a potential project. Sometimes it takes several meetings before such an opportunity appears. Keep encouraging the people in your network and eventually a customer will say: “How can we take this further?” Get back to them quickly with a possible framework for achieving their goals.

d) Do great work – then keep developing what you can deliver.

Let’s imagine you get a piece of work. Start by making clear contracts. Clarify the sponsor’s picture of perfection – the real results they want to achieve. Play-back your understanding to make sure you share the same picture. Double-check the ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ for working with them, especially the way they want to be kept informed. Get some early wins to reassure the sponsor and do superb work. Fulfil the contract – and add that touch of class. After completing the work, gather information about: “What went well – and how can I do more of these things in the future? What can I do better next time – and how?” Employ this information to develop and refine what you can deliver.

“This sounds like hard work,” somebody may say. Yes, it is – but the alternative is to stay home waiting to be discovered. As I mentioned earlier, reach out to the world in a way that fits your values. You will then look forward to going out and helping other people to reach their goals. There are many ways to ‘go to market’, but this is one that works. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to communicate what I offer, help
others to succeed and keep developing what I deliver are:

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