Sunday Sales Spark: Lead with What Matters

June 22, 2025 | Government, Sunday Sales Spark

In government sales, first impressions aren’t just important, they’re everything.

Whether you’re cold emailing, pitching in a capabilities briefing, or introducing your firm at a matchmaking event, how you position yourself in those first few seconds sets the tone. Unfortunately, many contractors make the same mistake: they lead with things that don’t move the needle.

They lead with what they are, not what they do.

They talk about certifications, registrations, and labels. They assume that saying “We’re SDVOSB-certified and on the GSA Schedule” is enough to stand out.

It’s not.

That’s why this week’s focus is on helping you shift your message from fluff to firepower, from what doesn’t matter to what buyers actually care about.

What Not to Lead With

These are common traps that dilute your message, confuse buyers, or fail to create any real differentiation:

• Set-Aside Status as a Differentiator
  Set-asides like WOSB, SDVOSB, or 8(a) might give you access, but they aren’t the reason you’ll win.
  Reality check: More than half of the companies with these statuses didn’t win a single contract last year. If you lead with your label, you sound at best immature; at worst, entitled.

• Feature-Focused Messaging
  Talking about your services without linking them to outcomes is like showing someone a tool without explaining what it builds.
  “We provide cybersecurity risk assessments.”
  Okay… but what happens after?

• Generic Value Propositions
  Statements like “We’re best in class” or “customer-first” are not value propositions, they’re clichés.
  Buyers are trained to tune out vague, unsubstantiated claims. If your value prop could apply to any of your competitors, rewrite it.

• “They Should Know Us” Mentality
  A common mistake is assuming your commercial success or longevity will open doors in the federal space.
  “We’ve been in business 30 years.”
  “We work with Fortune 500 companies.”
  Government buyers don’t care unless you tie that experience to how it helps them. If your company has served 100 commercial clients, great, show how that translates into proven outcomes for government missions. Otherwise, it’s just noise.

• Solution Without Problem Context
  Jumping right into your offering without showing an understanding of the buyer’s pain points makes you sound like a hammer looking for a nail.
  Start with the problem. Empathize with it. Then present your solution.

What You Should Lead With

Buyers don’t need a biography. They need a reason to believe you can help them achieve their goals. Here’s what that looks like:

• Speak in Outcomes
  Think in metrics.
  “Supported over 55,000 users.”
  “Reduced processing time by 42%.”
  “Saved $1.2M in procurement cycle costs.”
  When you share specific outcomes, it creates credibility and allows the buyer to picture the impact you could have for them.

• Align to Their Mission and Language
  If you’re speaking to the VA, talk about Veterans. If you’re speaking to FEMA, talk about resilience, readiness, and response.
  Use the language that already lives inside their strategic plans and public-facing documents.

• Provide Proof, Not Platitudes
  Replace generalities with specificity. Instead of saying “We’re innovative,” describe how you brought a novel approach to a specific problem and the result it delivered.

• Ask Better Questions
  Instead of, “Do you have time for a call?” try, “Are you the right person to speak with regarding application modernization for your region?”
  Show them you’ve done your homework, and be direct.

• Consistency Across Channels
  Your website, LinkedIn, capability statement, and sales outreach should all say the same thing: the right message, to the right buyer, with the right proof.
  Don’t confuse your audience by sending mixed signals.

Final Thought: You Can’t Afford to Lead With the Wrong Message

Every time you open your mouth, or your inbox, you have a chance to either position yourself as a solution provider or just another vendor.

The government is risk-averse. They’re skeptical by default. So when your message doesn’t hit, it’s not because they “don’t get it.” It’s because you didn’t connect it.

Your job in sales is to communicate value in a way that is:

• Relevant

• Credible

• And outcome-driven

Lead with that. Because it’s not about what you do, it’s about what you deliver.

Get Better Every Week

If this sparked something in you, imagine what you could do with weekly strategy tools in your inbox.
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