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A MUST HAVE FOR DEFENCE

Quad Chart Design For Defence

The Power of the Quad Chart: A Must-Have Tool for Defence Companies

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Quad Chart Design Service

Summary: 

  • A Quad Chart is critical for any defence company looking to win more contracts. It should be of the highest quality.
  • Defence Quad Charts are different to other sectors. One size does not fit all.
  • Question whether it’s time to take your Quad Chart to the next level of professionalism – and effectiveness. Take immediate action if improvement is required.

Defence contracting is one of the world’s most competitive sectors.

Companies need to stand out from the crowd to win lucrative contracts and win a place in the global supply chain of the prime contractors to defence.

Quad Charts are an essential part of the pitch process. This simple yet powerful visual aid can help defence companies communicate complex information in a clear and concise way.

Whether you’re pitching a new technology, highlighting your company’s capabilities, or demonstrating your team’s experience, a professional Quad Chart can make all the difference. 

What is a Quad Chart and why is it important in defence companies?

  • Book A Tour
  • Events
  • Calendar
  • Staff profiles
  • Media libraries and file management
  • Page builder and block componentry
  • Video content capabilities
  • Form creation and management
  • Site-wide search
  • User management
  • Administration levels.

Graphic Design tips for Quad Charts

To ensure that your Quad Chart is visually appealing, it’s important to follow a few graphic design tips:

  • Use a consistent colour scheme throughout your Quad Chart to ensure that it looks professional. Less is more.
  • Only use high-quality images. Poor quality, pixelated photos will tarnish your brand.
  • Use white space: Use white space to help make your Quad Chart easy to read and visually appealing. This is where a graphic designer proves their worth. It’s no easy thing to create white space when the available space is limited and at such a premium.
  • Choose a readable font that is easy to read and looks professional. Now is not the time to be creative. 

Example One

A company Quad Chart might include:

  1. Company, products/services.
  2. Capabilities and Discriminators (what makes you special). This section highlights the creator’s capabilities, including their experience, resources, and expertise. It should demonstrate why the creator is the best choice for the project or proposal.
  3. Key Customers: be specific. For example, if you supply to the ADF, what program?
  4. Accreditations and Clearances. Contact information.

The content can be flexible to be fit-for-purpose. Some companies skip company information and focus heavily on capabilities in the top left quadrant, and discriminators in the bottom left.

Example Two

A project proposal Quad Chart might include the following:

  1. Introduction: overview of the proposal or project.
  2. Capabilities: see previous example
  3. Solution: This section outlines the proposed solution to the problem, including the methodology, approach, and any relevant technologies or tools.
  4. Benefits.

Do’s and Dont’s

To ensure that your Quad Chart is effective, it’s important to follow a few key do’s and don’ts:

Do’s

  1. Focus on key information: The Quad Chart is a one-page document, so keep your text concise. Only include information that is relevant. Struggling? Get a professional editor to assist. (Boylen offers this service.)
  2. Use visuals: Visuals can help communicate complex information in a clear and concise way. Use graphs, charts, and images to help illustrate your points, if space permits.
  3. Use bullet points. The more concise, the better.
  4. Quantify benefits (eg. return on investment, percentage gains etc).
  5. If appropriate, address sustainment (through life).
  6. One size does not fit all. It is also advisable to fine tune your Quad Chart based on the needs of each potential customer. 
  7. Ask your defence industry organisation – such as the Defence Teaming Centre – to review your finished product.
  8. Identify your audience: Before creating your Quad Chart, it’s important to identify your audience. This will help you tailor your message (eg. more technical information for engineers).
  9. Contrary to what some might argue, it’s okay to use technical jargon. Sometimes it actually shows you understand the unique language of defence. However, be careful when communicating with international audiences.

Don’ts

  1. Text-only Quad Charts that have been knocked up in a Word document show a lack of professionalism. You’re being judged on your Quad Chart. Even if you have the best product in the world, an amateurish Quad Chart design can let you down. 
  2. Don’t use AI to write your Quad Chart. It is never good enough.
  3. Don’t include too much information: The Quad Chart is a one-page document, don’t go over a single A4 sheet.
  4. Don’t forget your audience: visualise your audience when creating your Quad Chart.
  5. Do not use text smaller than 11 point. 
  6. Don’t let your designer break the design. When you see a Quad Chart that isn’t four quadrants, it’s hard to follow. Worse, the major defence companies who are looking for sub-contractors, expect you to know how to follow process. Inappropriate design may be regarded as symptomatic of a company with loose quality controls. 

Need help with writing, editing or designing a Quad Chart? Contact Us and let’s talk.

Defence Projects

Typical Inclusions

  • Planning and strategy
  • Responsive website designs for mobile, tablet and desktop
  • Assistance with content if required (includes writing or editing, photography, video and podcasts)
  • Best practice SEO
  • Content management system that allows you to instantly edit content
  • Feature pages such as:
    • Products and services pages
    • Social media integrations
    • Custom designed forms
    • Events
    • News or blogs
    • Secure client sections

Other Services

  • Hosting
  • Adelaide support desk
  • CRM integration
  • E-commerce, including shopping cart, payments, currency management, shipping integration
  • Email marketing
  • Ongoing SEO
  • SEO designed for international markets
  • Penetration tests
  • Podcasts.

If you need help with any of the services on this page, our defence-ready website team is ready. Call us on (08) 8233 9433 or use our Contact form.

Marketing Matters For Australian Defence Business

Your website design and branding needs to match your company’s world class capabilities.

Defence industry companies are judged for professionalism at all points of the procurement chain. For most national and international defence and aerospace firms, your website is their first in-depth touchpoint. They may have found you in a defence capability guide and are now starting preliminary research.

Our Adelaide-based team of website designers, web developers, SEO experts, graphic designers and content creators has a deep understanding of the defence industry sector.

Technically, we will deliver a website that is fast and secure.

Visually it will be attention grabbing, reflect your branding and be easy for users to navigate to your products, services and capabilities.

After launch, we offer:

  • 24/7 support from a local Help Desk
  • digital marketing specifically for defence, including search engine optimisation, Google Ads, podcasts etc
  • customised reports for senior management or boards
  • graphic design for annual reports, stakeholder communications etc
  • a consistent process of continual improvement.

Boylen understands the defence industry and the procurement process for defence and aerospace engineering and manufacturing firms.

We combine creative flair with dependable processes that have been perfected over 30 years in business.

Click here to talk about your project or our service – defence industry website design in Adelaide.

Websites for Defence FAQ

How is a defence website also a capability document?

The Australian Defence Force’s commitment to sovereign capability means primes etc are constantly reviewing potential new partners to gain strategic advantage.

They also need to fulfill KPIs for local content under the Defence Industry Participation Policy.

Your website is a showcase. Defence suppliers have very high quality technical products and services – but their website and sales collateral often lets them down.

Of course, procurement decisions have many assessment points. It would be disingenuous to suggest that your website will win you a contract or be a fundamental driver in the decision-making process.

What Boylen argues is that your website is a door. A door with a sign on it. It must attract the attention of your target audiences near and wide and invite them in to learn more about your business.

It is an in-depth first impression. It is a digital handshake and introduction. After that, when expressions of interest are called for, the significance of your website is reduced.

However, because you have distilled your message into tight focus, and because you have abbreviated your key information and highlights, it does provide valuable content for your tender submissions.

There is no doubt that your web presence can accelerate or hinder your growth.

Boylen understands defence. We’ve worked with defence business and designed the website for one of Australia’s largest military endeavours.

If you would like to discuss your next project, or options, please use our Contact form

 How can a defence SMB compete against companies with huge budgets?

Knowledge and strategy is more important than dollars. You should strive to implement the best digital practice in the world at your level.

Mega companies have to serve many different audiences, countries and stakeholders. Their aim can be spread too thin. Their sites can become too large and difficult to navigate.

Your advantage is the ability to focus on what will probably be a smaller array of competencies.

Whether you are an emerging company or long established, it is critical to present the best possible image that your digital marketing budget can afford. 

Click here for more information on:

Defence Case Studies

Digital Marketing For Defence

Contact Us

 How can my website help our skills shortage?

As a defence business owner, you understand that you are competing for staff at a national and international level.

Your website is a key element in selling yourself to skilled personnel. Australia has been in the throes of a skills crisis for many years in defence and this has been exacerbated by COVID-19 and the closure of borders.

Attracting the best candidates to a position requires more than filling in a templated job ad on Seek or Indeed and hoping for the best.

Your future staff will assess you through your website. Does it have a pathway specifically designed for potential new hires, as opposed to potential new clients and contracts? Does it answer key questions? Does it portray you as modern, forward-looking and successful? Do you promote work life balance? Are you female friendly? Are you secure even if governments change their minds about directions in defence? What career pathways exist? Can a potential star candidate see what other staff say (eg. in a video?)

If your website fails to paint you in the best possible light during a skills shortage, it needs investing in.

Also consider having a careers section where people can gain insights into common questions and register their interest. They could potentially talk with one of your staff via a chat box.

A careers portal means you can start engaging with potential talent long before you get to a crisis point.

In times of low unemployment and restrictions on skilled migration, the value of your website in attracting the best talent to your organisation cannot be underestimated.

 Why choose Boylen for defence website design and SEO?

Experience: 30 years in business and deep defence industry credentials.

Security: we invite you to conduct penetration tests on our high security website hosting solutions.

Content: we’ve been generating content for 30 years. Whether it is website words, editing, brochure writing, photos, videos or podcasts, we have the expertise to ensure your content is of the highest standard.

Local support: local people on the other end of the phone or looking after a support ticket makes all the difference.

SEO: we have local and international digital marketing credentials. Domestic SEO is much simpler than global SEO but we have the hard won experience to guide you through the process.

Full service: words, photos, videos, graphic design and branding, web design, website redesigns, programming, integrations, search engine optimisation, online advertising, competitor research, hosting, plugin updates, EDMs, newsletters, brochure design, logos, print advertisement design, etc.