3 essential steps to crafting a winning capability statement for your business
3 essential steps to crafting a winning capability statement for your business
Whether you are applying for grants or trying to secure your next contract in sectors like manufacturing or building, construction and maintenance, a good capability statement is going to set you apart from the rest in the procurement process.
Starting your tendering journey often comes when you are expanding your portfolio, taking your business to the next level and wanting to contribute more to your growing community and region.
Receiving an invitation to tender or opening the AusTender, QTenders or VendorPanel marketplace for the first time can be incredibly overwhelming. There is often complex paperwork involved, and some of the process can feel repetitive.
Keep it simple and set yourself up for success – start your council, state government or private sector tender process with a winning capability statement.
Why should I have a capability statement?
When you apply for a job, you attach your resume to sell yourself to the hiring manager and show you are the best person for the job. A capability statement is like a resume for your business and helps the procurement officer decide if you are the right fit for the job.
In today’s competitive business environment, a well written capability statement is essential for matching your business’ offerings to your customers’ needs. In the context of Queensland Government procurement, a capability statement is a requirement that allows the assessor to evaluate your organisation’s capabilities, achievements and skills, and the extent to which your services meet the state government’s requirements. It is a document that represents what you offer to potential clients and sets you apart from your competitors.
Step 1: Highlight how your business addresses the buyer's need
Is your buyer looking for flexible and responsive suppliers? Projects completed at agreed cost, agreed quality and reduced risk? Value for money?
Capability statements are written with your buyer’s perspective in mind and show what you can do for them. When you write a capability statement, look beyond the usual buyer requirements, such as the ones listed above. Seek to pinpoint your buyer’s pain points – and how you will address them. That is the point on which you differentiate yourself from your competitors.
Your value proposition depends on this point of differentiation – what do you offer your buyers that nobody else does? It is your opportunity to show your buyer the features of your product or service, and more importantly – the benefits your product or service provides to them.
Follow this format:
We provide (feature of product or service), which means (benefit for buyer).
Step 2: Capture the procurement officer's attention
Throughout the procurement process, procurement officers often read hundreds of tender documents. Capture their attention instantly with a concise elevator pitch to deliver your value proposition. This is a great tool to have ready for networking events, business meetings as well as the tendering process.
Think about the following questions:
- Who is the buyer?
- How is your product or service different to this?
- What does the buyer need?
- What other products or services currently exist?
- What are you supplying?
- What does your product or service fix?
Step 3: Write your capability statement with impact
Words are powerful, and keeping your buyer's needs in mind as you write your capability statement increases its impact.
Talk the buyer through how you operate, and the steps taken to address their needs and get to work straight away.
- Keep It Simple – Use bullet points, short sentences or paragraphs, simple language and headings. No jargon.
- Keep it updated – ensure statement is updated at least once per year.
- Highlight Positives – Show your track record, key staff, awards, specialised equipment/capabilities and management systems.
- Format – Make it visual by using graphics, images, charts and graphs.
- Review and Improve – read what you write, edit and continually look for areas of improvement.
Using active and specific language will help highlight your buyer’s problem and how you will solve it will also increase the impact of your capability statement.
For example, rather than this statement:
The required goods were delivered in full and on time.
You could write:
We delivered the required (items, quantity) on the required date of (date) which ensured project completion within timeframes.
Including the right information in your capability statement
The next step is to pull all the information together into a document that supports a conforming tender. The best way of doing this is to follow a capability statement template and checklist to ensure you are including all of the relevant information.
It is important to remember, a capability statement is only one part of your tendering toolkit. Check out the workshops, webinars and networking events provided by the state government to make your business stand out from the crowd and improve your chances of a successful bid.
The capability statement writing workshops are designed to be interactive and provide everything you need to know for business owners and professional leaders to craft a unique capability statement. You will be provided with samples, examples and a comprehensive template based on feedback from more than 400 major project decision makers.
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Last updated: 07 Feb 2025