40+ Sample Capability Statements

What is a Capability Statement?

A capability statement is an up-to-date descriptive marketing documentation tool that presents the capabilities, qualifications, and current performance of an agency a business firm, a company, or an organization, as well as the core skills and competencies of the staff or key employees. As one of the important business documents, it demonstrates the brands, products, and services that a business is capable to provide for its prospective customers. It also showcases the differentiators or what makes a business or an organization unique and noteworthy and would make their prospect choose them over one of their competitors.

According to a published 2022 statistical report about the top business capabilities for successful initiatives in 2015-2018, the ability to find, attract and retain talent worldwide (55%) was considered an essential capability required to undertake intelligent initiatives. Some of the major capabilities that are followed are smart/innovative management and management practices (49%), BI/collecting overall ‘big data’’, data, and analytics (48%), and IT systems and capabilities (46%). It is integral for business consultants, project managers, team leaders, supervisors, organizational development consultants, and other professionals to develop a clear and effective capability statement to summarize the abilities, competence, resources, experience, accomplishments, reputation, philosophy, and viability of the business.

Capability Statement Examples

Demonstrate effective value creation as you document your past and current performance with a brand-new capability statement. There is a wide array of capability statements prepared by project managers and management consultants in diverse fields and industries that you need to be aware of and understand properly.

1. Financial Capability Statement

A financial capability statement is a type of capability statement that outlines the core competencies, past performance, certifications, systems, and codes of a financial management and business development firm. Share an overview of the historical and current financial status of the management or organization from the financial statement of your business or organization. Explain to your clients what measures the business is capable of helping them to understand how industry trends impact them and how how they can take benefit of the changes happening within the sector.

2. Consulting Capability Statement

Create a consulting capability statement to showcase the core capabilities of your consulting specialist business development and governance firm. Describe your consulting firm’s mission and purpose in working with small businesses through the startup and growth stages to assess their current position and develop their capacities, skills, and strategies to produce sustainability. Point out how your consulting firm works closely with government and corporate firms to implement programs for specific groups for capability and skill building of businesses. Define your specialties such as providing one-on-one business coaching, advice, support, training, and mentoring, preparing business documents like case studies, and facilitating the implementation of development strategic plans and annual operational plans.

3. Company Capability Statement

A company capability statement is a brief and visually-interesting document that illustrates the core capabilities, expertise, and past performance of a company. It tells potential clients who you are, what you do, and how you are different from your competitors. Company capability statements are required by many government agencies and prime contractors for bid submissions. There are three standard types of capabilities statements which are a one-page fold-over for introductions, a brochure for an agency request for proposal (RFP) response, and a comprehensive presentation for capabilities briefings. 

4. Investment Capability  Statement

Design an engaging investment capability statement for information technology and investment business firms while citing from your investment company business plan. Indicate in the statement that the business aims on bringing people and processes together by providing management, software development, and training services. Highlight the mission of your business and critical capabilities in training and workforce development, software development and engineering, and project management support. For example, tell your potential clients that your mission is to elevate efficiency and expand technology investments through effective training and automation. 

Key Elements of a Capability Statement 

A capability statement is comprised of different key elements that must be displayed to effectively sell your company and entice potential clients. Consider these crucial aspects while working on your capability statement.

Business Name: One of the key elements of a capability statement is the name and branding of the business firm or organization. Place the name at the top of the document and its position can be center-aligned or left-aligned depending on your preference. Core Competencies:Identify the core competencies of the business firm or organization from your core values list. Connect those competencies to the specific needs of the customers. Some examples of core competencies in business are clever marketing, incomparable value, consistently high quality, ceaseless innovation, great customer service, and formidable size and buying power. Past Performance: Explain similar work you have performed and accomplished for past customers. Demonstrate how the business firm or organization does the work and has done it before with success. Incorporate short testimonials or stories to showcase the past performance of the business. Differentiators: It is fundamental that you highlight the distinct and one-of-a-kind value of a brand or business or key differentiator that sets itself apart from its competitors within the market and industry. Focus on the advantages of your products and services. Also, include how your business creates wholesome customer experiences and makes a sustainable, distinctive enterprise. Company Data: List all significant and strategically placed facilities or office locations. Include the size of your business firm, your revenue, your available resources, your bonding capacity, your insurance capacity, and the specific geographic area you accommodate based on your company sheet.Contact Information and Relevant Codes: Add the contact details of your business such as the physical address, contact person information, office telephone, office fax number, email address, and many others. Include relevant codes such as DUNS, CAGE, NAICS, NIGP, or other codes.

How to Write a Capability Statement

If you want your small business to become a supplier to a larger corporation or organization, one of the essential things you must create is a capability statement. Be skilled in developing an appropriate capability statement depending on the size and diversity of your products and services, and the purpose of your capability statement. Learn and understand the fundamental steps in writing a professional, well-structured capability statement.

Step 1: Create an Overview

Develop a concise and quick summary that defines your business or organization. Include some top business offerings and describe the target audience you serve. Provide the basic information about your business such as your official registered business name, your management team or the names of the owners, founders, and other significant figures in your business, your legal structure, and your location. Include your company’s history and mission statement.

Step 2: Highlight the Core Competencies, Qualifications, and Credentials

Next, describe the core competencies or the defining brands, capabilities, services, and skills of your business that highlight your business advantages over your competitors. These are unique business characteristics that make your business appealing and stand out from the competition in the market. Brand equity, capital, people, physical assets, and patents are all important components that contribute to the core competencies of a business. Some of the common core competencies found in business are innovative technology, excellent quality products, the largest buying power, and the best customer service. Also, reveal your qualifications which are the unique resources that your company has, and credentials or examples of previous client experiences that you leverage for future works.

Step 3: Demonstrate the Past Performance

Give your prospects confidence that your business knows how to accomplish the work and has completed it before with flying colors. Show them how well your management and organization did that similar work. Provide the major information required in order. Organize the narrative of past performance accordingly while quantifying the outputs and results of the completed work. Be honest about any performance issues and state what steps were taken to correct those issues.

Step 4: Emphasize Differentiators

Before you emphasize the differentiators of your business, you need to determine your key differentiators by evaluating your competition, mapping out the entire customer experience, putting yourself in your customer’s position, listing your benefits. and broadcasting your key differentiators to the marketplace. There are three types of differentiators that you may include in your capability statement: holistic differentiators, comparative differentiators, and unique differentiators. Holistic differentiators are business capabilities that your company has that several other competitors in the marketplace also have. Comparative differentiators are business characteristics that are superior to the comparable capabilities of competing offerings. While unique differentiators are the ones that have value-based capabilities, not seen from any other competitive offerings. So, articulate the ways in which your business differentiators create value for your target customers.

Step 5: List the Corporate Data

Include general information about your business such as the business name, head office coordinates, business affiliates and segments, major brands, products, or services, employee headcount, and revenues. List the business facilities or office locations, company data, contact information, and relevant codes. Insert your constantly-updated and customer-focused website for more information.

Step 6: Finalize the Capability Statement

Make sure that you customize and tailor your capability statement to your prospective clients. Check if you include keywords that match those in your prospect’s mission statement and/or request for proposal and if you include unbiased, objective data to differentiate and substantiate your claims. Add recent and related awards and accolades if available. When you’re done, review, proofread, and finalize the capability statement.

FAQs

What is the purpose of a capability statement?

The purpose of a capability statement is to give a brief and cohesive overview of the business and a sneak peek at what the business offers to its target audience or the public. It also points out the difference or uniqueness of the business, showing what sets them apart from others.

Who needs a capability statement?

Small businesses, corporate firms, large companies, organizations, and institutions need capability statements. Any construction, engineering, or design business firms consider using a capability statement to assist them in other significant areas of the business.

What are some examples of a capability statement?

Some examples of a capability statement are a company capability statement, a business capability statement, a capability statement worksheet, a corporate capability statement, a digital transformation capability statement, a consulting capability statement, a university capability statement, a project capability statement, an organizational capability statement, a government capability statement, an investment capability statement, a financial service capability statement, a manufacturing capability statement, a building, and construction capability statement, and a training capability statement.

How to create an effective capability statement?

When you create an effective capability statement, it is important that you include the key elements such as the name and company branding, company overview, core capabilities, description of major services offered, contact information, federal small business certifications, and state certifications. Describe some local, quasi, and non-government agencies that your business served, the list of major commercial and government clients, staff clearances and certifications, business partners, and authorized resellers. Include some major information about the general company such as the registered company name, DHA, year of incorporation, state of incorporation, type of corporation, D-U-N-S number, and CAGE code.

How long should a capability statement be?

There are two different capability statements: a short version and a longer, well-detailed version. If you are making a short capability statement for situations such as marketing emails, or networking events, this version must have two pages only. If you are working on the longer capability statement, provide a high-value and extensive insight of your business or organization in five pages.

As one of the fundamental elements in marketing and promoting your business, a capability statement must inform your current and prospective customers about the core capabilities of your business, including who you are, what you sell, and what core competencies you bring to the table. Make sure that your capability statement is aligned with the needs and preferences of your customers. Access and navigate our website to easily download and use our sample capability statement templates including investment capability statement templates, financial service capability statement templates, manufacturing capability statement templates, building, and construction capability statement templates, and training capability statement templates, as well as many other statement examples like corporate mission statements.