A capability statement plays a central role in every business. It presents you as an authority, builds trust in your market, and helps to bring more people through your door. Not all capability statements are created equal, however, with some examples converting much better than others.
Creating a converting capability statement is deceptively complex. It's not just writing a resume and adding some pictures — you need to set the right tone, highlight your strengths, and build a solid foundation with clarity and confidence.
The right information will show credibility, dispel concern, and give you an advantage over your competition. A great capability statement creates a powerful impression and leaves a lasting memory. Through language, images, and ideas, you're giving people an insight into your business and letting them know what makes you tick.
You can do all this in 4 pages for a simple 5-minute read.
With the following 10 elements, we create a capability statement that really converts.
Graphic icons are a critical component in every capability statement. Professional people are very busy and have a short attention span. Rather than wasting space or diverting attention with unnecessary words, well-designed industry icons transmit useful information with efficiency. With a quick glance, your readers will immediately feel at home, recognise themselves as your target market, and develop interest before digging deeper.
More than products and services, your capability statement highlights the human aspects of your business. You can talk about your culture, offer unique perspectives into your operation, or mention how your business was founded. There may be an interesting story, a memorable experience, or some behind the scenes history to help people connect. You need to let the reader in and give them an opportunity to relate to your business.
You can align culture and actions by informing readers of your health, safety, and environmental commitments. Mentioning your team is critical, and the environment is also key. From training and loyalty programs to specific site actions and community projects, there are lots of ways to highlight your credentials. This is good for the morale of your team, and it helps to build trust among Tier 1 companies who want to align their values with their contractors.
Your management processes and systems have been developed over time to control your team and equipment. Information flows efficiently and certifications help to ensure compliance and control. These details are important because they show a commitment to quality, consistency, and results. Management processes and systems define your reliability, which reduces risk in the eyes of your customers and adds value to your business.
Professional certifications help to build trust and boost confidence. Depending on your business, certifications may be required to work on some job sites. For example, if you want your team to work up high, underground, or with asbestos, you need a certification. Listing your certifications tells a story about the history and capability of your business.
ISO and other accreditations also have an important role to play. ISO accreditation comes at a substantial cost and highlights a level of professional commitment. Along with building trust, ISOs have become mandatory for many large projects, especially those that involve Tier 1 contractors. You can highlight accreditations with attractive ISO and industry icons.
Presenting your services may seem straightforward, but it takes deep consideration. It's important to create a list of your services in a table or graphic format, enhancing the flow through good design and logical categorisation. To hold attention and motivate action, this list needs to be simple and focused on the needs of your customers. When it comes to equipment, your offerings help to define your credibility. After doing an assessment of your inventory, you should list all relevant equipment and fleet capabilities.
Regardless of your size or sector, case studies are essential to every capability statement. They highlight the calibre of work you perform and showcase the scale of projects you're involved with. More than that, however, they transform the potential value of your business into something that's real and approachable. It's important that your case studies provide a cross-section of your services and operational sectors.
Your capability statement should include a 'Why Choose Us" section. This point of difference is normally added to the back cover to leave a positive lasting memory. It's important to represent your unique skills, highlight your professional capabilities, and summarise your many advantages. The typical reader has less than 5 minutes to spare, and this section gives them easy access to your benefits in a quick 30-second read.
While the credibility of your business is vitally important, people connect with other people above all else. If you want to attract the right customers, you need to align your values with theirs. Community involvement is key to this process. If your business supports a charity or is involved with local community or environmental causes, you need to let people know. This section highlights your business culture and values, with charity logos often included on the back cover.
Your capability statement says a lot about your business, but how you express yourself is just as important as what you say. Strong visual design helps to highlight professional capability. Individual ingredients need to be collected, condensed, and transformed through icons and infographics. The design needs to work in a simple 4-page format — reflecting your entire business without appearing disjointed or cluttered.
“Simplicity involves two steps: Identify the essential, eliminate the rest”.
When you do it right, your capability statement will look simple and elegant. You may even wonder how it took so long or seemed so complicated. But remember, less is more.
“Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clear to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Steve Jobs.
When you’ve ticked the 10 boxes listed above, you can enjoy the following business benefits:
At Living Lines, we create high-quality, business-defining capability statements tailored to the construction industry. We combine specialist industry knowledge with relationship-building strategies to add value where it counts. If you need a capability statement that defines and converts, please contact Living Lines today.
For more information and branding advice, contact article author and branding expert, Susan Jones, director of Living Lines branding agency on 0410 590 737.
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