A capability statement is often the first thing a client reads about your firm, and sometimes the only thing. It goes into prequalification packs and tender responses, and it gets forwarded to people who will never visit your website. In a few pages it has to show that you've done this kind of work before, at this scale, and that you can be trusted with theirs.
What the reader looks for first
Most readers skim. They want to know three things quickly:
- what you build;
- for whom;
- whether you've done a job like theirs.
Put those on the first page, in plain words, before the history and the values.
The five sections every statement needs
- 1Who you are, in two sentences. What you do, where you work and the kind of client you work for.
- 2Projects like theirs. Three to six recent jobs, each with the client type, the size, the timeframe and one photo that shows the finished space well.
- 3How you run a job. Your process from brief to handover, and who the client will deal with.
- 4Credentials. Accreditations, safety and quality systems, insurances and any panels you're on, written the way the reader will check them.
- 5How to reach you. One contact, one email and one phone number, on every page footer.
Keep it in step with your brand and website
If the statement looks different from your site signs, your proposals and your website, the reader notices, even if they can't say why. The same fonts, colours, photo style and wording make the firm look organised, and an organised firm feels like a safer choice for a big job. Build the statement from the same rules as everything else.
Keep it current without a designer
Most statements go stale because updating them means waiting for a designer. Ask for templates your team can edit in Word or InDesign, with the styles locked. Then swapping a project, a photo or a number takes minutes, not a new brief.
A quick check before you send it
- Does page one say what you build and for whom?
- Are the projects recent and relevant to this reader?
- Do the photos show finished work at its best?
- Do the credentials match what the tender asks for?
- Does it look like the same company as your website?