Home
>
Public Relations
>
What? You Havent Got a Capability Statement?

What? You Havent Got a Capability Statement?

What's a Capability Statement?

As the name suggests, it tells potential clients what you, or your organisation and staff are capable of. It highlights what your future capability is and reflects on your past successes.

Capability statements are usually produced as brochures or booklets and are now increasingly appearing in online formats eg, HTML, PDF and self-executable ebooks. (The Entrepreneur Magazine section of "The Weekend Australian" of 25 Feb 2005 ran an article advising that legal and other professional firms are now using electronic media for their capability information). Include your logo, corporate colours and graphics so that your market develops corporate identity and branding recognition.

Some organisations and individuals prefer to call them Corporate Brochures, Organisational Profiles, Prospectus' etc. Capability Statement seems to be the preferred terminology and is, in my opinion, more accurate and descriptive.

The better Capability Statements produced as printed documents are graphics intense, professionally laid out and attractively produced on hiqh quality papers. The simplest form can be produced in black and white or colour on a cheap laser or inkjet printer.

Why have a Capability Statement?

When prospective clients enquire about your services or products, you send them a Capability Statement. If they visit your Internet site and don't want to spend time reading about you and your organisation, they can download your Capability Statement file and read it when more convenient.

Clients may pass your capability statement to others when recommending your services. You can send one with your proposals, publicity materials, and on other occasions when the opportunity presents.

Clients may have dealt with you for years, but only buy the same service. They may have no idea you also provide other services they could use. Your Capability Statement spells out what you can do in addition to what you do for them now.

If you don't tell people what you do, how can you expect them to call you when they want something done?

What's in a Capability Statement?

It's not a dumb question! There are two trains of thought. One suggests that it should be chock full of verbage about how you can help your clients or prospective clients. The other view is that you simply tell them what you can do and let them decide whether they want your services.

The latter option would suggest you include the following topics and any others you feel are relevant, not necessarily in the order shown:

History: When did your firm commence operations and what has it done since commencement? (Keep it very, very short and succinct)

What You Do: What can you do for clients or what do you sell? Do you need any special accreditations, certificates or licences to do what you do? If so, mention them.

Our Staff: Who is your staff and what special qualifications, experience, awards etc has each staff member got that will help you provide services that are better than your competitors?

Your Equipment or Resources: If you are renting training venues, hiring out equipment, or rely on resources to earn a living, place some photos in your brochures. As some smart fellow said, 'A photo tells a thousand words'.

Similarly if you have a special way of doing something, try to find evidence that supports it as being the best way, most economical, safest or whatever. For example, if you clean carpets for a living you'll need to use cleaning materials that don't cause fade, are not noxious, don't harm animals or plants, are environmentally friendly and so on. You get the drift.

Where You Find Us: Where is your office, venue, factory, or whatever? How does your client find you? Do you need to include a map?

Contacting Us: Where can you be contacted by phone, fax, mobile telephone, letter, or email? Do you have an Internet site? Where?

Client Testimonials: You can place a list of your clients here under the heading 'Clients' or you can write to your clients and ask them to provide testimony to the quality, cost effectiveness, or whatever of your service. Several of your longer term clients may be willing to accept telephone calls from people who are considering buying your goods or services. If so, include their contact details so that potential clients can talk with them.

While a few, carefully chosen testimonials are good, too many can bog down an otherwise excellent Capability Statement. Don't make it look like a testimonial contest! Nobody will read more than five or six.

Finally ...

Once you have your Capability Statement, whether online, in hardcopy or both, make sure you have sufficient copies to circulate and a plan to upgrade it periodically so it remains current. After all, the last thing you want is for a prospective client to telephone you about a service you no longer provide.

Robin Henry is an educator, human resources specialist and Internet marketer whose firm, Desert Wave Enterprises, helps individuals and businesses improve their performance by using smart processes, smart technology and personal development. He lives at Alice Springs In Central Australia.

Visit desert wave enterprises. Download a copy of our desert wave enterprises in Adobe PDF format.

professional maid services Deerfield ..

In The News:

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

A new phishing scam targets family photos with fake "Cloud Storage Full" alerts. Criminals steal credit card information through fake sites. Learn protection tips.

South Korean scientists create ultra-thin fabric muscles that turn clothes into robotic assistants, lifting 33 pounds while weighing under half an ounce.

Archer Aviation has acquired Hawthorne Airport for $126M to launch an LA air taxi network ahead of the 2028 Olympics, featuring AI-powered eVTOL operations and next-gen aviation tech.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Fake AI apps disguised as "ChatGPT" and "DALL·E" are flooding app stores with dangerous malware that steals data and monitors users without detection.

Fake buyers demand specific vehicle reports from unknown sites to steal credit card information from car sellers, but warning signs can help identify these scams before paying.

What? You Havent Got a Capability Statement?

Public Relations