Can a good Capability Statement help me to win tenders?

A Capability Statement is an important business tool. It tells the story of who you are, what you do (what your core competencies are), who your core team are, and what you've done. You can use it for many purposes, including as part of a business pitch, a downloaded document on your website, a printable brochure, as part of a tender response, and of course, as a support tool for your tender submission. It's not called a Capability Statement for nothing — it shows you're CAPABLE!

Not so long ago, a standard copy was a largely text-based document limited to one or two pages. These days though, they are incorporating design elements to make them far more visually appealing — the written content may be the same. Still, spreading it over more pages and adding images and graphics is far more attention-grabbing.

But be warned — there are some things to keep in mind when it comes to including a statement of capability in your tender submission:

  1. You can’t just attach it to your submission and hope that someone on the evaluation panel will be interested enough to open it actually. You need to check that it is relevant to the submission requirements.

  2. ALWAYS check the tender instructions to avoid mistakes and ensure it’s allowable to include attachments as part of your response (usually, it’s fine, but some tenders specifically state that all information must be contained only within the tender response schedules.

  3. ALWAYS reference it in your tender response. The best place for this is any section where you’re asked to provide an overview of your business. Here, you can give general information, then refer to the attached Capability Statement (I would usually add it as an Appendix) for more details.

If you don’t have one yet or your current one is a bit old and boring, it might be time for a new one. At TenderWise, we’ve written and designed Capability Statements for a wide range of businesses, and if you’d like to see a sample of our work, just contact us here, shoot us an email at pauline@tenderwise.com.au or give me a call at 0400 514 579.