The Importance of a Capability Statement: You always want to leave behind the best first impression with any new contact. A capability statement is the perfect answer to providing your customer with what your company does, how to do business with you, and more importantly, a method of sharing that information with others in their organization. A capability statement takes on the personality of your company and could be the first real product the customer will have to evaluate. Make it a quality piece of work and make sure your customers can find the five necessary elements to kick off their procurement process. This webinar will teach you the five necessary elements and the importance of the capability statement.

1. E D G E I N N O V A T I O N N E T W O R K
J U N E 1 8 , 2 0 1 3
Capability Statements

2. Kachman Consulting Group
 Don Kachman, Principal
 20 years in Government Relations
 Support emerging and second stage businesses and
organizations
 Opportunity Identification
 Proposal Preparation
 Contract Management

3. Agenda/Outline
 What are capability statements
 The importance of a capability statement
 How to make a one or two page capability statement

4. W H A T A R E C A P A B I L I T Y S T A T E M E N T S
Capability Statements

5. Snapshot of Capability Statements
 A Capabilities Statement tells potential clients
 who you are
 what you do
 how you are different from your competitors.
 Once you tell clients – get their feedback and
update your capability statement.
 Allow clients to distribute your capability
statement within their organizations.
A critical tool to begin your dialog with your
government contacts.

6. What is a Capability Statement
 A statement of how you can provide value and meet your
government contact’s needs.
 Concise
 Distinctive
 Informative
 The information needed to start a dialog and the
procurement process
 Your Brand
 Competencies
 Qualification and Experience
 Differentiators
 Company Data
 Single Sheet - One or both sides
 There are other types
 Hard copy or electronic

7. Other Statements of Capability
Capability
E-mails
Elevator
pitches
Brochures
Factsheets
Website
EDGE
Innovation
Network
Profile

8. Capability Statements Are Not
Proposals
• Specific application of capabilities
• Set Budget, Schedule, and Performance
White Papers /
Concept Papers
• Specific application of capabilities
Case Studies • Application of capabilities in the past
Advertisements
• Less detail
• Abstract
Catalogs • Not a concise document

9. T H E I M P O R T A N C E
Capability Statements

10. Acquisition is a multi-player game
AcquisitionPartners
You
Technical
Program
Staff
Technical
Program
Manager Contracting
Officer
Contracting
Specialist
Other
Functional
Staff

11. Government Marketplace
Consistency
Leads to
Establishment
Unique and
Distinctive Stands
Out
Very Noisy – Short Attention
Spans
Highly Competitive

12. Market Research - FAR requirements
 Major System Acquisition – FAR 7.102(a)
 Use FAR 10
 Commercial Items and Services – FAR 10
 … to arrive at the most suitable approach to acquiring,
distributing, and supporting supplies and services.
 Market research is conducted to determine if commercial
items or non-developmental items are available to meet the
Government’s needs.
 Research and Development – FAR 35.004
 Publicizing requirements and expanding research and
development sources.

13. Build Capability Statement To
 Raise awareness with your contacts
 Provide common ground to build a dialog
 Create trust with your contacts
 Test the marketplace
 Do you have the right understanding of players, needs, and
solutions?

14. Effective Use of Capability Statements
 First Contact
 Distribute to buyers and potential customers
 Use at trade shows, meetings, and events
 Getting the word out
 Distribute via website (pdf format)
 Responding to Request for Information or Sources Sought
 Following up and reinforcing your message
 After phone calls
 After “elevator speech”
 Include in proposals when allowed
 Send an updated capability statement annually to maintain contact
 Remember to tailor to specific audiences

15. P R E P A R I N G A C A P A B I L I T Y S T A T E M E N T
Capability Statements

16. Characteristics of a Capability Statement
 Professional Appearance
 Customer’s first impression
 Succinct
 Focus on strengths and core capabilities
 Easy to quickly scan (1-2 pages)
 Tailored
 Modify for specific opportunities or audiences
 Include additional info for government buyers

17. Drafting Your Capability Statement
 Research your desired targets
 Identify contacts
 Identify products and services they purchase
 Learn their language
 Identify needs
 Build solutions for your contact’s needs
 Map your company to the need
 Core Competencies, Capabilities, Resources
 Past Experience
 Differentiators

18. The Five Parts of a Capability Statement
Business Branding
Core Competencies, Capabilities, and Resources
Differentiation
Clients / Past Performance
Company Data to facilitate the procurement process

19. Your Business Branding
 Being Distinctive in the marketplace
 Logo
 Color scheme
 Fonts
 Business background / history / mission
 Ties in to other literature and website design
 Not being distinctive in your own messaging

20. Core Competencies, Capabilities, and Resources
 A core competence is a bundle of capabilities and
resources that enable your firm:
 To solve a particular class of problem
 To perform a particular service
 To delivery a particular product
 Identify core competencies and relate to your
contact’s specific needs.
 Only relevant capabilities and resources
 Present the unique value proposition
 Key personnel experience

21. Differentiators
 Explain how your company is unique, different, and
distinct from competitors in meeting the needs of your
contact.
 Show your unique understanding of your contact’s
needs.
 Show how no one else can respond to those needs.
 Examples
 Security Clearances
 Geographical Coverage
 Special Accreditations or Awards
 Etc.
 This is all about why your contact should pick your
company over your competitors.

22. Clients and Past Performance
 Provide examples from past work
 Relate to your contact’s needs
 Describe how you successfully completed the work
 Why that work is representative of your company’s
future performance.
 This is about building credibility and showing that
your company’s selection is a low risk choice.

23. Company Data
 Corporate Contact Info
 (Name, address, telephone, fax, e-mail, website, etc)
 DUNS #, CAGE code, NAICS, PSC/FSC codes
 Industry licenses/certifications or quality assurance certs
 Small Business Certifications (potential differentiator)
 Woman-owned small business
 Small disadvantaged business
 8(a) certified
 Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business
 HUBZone
 Acquisition Vehicles (potential differentiator)
 Government Wide Acquisition Contracts
 GSA Schedules
 Accept government credit cards

24. Layout Example – Story Emphasis

25. Layout Example – Bullet focus

26. Final Tips
 Professional appearance
 Cover elements as briefly as possible
 Easy to read
 Use bullets/short sentences/tables
 Be careful with acronyms and industry jargon
 Use company logos and color – reinforce branding
 A searchable document that can be easily changed
and sent as a PDF file.
 Continuously update!

27. Questions and Thank You
Don Kachman, Principal
Kachman Consulting Group
don@kachmanconsulting.com
(734) 730-2932
Signup for our newsletter at:
KachmanConsulting.com
Use Capability Statements to build a
dialog with your contacts.