A professional Capability Statement is your ‘Government Resume’ and a powerful tool you can use to make a great first impression.
Your Capability Statement should be a concise, aesthetically pleasing document that speaks to your business's competencies.
Its purpose is to provide specific information that will convince buyers in government agencies and at prime contractors to do business with you. When written well, a Capability Statement will help differentiate your business from others.
A quality Capability Statement is your opportunity to make a positive and lasting first impression. It should be informative and include images to add a little bit of a ‘Wow’ factor.
It should tell the viewer that your business is competent, committed, and competitive in your market. Bottom line, your business is the better choice.
While your Capability Statement is primarily designed for government buyers, it is equally effective in any business-to-business settings. For example, small businesses who may be looking to subcontract with larger prime contractors or looking to partner with other small businesses. It is even beneficial to use with commercial clients, so they better understand your capabilities.
Your goal is to develop a relationship with contracting officials and have them keep your Capability Statement on file, typically organized by category. Then whenever need arises for a particular type of business, for example IT services, or call center, or general contractors, or even specialty contractors, government buyers can pull up their files to search for a firm or firms that perform the services and/or provided the products needed.
This is especially used for micro-purchases (under $10,000), and under the Simplified Acquisition Procedures for awards up to $250,000 that are set-aside for small businesses.
A professionally developed statement is a powerful tool to make a great first impression. You can use it as an email attachment, link it on your website, or use it as part of a presentation at a meeting or conference.
You want to get your Capability Statement into as many hands as possible, because you never know when it hits the right person's inbox or will reach the right set of hands that will result in the formation of a new relationship. Ultimately, one of many contracts that should come your way.
The key to government contracting is connections. Buyers purchase from businesses that they know, they have their Capability Statement on file, and experience proves they can be a reliable source.
FedBiz Access has a fulfillment team that takes time to understand your business and ask questions to ensure you have a solid engagement plan.
FedBiz offers marketing packages to targeted buyers in the federal government with its Federal Connections Package, and on the state, local, and education market with its Local Connections Package.
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Your Capability Statement Makes a Difference | FedBiz’5 – Episode 33
Jesse Sherr 00:02
My name is Jesse, and I work with small businesses in the government marketplace.
Jesse Sherr 00:06
You're listening to FedBiz'5, where you get informed, get connected, and get results on everything government contracting.
Jesse Sherr 00:16
We have Frank Krebs today to talk a little bit more about Capability Statements, aka corporate resumes. Frank, thanks for coming on.
Frank Krebs 00:24
All right. Thanks Jesse, no problem.
Jesse Sherr 00:26
All right. So Frank, can you tell us why a capability statement is so important?
Frank Krebs 00:31
Sure. A quality Capability Statement is your opportunity to make a positive and lasting first impression. It should be aesthetically pleasing, include some pictures, some graphics have a little bit of a wow factor, but most importantly, it has to be informative.
Frank Krebs 00:49
It should tell the viewer that your business is competent, committed, and competitive in your market. Bottom line, your business is the better choice.
Jesse Sherr 00:58
Right? That's that's pretty much what you're trying to do. So, who is a Capability Statement geared towards?
Frank Krebs 01:03
Well Jesse, originally it was designed for government, in particular government buyers, contracting officers, but it is equally effective in any business-to-business settings. For example, small businesses who may be looking to subcontract with large firms, looking to partner maybe with other small businesses. It can also be useful with local Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, PTAC offices, of which there are 300 across the US. And these offices assist small businesses with research and bid opportunities on not just federal but also state and local agency contracts. And even commercial clients can benefit from receiving a quality Capability Statement.
Jesse Sherr 01:50
Excellent. So, now we know what a Capability Statement is and what it consists of. But are there any examples that you as a former federal contracts officer know of where these statements have resulted in companies receiving awards?
Frank Krebs 02:04
Yes Jesse, numerous occasions. In fact, because when I did work in federal contracting, we would maintain files of Capability Statements. We would maintain them by category. So, whenever need arose for a particular type of business, for example, maybe a business that does IT services, maybe a call center, general contractors, even specialty contractors, we could pull up the file, search for a firm or firms that perform the services and provided the products we wanted and reach out to them.
Frank Krebs 02:40
We could also award straight to a vendor without going out for bid when the contract value was under the FAR established limit for micro-purchases. That limit is currently set at $10,000, by the way.
Jesse Sherr 02:53
Wow!
Frank Krebs 02:53
Now this was done to purchase office supplies, maybe equipment parts, and procure services say from plumbers, electricians, etc. So, Capability Statements are very often shared between government contracting officers and program managers, between large businesses.
Frank Krebs 03:15
Because in many cases, large businesses will come to their contracting officer and say, "Look, I'm having issues meeting my small business goals. Do you know of any small businesses who may be able to help?" And this is what happened quite frequently with me.
Frank Krebs 03:30
We would be able to provide these businesses names and contact information for small businesses that met certain requirements that a large business was looking for. And really, from our standpoint in the government, it became a win-win.
Jesse Sherr 03:44
Frank, is there a time or a place where an actual Capability Statement is not appropriate?
Frank Krebs 03:50
No, actually it can be included in any business email. There's never really a bad time to get your Capability Statement out there.
Frank Krebs 04:00
You could use it as a handout. It can be part of a presentation at a meeting or conference. You really want to get your Capability Statement in as many hands as possible, because you never know when it hits the right person's inbox or will reach the right set of hands that will result in the formation of a new relationship. And ultimately, one of many contracts should come your way.
Jesse Sherr 04:24
Right get it out there as much as you can. A high-quality Cape (Capability Statement) is a powerful tool definitely used to make a great first impression.
Jesse Sherr 04:31
All right Frank. Well thank you, and I hope to have you on again soon.
Frank Krebs 04:35
You got it Jesse. Have a great day.
Jesse Sherr 04:36
You too. Take care.
Jesse Sherr 04:38
This concludes this week's episode of FedBiz'5, where you get informed, get connected, and get results.
Jesse Sherr 04:49
Today's podcast is sponsored by FedBiz Access, government contracting made simple.
Jesse Sherr 04:54
Visit them at FedBizAccess.com or contact them at 888-299-4498.