Do capability statements work for electricians? | 122

Capability statements get thrown around like they’re mandatory, but no one ever asks who they’re actually for. 

This episode is about context, not tactics. Different sparky games, different rules.

 If you’re an electrician copying what everyone else is doing and hoping it fixes your quotes, this’ll make you stop and think.

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Transcript

Are you capable of doing that job? I certainly am. Check out this PDF. It's not full of lies, I swear.

Welcome to Simplified Sparky Marketing.

I was asked the other day what my opinions are on capability statements, and I said: there’s a time and a place. I personally do not use one, and I never have in my electrical business.

With capability statements, it's horses for courses. Where they work — or where you're meant to have one — is mainly when you’re working with builders, commercial clients, real estate, or strata. That’s really where a capability statement comes into play.

Do you need one if you're doing residential service and maintenance? In my opinion — no. You can add one if you want. Are they necessary? Absolutely not. Do what you please with that. Use one, don’t use one — I don't really fucking care. I don’t use it, and I’ve built my own credibility through other methods. I don’t tell my members to use them either, because I don’t. I practice what I preach.

What I would suggest, if you are using them, is this: have tailored capability statements. Everyone’s handing out the same generic shit: “We’re great, we’re this, we’re that.” That’s why you want to hand it over to someone like a property manager, a real estate agent, or a builder — where they’ll look at it and size you up. It’s a level of professionalism. A level of: “This electrician’s gone above and beyond to print out a fancy PDF of him and his boys flexing outside the vans.”

Where these really excel is when you’re doing commercial fitouts and you’ve worked for some big dogs — KFC, McDonald's, GYG — that kind of thing. If you’ve got quality pics from those stores, you can flex: “We’ve done these — what can we do for you?”

But try handing that to Mrs Jones and go, “Check out this PowerPoint we installed at Mrs Smith’s.” It just doesn’t have the same effect. It’s horses for courses.

Again — have different versions for different clients. If you're working for a builder, name-drop the other builders. Put their logos on there. Show the real estates you already work with. Flex Ray White, LJ Hooker, whatever — because that creates congruency. “This guy’s worked with real estates before, he must know the portals, how the system works.” That makes you easy to work with.

Versus walking in cold and begging for a job — that’s where a capability statement might be the point of difference.

If you want to make one, it’s not hard. Find someone else’s, copy it, and go hire a freelancer or designer to help you make it better. Provide your images, your jobs, and get it done in an editable format — Canva, ideally — so you can swap out logos, builders, and pics for each version.

Another big one: people spend all this time making it look amazing… and then the copy lets them down. Same generic crap: “Reliable and friendly. Local family business. Grandad started it in ‘94.” Who cares?

You’ve got to zone into your niche and speak to what’ll actually make it convert. And honestly? In residential, I think they’re a distraction. You send a quote, a few PDFs, and now the client’s overwhelmed with decisions — for what? You’re not helping them, you’re confusing them.

If you’re just starting out, what are you even “capable” of yet? There’s no point flexing on paper when you haven’t built the real experience. You’re better off just getting a shot and proving yourself on the job.

Same goes for solo sparkies chasing big commercial contracts. If you don’t have a crew, it’s going to be hard to get taken seriously. Maybe if you’re chasing battery estates, you’ll get used and abused — they’ll underpay you, you’ll underquote, and someone else will come in and cut your legs off. That’s the game.

One thing I notice in this whole capability statement space is the “me vs client” mindset.

Commercial = me-centric. You’re flexing to builders, real estate, strata: “We’ve done this, we’ve done that. We’re the ones for the job.”

Residential = client-centric. They don’t care about your past jobs. They care about their fuse box. They want to know you can help them.

That’s why I don’t think they suit residential. I know people who still use them — throw them into quotes — but realistically, the client doesn’t give a shit. Just fix the problem.

So yeah — someone asked me last week what I thought about capability statements. That’s my 2 cents.

If you want to use one, use it. Just don’t stress and think, “My quotes aren’t being accepted because I don’t have one.” They’re not being accepted because you’re fucking up somewhere in the client journey — in your quoting, your presentation, your touchpoints.

It doesn’t come down to a PDF.

I’m proof of that. You don’t need a capability statement to succeed in residential. But it’s up to you.

If you want more from me, links are in the description. I’ll chat to you next week.