How to Explain What Your Business Does So People Actually Want It

The first thing I ask in every workshop I teach is a simple question: "Describe your customer to me."

I don't grade the answers. I just listen, and I hold onto them for later. Because almost every time, people describe their customer in terms of what they themselves do.

"My customer is someone who needs a website." "My customer is a business that needs bookkeeping." "My customer wants to feel relaxed." It's always the solution, wearing a person costume.

Why describing what you do doesn't work

Here's what I've come to believe after years of doing this. The only way to become invaluable to your perfect customer is to solve a problem they can't solve by themselves.

Not necessarily a problem you're good at solving. One they actually have.

And to do that, you have to understand who that perfect customer is. Not just the problems they have, but how they understand the problems they have. That last part is where almost everyone gets it wrong.

When you lead with what you do, you're asking the other person to do the work of connecting your service to their problem. Most people won't. They'll nod, because what you said sounds reasonable, and then they'll move on.

The line that changed one client's business

Joey Roderick, the founder of Layerd Light, put it better than I could after we worked together. He said that in one session, I showed him he was telling people what his business does, but never why they needed him.

That's the most common gap I see, and it shows up everywhere. On websites, in social posts, in networking intros and in sales calls. Owners spend the whole time explaining their process, their credentials and their services, and never once describe what's going wrong for the person in front of them.

When an owner finally flips that around, the whole conversation changes. People stop nodding politely. They lean in and ask, "Wait, how do you do that?" And that question is worth more than any pitch you'll ever write.

Why people nod but never buy

There are usually three reasons a reasonable-sounding explanation doesn't turn into a sale.

The first is that you solved a problem they don't believe they have. Your service might be exactly what they need, but if they don't see the problem, they can't see the value.

The second is that you described the right problem in words they'd never use. It didn't register as theirs, so it didn't register at all.

The third, and the most common, is that you told them what you do and never told them why they need you.

Saying less can say more

There's a drink company called Liquid Death. If you've seen their cans, you know they look like merchandise for a heavy metal band.

Do you know what they sell? Water. Canned water.

They built a brand worth a fortune by saying almost nothing about water and almost everything about the person who drinks it. I bring them up because sometimes saying less is more. The less you explain about your process and your methods, the more room you leave for the customer to tell you what they actually care about. And once they've told you, all you have to do is say it back to them.

How to describe the problem in your client's words

What it sounds like when it works

You'll know you've got it when people start finishing your sentences, or when they say, "That's exactly what's happening to me." You'll know it when the questions after your intro shift from "So what do you do exactly?" to "How does that work?" and "When can we start?"

People don't buy what you do. They buy the problem going away. Describe the problem the way they would, and they'll come to you for the solution.

Frequently asked questions