How to say what you do in one sentence
If a stranger can't repeat what you do after reading your homepage, the words are costing you work. A simple way to fix them.
Ask most owners what their business does and you'll get a good, clear, human answer in about eight seconds. Then read their homepage and you'll find something like “delivering innovative excellence to our valued partners.” Somewhere between the two, the plain answer got dressed up and lost.
It usually happens for an honest reason. Written down, the plain version feels too simple, so it gets padded until it sounds like a business. The padding is exactly what makes it forgettable.
The sentence
Fill in this line and you have a first draft: we help [who] with [what], so they [what changes]. “We help clinics in the Okanagan keep their schedule full, so the front desk stops chasing no-shows.” It won't win a poetry prize. It will be understood on the first read, which is the only job that matters.
Three tests before you publish it
- The competitor test: could a business down the road put their name on your sentence? If yes, it's describing your industry, not you.
- The say-it-out-loud test: read it to someone. If you find yourself adding “what I mean is,” the sentence you just spoke is the better one. Write that down instead.
- The proof test: whatever you claim, can you show it on the same page? A claim with nothing behind it reads as noise.
Then put it where it can work. The first screen of your website, the top of your Google profile, the first line of your voicemail, the way you introduce yourself. Same words every time. Repetition is what turns a sentence into a reputation.
“What you say” is worth 20 points of a Brand Score, and it's the area we most often find sitting low on businesses that are otherwise doing everything right.