Making yourself easy to describe in one sentence to a stranger

4 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Introduction

Word of mouth requires somebody to say something, out loud, to another person, in a normal conversation. If your customer cannot summarise what you do in one comfortable sentence, that moment passes in silence. They change the subject rather than attempt an explanation they are not confident about.

This is a surprisingly common constraint, and it affects capable businesses as much as any other. Firms that do several related things, or something technical, or something with no established name, put their customers in the position of having to invent a description. Most people will not.

The remedy is to supply the sentence rather than hoping one emerges.

1. Making yourself easy to describe in one sentence starts with what you actually do

The content.

The plainest possible statement of the work and who it is for. Not a slogan, not a positioning statement, a description. If it needs interpreting, it is not finished. Write the version you would say to a neighbour.

2. Use the customer's words

The vocabulary rule.

Industry terms do not survive being repeated by somebody outside the industry. Listen to how customers describe you and use that. Their phrasing is already tested. Write down the exact words next time somebody says them.

3. Name the problem rather than the method

The framing.

People remember problems and forget techniques. Somebody who fixes damp is easier to pass on than somebody who specialises in remedial moisture management. Lead with the outcome. The method belongs in the second conversation.

4. Include who it is for

The qualifying half.

A description with no audience makes the listener work out whether it applies to them. Naming the customer type does that work. It also improves the quality of the referrals you receive. Two or three words is enough.

5. Keep it under about fifteen words

The length constraint.

Longer sentences do not get repeated accurately, and an inaccurate version is worse than none. Brevity is what makes it durable. Read it aloud to check. If you run out of breath, it is too long.

6. Test it on somebody outside the trade

The verification.

Say it to a person with no knowledge of your work and ask them to repeat it back. Whatever they say is the real version. Adjust until the repeat-back is right. Three people is enough to be sure.

7. Ask your customers what they say

The best source.

Existing customers have already been describing you, usually better than your marketing does. Ask three of them. Their sentence is frequently the one to adopt.

8. Use it everywhere consistently

The reinforcement.

The same words on your site, in your email signature, on the van, at the end of a job. Repetition is what makes it available at the moment somebody needs it. Variation undoes the work.

9. Say it to the customer directly

The transfer.

Telling somebody plainly how you would describe your work gives them permission to use it. This is a natural thing to say at the end of a job. It is also the whole point of the exercise.

Be careful about a sentence that is accurate but dull to the point of forgettable. It has to be both repeatable and distinctive enough to be worth repeating, and a description that could apply to any competitor in your trade will not travel.

Conclusion

Write the sentence your customers will use, and then give it to them.

Describe the work plainly rather than positioning it, use the words customers already use, name the problem rather than your method, say who it is for, keep it short enough to be repeated accurately, test it by asking somebody outside your trade to say it back, take the wording from customers where theirs is better, use it consistently everywhere, and say it aloud to customers at the end of a job.