What to say to someone who has never heard of you before

4 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Introduction

The message aimed at a stranger is usually written for somebody who already knows the business. It uses the company's own terminology, opens with credentials, describes services in the order they appear on the price list, and answers questions that only arise once a person is already interested.

The stranger has three questions and they are all about themselves: is this relevant to me, is it for someone like me, and can I believe it. Nothing else registers until those are answered, and material that answers them in the first two sentences dramatically outperforms material that is more comprehensive, better written and organised around the business rather than the reader.

1. What to say to someone who has never heard of you starts with their problem

Not your service.

Open with the situation they recognise, in the words they would use. Recognition is what buys you the next sentence, and nothing else does at this stage. A reader who thinks "that is exactly what happens to us" will read on through material that is otherwise unremarkable.

2. Answer whether it is for someone like them

The second question.

Their type of property, their size of business, their kind of job. Strangers eliminate themselves silently and quickly, and most of that elimination is a failure to see themselves rather than a decision about you. Naming the situation explicitly rescues a surprising number of them.

3. Give one reason to believe it

The third question.

A number, a named example, a specific piece of evidence. One concrete proof point outperforms three general claims, and generalities read as filler in a first encounter. The more specific the number, the more credible it sounds, which is a well-observed effect worth using honestly.

4. Say what you do plainly, once

The clarity requirement.

One sentence, no jargon, understandable by somebody in a different trade. This is harder than it sounds and it is worth spending an afternoon on, because it is reused everywhere.

5. Leave out the history and the values

The material that belongs later.

When you were founded, your commitment to quality, your team's dedication. All fine once somebody is interested, all noise before that, and all occupying the space where the relevant sentence should be.

6. Do not ask for a decision

The restraint that keeps attention.

A stranger has no basis on which to commit. The most you should ask is a very small step, and frequently the right ask is nothing at all beyond being memorable and findable.

7. Be specific rather than comprehensive

The counter-intuitive choice.

Listing everything you do makes you sound general and forgettable. Describing one thing precisely makes you memorable for that thing, and people ask about the rest once they have a reason to.

8. Use the language they used, verbatim

Where to get the words.

Your enquiry log and your recent conversations contain the exact phrasing your market uses. Writing in it is the single most effective change most businesses can make to first-contact material.

9. Test it on somebody outside your industry

The validation.

Read it to a friend in a different trade and ask what you do, who for, and whether they would know if it applied to them. Their answer is what your material actually communicates.

Be careful about simplifying to the point of vagueness. "We solve your problems" is plain and says nothing; the objective is specific plain language rather than general plain language, and specificity is what does the work.

Conclusion

Answer the stranger's three questions before anything else: is this relevant, is it for me, can I believe it.

Open with the problem in their words rather than your service, make it obvious whether it applies to their situation, give one concrete proof rather than several claims, say what you do in one plain sentence, leave history and values for later, ask for very little or nothing, be specific about one thing rather than comprehensive about everything, take your phrasing from your own enquiry log, and test it on somebody outside your industry.