What do you do? by philipmorley8

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Why you need to explain what your company does in one sentence. And what happens if you canâ€™t.

Philip Morley

“The first question that most consumers are going to ask about your company is what do you do? This is one of the most profound questions that the business world will ever answer. Yet, most do an abysmal job of answering it.”

Richard Saul Wurman.

Author of ‘Information Anxiety’.

Inventor of the term ‘Information Architecture’.

When somebody asks you what you do, they actually want one sentence in plain English. Is that what you’re giving them? You meet someone at a network event. Here’s what they won’t do.

And because you get a straight answer, you can quickly decide to delve further into quality of service, price, availability, etc.

They won’t smile and say, ‘Nice to meet you. What’s your purpose?’

If only more businesses were like that window cleaner.

They’ll introduce themselves and ask you ‘what do you do?’.

All communication works in layers.

In case you’re wondering, I’m not criticising Simon Sinek here.

The outer layer of communication assumes that the audience knows nothing.

People do buy into ‘why’ you do something.Your purpose. But they don’t care about purpose until they know what you do: the context, in other words. Admiring Apple for always challenging the status quo is lovely but it is not relevant unless you know they’re a maverick computer brand. ‘What do you do?’ is a perfectly reasonable question that is asked millions of times a day. It’s directed at both companies and individuals and the answer is normally unsatisfactory.

At that network event - or on the train, or at the dinner party - when someone asks what you do, you need to assume they know nothing. When someone knows nothing, you have to explain things in plain English, without jargon or industry slang. You also need to explain things in one, catch-all sentence. Your objective is to give a response so clear, simple and quick that the person you’re talking to feels con dent enough to ask a question.

You just need to hold off a moment. Get the rst layer of communications right before you move on and drill down. So, by all means develop your elevator pitch, your purpose, vision, mission, USP - and any other key message that the business needs - but get this sentence right rst. Why wouldn’t you?

This one sentence is the most important thing your business will ever say. It affects every other message you make. It affects the perception of every single person who interacts with your company.

People ask questions when they think they ‘get it’.

Why is this? Maybe it’s because we’re all so used to selling ourselves that we think everything we say has to be competitive. In other words, we interpret the question as ‘what do you do better than the competition?’ This is basic insecurity. Ask the guy who’s on the ladder applying soapy water to dirty glass and he’ll say ‘I clean windows. I’m a window cleaner’. He won’t give you a marketing elevator pitch.

After all, they will look foolish if they ask a stupid question that is based on getting the wrong end of the stick. Mixing up the layers is one of the main reasons why people get confused. Your business does something wonderful. So, who can blame you for being so keen to get into the nitty gritty stuff? You know. The algorithms. The secret sauce. The unique combination of recycled shing nets and plant-based colours.

5 top - but lame excuses for not being clear.

being puzzling will make people keen to nd out more.

One: being clear about what you do might not make you sound so impressive.

Thirdly, using plain language will make you sound small because big companies speak using grand statements.

Yes. ’Selling guttering’ doesn’t sound quite as ashy as ‘Distributing rainwater dispersal solutions’. But at least people know what gutters are.

No. It will annoy them.

Well, the big companies are usually the ones that can’t explain what they do - because they use those grand statements instead of normal words.

Honesty is impressive.

Two: some people think that being mysterious creates intrigue. In other words, the fact that you’re

Four: your customers could say the same thing.

Yes, they could. But… ‘What do you do?’ Is not a marketing question. Once you’ve told people what you do, you can move on to telling them why you’re best at it. Five: saying what you do in one sentence is really, really hard. Yes it is. Which is why a small minority of companies can do it.

Have you any idea how much not having that simple sentence is costing you?

When you can’t explain what you do, you slow down the process of either acceptance or rejection.

It costs more - and takes longer - to correct a misconception than it does to create the right one in the rst place.

This could cost you a contract or mislead you into a relationship with an unsuitable client.

Writing your killer one liner may seem like an indulgence but it is cheap compared with over-writing the wrong messages.

A fast ‘yes’ or ‘no’ saves money. The more times you have to present and re-present your business proposition, the more expensive the process becomes. If the average person in your company spends an average of 30 minutes a week failing to explain what the business does, work out how much that is costing you per year, based on their hourly rate.

Many businesses use the word ‘solution’ because they can’t explain what they do clearly. Solution is a lazy, catch-all word that disguises inaccurate language.

Why you shouldn’t use the word ‘solution’ when you are explaining what you do.

Solution is a word that became fashionable in the early nineties, when tech companies wanted a word to describe the fact that they made both hardware and software.

Because solutions became over-used, any meaning it was intended to have quickly disappeared.

‘Solution’ became a quick - but inaccurate - way to describe what they did. But it quickly became trendy with any business that wanted to sound impressive.

Whenever the word solutions is used in a sentence, another sentence is needed to explain what is meant by it.

Supply chain solutions (trucks). Total daylight solutions (windows). The list was long. And incomprehensible.

Now it means nothing.

So, why bother using it at all? Just say what you mean in the rst place.

What sort of clueless people need a simple, jargon-free sentence?

Lots of people don’t have a clue what your business does but would bene t from knowing.

That simple sentence will come in handy whenever you meet someone for the rst time.

For example, businesses always need a bank, often need a loan and sometimes need funding.

For example, at a networking event or at a dinner party.

And, whilst it’s true that some nanciers specialise in certain types of company, they are rarely technical experts. So, having a simple sentence will open your money conversation in the right way. Consumers always bene t from a quick and simple explanation. You don’t have to understand the workings of the internal combustion engine to buy a car.

Banks and investors

Consumers

And friends and family should not be overlooked. When your family know what your company does, they are less likely to feel left out and more likely to be interested in what kind of day you’ve had. Out of respect for any or all of these audiences, why wouldn’t you want to have a clear sentence?

Friends and family

Networkers

Explain your business in a way that your mother can understand. You mother wants to boast about what you do to her friends. Which she can only do when she understands it. And she wonâ€™t let you pull the wool over her eyes with all your fancy terms.

Your greatest critic and your greatest fan has always been your mother.

Write your sentence as if your mother asked for it.

Writing your killer one-liner is easier said than done. But here’s how to do it. Writing your single sentence is far more than a writing exercise.

And, if it’s right, the people in the room can give it the thumbs up.

It is a process of translating expertise into meaning.

Sentences written in workshops like this don’t need to be perfect although there’s no reason why they can’t be.

And then translating this meaning into a form of words that anyone could understand. And then getting everyone to agree to this form of words. The quickest way to do this is to put all the people involved in one place with someone who can write on the spot: a workshop. The writer asks all the silly questions. Which the subject matter experts can answer.

The point is to arrive at something that is roughly right. Polishing the words can come later if needed. Far too much time is spent by writers or internal comms people crafting messages that end up being precisely wrong.

Then, when the writer constructs the sentence, the subject matter expert can say whether it’s right or wrong - because they can see it right there in front of them.

About Philip Morley.

I became an advertising copywriter at the age of eighteen.

spread to the major UK science parks.

I worked in agencies in the UK, USA, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Although I didn’t realise it at the outset, my technique is unique: I help companies explain what they do, ‘live’ at the ip chart. Right in front of them.

When the internet came along it was clear that advertising and copywriting as we knew it doomed. So I set about trying to nd a way to use my copywriting skills in a different way. I gured that if I didn’t, I would end up without a job one day. My idea was to set up a business helping other businesses explain what they do. There seemed like a need for this because technology was playing an increasing role in our lives.

My rst clients were in Silicon Valley and then my reputation

My workshops bring together all the key decision makers and subject matter experts in one place. I develop key messages on the spot, informed by the experts in the room, then get approval on the spot. I call this the Life Sentence technique because it is a way of writing your killer one-liner. If you’re interested in hearing more or you would like me to explain what you do in a sentence, write to me: philip@philipmorley.dk