Why It’s So Hard to Say What You Do

I’ve spent a lot of time over the years helping businesses figure out how to explain what they do.

It’s surprisingly hard.

Usually, the problem isn’t a lack of words.

It’s too many.

We want to explain every service, every type of customer, every possible benefit and everything that makes us different.

Before long, the simple thing becomes complicated.

I’ve done it myself.

The challenge is that getting clear about what you do often requires leaving things out. And leaving things out can feel like closing doors.

But clarity doesn’t necessarily mean narrowing everything you do.

Sometimes it just means giving people a simple way to understand you.

I’ve noticed the best positioning usually answers a few basic questions:

What do you do?

Who is it for?

Why should I care?

Not perfectly. Not comprehensively.

Just clearly enough that someone wants to know more.

The same is true for taglines.

Some of the best ones don’t try to explain the whole company. They simply give you a handle—an idea you can remember.

I’ve become increasingly convinced that good positioning isn’t about finding clever words.

It’s about finding the clearest expression of something that’s already true.

That usually requires more subtraction than addition.

Less jargon.

Fewer claims.

Fewer words trying to make something sound bigger than it is.

Just enough clarity for someone to say:

I get it. Tell me more.