What Your Business does
Introduction
Being able to clearly articulate what your business does is foundational to effective marketing. It affects how you're understood by customers, partners and your own team.
A mature business has refined its messaging so that what it does is communicated consistently across all channels. This goes beyond your product list - it includes the outcomes you deliver and the problems you solve.
Best practices include:
- Crafting a concise statement that explains what your business offers.
- Ensuring messaging is easy to understand, jargon-free and audience relevant.
- Using the same core language across your website, proposals, pitch decks and team introductions.
- Training staff to confidently explain what you do in a unified way.
- Testing clarity with people outside your business.
When customers immediately understand what you do, they're more likely to trust, remember and engage with you.
Clarify and align how you describe your business to the outside world.
Step 1: Write Your Core Message
- In one or two sentences, explain what your business does.
- Focus on the outcome or problem you solve, not just a product list.
Step 2: Test for Clarity
- Would someone with no industry knowledge understand it?
- Can your team repeat it confidently and consistently?
Step 3: Review Existing Channels
- Is your "what we do" message clearly stated on your website, brochures and social media?
- Are there inconsistencies in how it's described in different places?
Step 4: Refine Your Messaging
- Remove jargon or buzzwords.
- Emphasise benefits over features.
Step 5: Create a Messaging Guide
- Document your preferred "what we do" statement.
- Share it with all staff, especially customer-facing roles.
Step 6: Check for Alignment
- Does your messaging align with your brand tone and customer needs?
- Is it reinforced by the content and visuals around it?
Step 7: Score Yourself
Your Maturity Score
Use the Maturity Model scale:
1 = No consistent explanation of what the business does
2 = Descriptions vary by person or channel
3 = Some alignment, but not clearly articulated
4 = Clear and consistent messaging across most platforms
5 = Refined, memorable and confidently delivered by all staff
