Describing What You Do Clearly

Why does a plain description matter more than an impressive one?

Impressive wording often hides the actual work. A client who cannot repeat what you do in one sentence will not refer you, and may not renew. Plain language is content that is clear and easy to understand, and clear wording helps readers grasp their own obligations and options more quickly. A description is not a performance. It is a working tool, like a scope or an invoice.

Solo consultants feel the pressure most. There is no marketing department to translate your expertise. So the shortest path is to write the way a good colleague talks: short sentences, common words, one idea per line.

What should sit in the first two sentences?

Answer the reader, not your resume. Two sentences are enough:

1. Who you help. Name a type of client, not "businesses."
2. What changes because of your work. Use an outcome the client already tracks.

An example shape: "I help independent clinics organize their appointment booking. After six weeks, staff stop rebuilding the same schedule every morning." Nothing there requires a glossary, and a receptionist could repeat it.

Avoid stacking credentials before the point. Titles, methods and platforms matter later. On a website, in a pitch, in a directory listing, the reader is deciding whether to keep reading. Give them a reason in the opening line.

How do you find the words clients actually use?

Collect them. This beats inventing phrasing in your head.

• Save the exact sentences clients write in emails: the problem, not the praise.
• Listen for the words they repeat in calls. "Chasing invoices" beats "accounts receivable optimization."
• Read your own sent folder. Where did you explain something twice? That explanation is a draft sentence.
• Test one line on a past client and ask what they think you do. Their correction is worth more than a rewrite by a stranger.

Keep a running file of these phrases. It becomes the raw material for your description, your first meeting questions, and your scope of work. If you already write process notes for clients, the same habit applies, as covered in How to Write Process Notes People Use.

Which words should you cut, and which should you keep?

Cut words that only insiders use and words that promise everything.

Cut or rewrite	Why it fails	Plain replacement
Leverage, synergy, solutioning	Reader cannot picture it	"use," "combine," "fix"
End to end, turnkey	Sounds like every competitor	"from first call to final report"
Best in class, world class	Uncheckable claim	Say what you deliver and by when
Optimization, enablement	Means five different things	"cut the steps," "train your staff"
Bespoke, tailored	Often true, never specific	Name the one thing you adjust

Keep words your clients say out loud, even if they are plain. Keep numbers you can defend, such as a delivery window or a number of sessions. Keep the platform names that clients search for, since those words help people find you, but put them after the first two sentences.

Plain language also asks you to write for a specific audience rather than a general public that does not exist. One description per client type will always beat one description for everyone, which connects to Choosing a Target Market.

How long should a description be, and where does each version go?

Write one long version and several short cuts.

Place	Length	What must appear
Directory or profile listing	1 sentence	Client type and outcome
Homepage	2 to 3 sentences	Who, outcome, how to start
Intro email	1 short paragraph	Who you help and one proof point
First meeting opener	30 seconds spoken	The problem you remove
Proposal summary	2 paragraphs	Same words as the homepage

The last row matters. When your proposal language matches your website language, clients stop wondering whether they contacted the right person. Consistency also makes your scope easier to sign. For the structure of that document, see Writing a Clear Scope of Work.

How do you test whether it works before publishing?

Test comprehension, not taste. Three quick checks:

• The repeat back test. Ask someone outside your field to read it and say what you do. If they add a caveat, your wording is vague.
• The five second test. Show the first line alone for five seconds, then hide it. They should recall the client type and the outcome.
• The search test. Does your line contain the words a client would type into a search box? If not, fix that before polishing style.

Testing is a standard part of plain language practice, alongside writing and design. You do not need a formal lab. Five readers from your client list, asked plainly, will reveal the weak phrases.

If a reader says "I think so," treat that as a no.

What mistakes keep a good description from landing?

Most failures are small and fixable:

• Leading with process. The reader wants the result first.
• Hiding the price conversation. You can describe how you charge without quoting a number, which is discussed in Hourly or Fixed Fee.
• Using a different description on every platform. It confuses returning readers.
• Writing in the third person. "The firm provides" is colder and longer than "I help."
• Updating it once a year. Add client phrases as you hear them, the way you would maintain any working document.

Set a short review rhythm for this text, the same way you review your week. A regular pass keeps it close to how clients actually speak, as described in A Weekly Review Routine for Small Firms.

When should you get outside help?

Get help when your market is regulated, when your claims touch health, law or money, or when a client contract depends on precise wording. In those cases, check current official guidance and ask a qualified professional rather than relying on an article.

Otherwise, you already own the material. Your sent mail, your call notes, your clients' own sentences. Write the plain version, test it on five readers, and publish the version they understood. When someone repeats your line back to you correctly, it is finished for now.