One of the challenges when building a business is summarizing what you do into one sentence.

It’s daunting and sometimes impossible, but customers don’t care about that. They care if you can do something for them, which is why if you can effectively make them understand that in 5-10 words, you’re closer to making a sale than the other guy.

Let’s take this a step further.

Sure you can now concentrate the entirety of your business into one short and neat tagline. But is that something that customers care about? And is it something they can easily understand?

Make Them Care

There are two things that make people give you money – either you solve one of their problems (need) or fulfill on of their wishes (desire).

Do they care about your product lines? Nope. Do they care about the features you have? Nope. Do they care about who started the company, who you namedrop, or how long you’ve been in the business? Nope, nope and nope. All they care about is what you can do for them.

If your tagline doesn’t show this, throw it away and make a new one. Bonus points if your tagline starts with an action verb because it will make customers do something immediately and take action. Maybe even buy from you.

Make It Understandable

So you’ve passed the first test. The second test is much harder, and some do trip up on it since it’s so subtle.

Can your customers easily grasp the meaning of your value proposition? In other words, is it a quick hit or a slow burn before they understand it?

Let me give an example.

Suppose you’re selling a car. You might sell it with the tagline, “Built to last 30 years”.

It has a nice ring to it, yes. But can the customer test it? Sure if you have been making the model for the last 30 years, you can show an original. But barring that, it’s really hard for someone to get his head around a car being around until his kids go to college.

But if you say that it “Handles well, even in rough roads” – then that’s something you can sell. A short test ride can prove it.

So what you really want is an immediate benefit that buyers want, when you show or tell them your tagline. They’ll say “I get it” instead of “prove it to me”.

Photo credit: toolstop