How to Explain What You Do to Potential Clients

LAST UPDATED: October 2026

---

Explain what you do in one sentence: who you help, the problem they have, and what you do differently.

Figuring out how to explain what you do sounds like it should be easy, since you do the work every day. Then someone asks “So, what do you do?” and you hear yourself listing six services, two certifications, and a disclaimer.

I’m a published author, without a business degree and with a career path that doesn’t fit on a business card, so I’ve had my own versions of that moment.

Below is a simple way to say what you do in one sentence, a few examples you can steal the structure from, and what to do on discovery calls when you feel the urge to keep talking.

Why is it so hard to explain what you do?

Because you know your work too well. There is something called the curse of knowledge: once you know something, you can’t fully set that knowledge aside when you guess how someone else will understand it. This theory argues that personal expertise seems more widely shared than it is, which makes expertise hard to convey.

Here’s how that plays out in a business. You see the full picture: your training, your process, the change you’ve watched happen in clients. Your prospect hears something else completely. So you add more detail.

I see this most with service providers whose work is layered and human, like therapists, coaches, consultants, and healers. Listing services feels safer than committing to one person’s problem, and so the list gets longer and the sentence gets blurrier.

What are the three parts of a clear explanation?

A clear explanation has three parts, said in this order: who you help, the problem they have in their own words, and what you do differently. Pull the first two from the clients you most love working with, and the third from what you do differently from most people in your field.

A simple template: “[Who] come to me when [the problem, in their words], and I [what you do differently].” Here’s what that looks like next to the list-of-services version most of us start with (these examples are made up).

Business	The list-of-services version	The clear version
Pilates instructor	“I teach Pilates classes, private sessions, and workshops.”	“I teach small-group Pilates for desk workers whose backs ache by Thursday.”
Virtual assistant	“I offer inbox management, scheduling, and admin support.”	“I take over the inbox for solo coaches who are tired of living in it.”
Bookkeeper	“I offer bookkeeping, payroll, and tax prep for small businesses.”	“I do the books for freelancers who dread opening their finances, with no judgement and no jargon.”

The right column has no list of services. Those come later, when someone asks. It also names a specific person, which means the wrong fit can quietly move along. You want to repel as much as you want to attract!

To write yours, answer these three questions. Messy is fine.

1. What sentence would a happy client use to describe you to a friend?
2. What question do prospects ask you first on a discovery call?
3. What’s one thing you do that most people in your field skip?

Plug your answers into the sentence, read it out loud, and cut anything you wouldn’t say to a friend.

What should you say when someone asks “So, what do you do?”

Say the one-sentence version first, then stop talking. Build your answer in three layers, and go deeper only when the other person asks:

1. The one sentence: who you help and what changes for them.
2. The 30-second version: one sentence about the problem in your clients’ words, plus the one thing you do differently.
3. The “tell me more” version: your services, process, and credentials, saved for when they’re curious.

Test it on someone outside your industry. Aunt Carol counts. If she can repeat it back without a follow-up question, it works. If she says “so, like a coach?”, the sentence is still too broad.

Once you have it, the same sentence belongs on your website, in your bio, and at the start of your sales calls. How to brand yourself as a service provider shows where else it should show up.

What does this look like in practice?

Take an HR consultant two years into their business. On discovery calls they list six services, then watch the prospect’s eyes glaze over. Their bio says one thing, their website says another, and they leave most calls feeling misunderstood.

They spend one afternoon on three questions. Who do they love working with? Founders hiring their first five employees. What are those founders afraid of? Getting an early hire wrong. What do they do differently? They work on a flat fee and skip the jargon.

That becomes one sentence: “I help founders make their first five hires without the guesswork or the jargon.” They paste the same sentence into their bio, their website headline, and the opening of their sales call.

Their call now starts with a question about the founder’s situation, and the six-service list only comes out if the founder asks for it.

How do you stop over-explaining on discovery calls?

Ask a question, and add detail only in response to what the person says. In my experience, over-explaining means you’re trying to prove you’re qualified before you’ve learned what they need. Try this sequence:

1. Ask what brought them to you, and listen for the words they use to describe the problem.
2. Answer with the part of your process that matches what they said, not the whole process.
3. Repeat their words back to them before you talk about price or next steps.

This only works when your positioning is written down ahead of time, so you aren’t inventing it live. Positioning is part of brand strategy, which is a different job from marketing, and I explain the difference in brand strategy vs marketing strategy.

FAQs about how to explain what you do to dream clients

How do you describe what you do in one sentence?

Name who you help, the problem they have, and what you do differently, in that order. For example: “I do the books for freelancers who dread opening their finances, with no judgement and no jargon.”

How do you explain what you do when your work has many parts?

Lead with the one problem your best clients come to you for, and save the list of services for the second layer. Your services are the how, and the sentence is the reason someone would care.

Where should I use my one-sentence explanation?

Use it wherever people meet you first: the top of your website, your Instagram and LinkedIn bios, your email signature, and even the opening of your discovery calls. Using the same sentence everywhere keeps your message consistent.

How do you explain what you do without sounding salesy?

Describe your client’s problem in their own words and say what you won’t do. A plain, specific sentence sounds less like a pitch than a list of benefits. Your voice matters too, and how to find your brand personality is a good place to start.

How do you know if your explanation is working?

People repeat it back correctly, referrals describe you accurately, and fewer prospects ask “so what exactly do you do?” These are signs to watch, not guarantees.

Do I need a brand strategy to explain what I do?

You can write a sentence without one, but strategy keeps it consistent. A brand strategy documents your purpose, positioning, voice, differentiators, and ideal client, so your bio, website, and calls all say the same thing.

Still explaining it three different ways?

If you’ve written your sentence and your bio, website, and sales calls still say three different things, the Brand Intensive, my personal brand consulting service, is where I review your online presence and tell you what to fix first. You get a written report, a video walkthrough, and a 1:1 call. Allison Prieur, a Brand Intensive client, said she loved the “simple, practical steps I could take right away.”

→ Book your Brand Intensive