(And What They Do Care About)

You spent three months perfecting your company's "About Us" page. You detailed the 15 years of experience, the state-of-the-art equipment, the commitment to excellence, and your family-owned heritage. You're proud of every word.

Then you watched the analytics. People spent an average of 12 seconds on that page before clicking away.

The harsh truth? Your customers don't care about your business. They care about themselves.

This isn't personal. It's human nature. When someone visits your website, calls your office, or walks through your door, they have one burning question: "Can you help me?"

Yet most businesses spend their marketing energy talking about themselves instead of addressing that question.

The Business-Centric Trap

We fall into this trap because we're passionate about what we do. We're proud of our team, our processes, our awards. Plus we devote so much brainpower and so much of our time working both on and in the business, we think if we just explain how great we are, customers will naturally want to work with us.

But your customer is sitting in their car, scrolling through their phone, thinking about their leaky roof, their struggling sales team, or their upcoming wedding. They don't have mental energy to spare for your company history.

They want to know: Can you solve my problem?

What Customers Actually Care About

Your customers care about three things:

Their problems. The roof leak that's getting worse. The marketing that isn't bringing in leads. The special day that needs to be perfect.

Their desired outcomes. A dry house. A full calendar of qualified prospects. A wedding their friends will talk about for years.

Whether you can bridge that gap. Not how you'll do it, not why you're qualified to do it, but simply: Can you get them from where they are to where they want to be?

That's it. Everything else is noise.

The Customer-Centric Shift

Here's what this looks like in practice:

Instead of: "We've been providing top-quality roofing services since 2008."

Try: "You shouldn't have to worry about your roof every time it rains."

Instead of: "Our team has over 50 years of combined marketing experience."

Try: "Your phone should ring with qualified leads, not just tire-kickers."

Instead of: "We believe every wedding should reflect the couple's unique love story."

Try: "Your wedding day should feel effortless, so you can focus on each other."

Notice the difference? The customer-centric version puts the customer in the story as the hero. Your business becomes the guide who helps them succeed.

Making the Switch

This shift requires rewiring how you think about your marketing. Instead of asking "What do we want to say?" ask "What do they need to hear?"

Start with their day. What's frustrating them? What keeps them up at night? What would make their life easier?

Then position your business as the solution to those specific problems.

Action Steps You Can Take This Week

1. Rewrite your "About Us" page from the customer's perspective. Flip the script. Instead of talking about your company's journey, talk about your customer's journey. What problems brought them to you? What transformation do you provide? What does their life look like after working with you?

2. List 3 customer problems your business solves. Be specific. Don't just say "marketing problems." Say "small business owners who post on social media but get no engagement" or "restaurants that are busy on weekends but dead on weekdays."

3. Create a customer-focused elevator pitch. Practice introducing your business by starting with the customer's problem: "You know how small business owners struggle to find time for marketing? We handle all of that so they can focus on what they do best."

The Bottom Line

Your expertise, experience, and credentials matter. But they're not the opening act. They're the proof that comes after you've demonstrated you understand your customer's world.

When you make this shift, something interesting happens. Customers stop seeing you as another vendor trying to sell them something. They start seeing you as someone who actually gets what they're going through, and people buy from businesses that understand them.

Your customers don't care about your business. But when you show them you care about theirs, everything changes.