How Sales Professionals Should Really Answer “What Does Your Company Do?”

Every sales professional knows the moment. You’re at a conference, on a call, in the lobby of a customer site—and a potential buyer asks the seemingly simple question:

“So… what does your company do?”

Most sellers treat this as small talk. It’s not.

This question is one of the biggest gateways to new conversations, deeper relationships, and more revenue. When answered well, it expands your reach inside an organization, earns you more meetings, strengthens your pipeline, and establishes you as someone who creates real value—not just someone who represents a vendor.

But most sellers mishandle it. Here’s how to avoid the common pitfalls, and how to turn this everyday question into one of your most powerful sales tools.

The Common Pitfalls

1. Making It About You Instead of the Customer

Most sellers immediately give a company overview:

• “We’re the largest provider of…”

• “We offer a full line of…”

• “We were founded in…”

The problem? Buyers don’t care. Not yet. They care about how you help companies like theirs solve problems they actually feel.

When you talk about yourself first, you force the customer to do the mental work of translating your capabilities into their world—and most won’t.

2. Giving a Laundry List of Products or Services

This is the “menu dump.”

“We do safety, cleaning, inventory solutions, equipment, services, digital tools…”

You may think it shows breadth. To a potential buyer, it creates confusion—and confused people don’t buy or continue conversations.

3. Using Generic or Commodity Language

If your answer sounds like every competitor, the customer tunes out:

• “We help companies save time and money.”

• “We provide great customer service.”

• “We focus on solutions.”

These statements are so generic they’re meaningless. They don’t differentiate you, and they certainly don’t inspire someone to introduce you to a decision-maker.

4. Overloading the First 10 Seconds

If your response takes more than 12–15 seconds before the customer can say something back, you’ve already lost them.

Your goal is to create space for curiosity, not deliver a monologue.

The Best Practices

1. Anchor Your Answer in Customer Problems

The strongest answers start with the customer’s world, not your company’s world.

Think: What pain do you solve? What’s hard for your typical buyer? What business outcomes do you impact?

Example:

“Most warehouse and operations teams struggle with inconsistent product availability and uncontrolled spend. We help them make sure they always have the safety and facility supplies they need—without overordering.”

This works because it centers on the customer, not you.

2. Keep It Simple, Clear, and Conversational

Simplicity is memorable. Customers respond to clarity.

Avoid jargon. Avoid reciting your website. Avoid long explanations.

Your answer should sound like something a real human being would say—not a brochure.

3. Use a Problem → Outcome → How Structure

This 3-part approach always lands:

1. Problem you solve

2. Outcome you create

3. How you do it in simple terms

For example:

“A lot of companies struggle with managing safety and facility supplies across multiple sites. We help them get control and consistency, and usually cut out a lot of wasted time. We do that through a mix of onsite inventory programs, fast delivery, and a team that supports them day-to-day.”

Clear. Direct. Customer-oriented.

4. Tailor to the Person You’re Talking To

A CFO, an operations manager, and a procurement leader care about different problems. Your core answer stays the same—but your emphasis shifts.

If you can demonstrate you understand their world, you earn credibility instantly.

5. End with a Curiosity-Building Question

The purpose of your answer is not to “pitch.”

The purpose is to open a door.

A great way to end:

“Does that show up in your world at all?”

Or:

“Which of those challenges do you deal with most?”

This turns a throwaway question into a meaningful conversation.

How Mastering This One Question Grows Your Pipeline and Revenue

1. It Gets You More Meetings

When your answer is clear and buyer-centered, people introduce you to others:

“You should talk to our operations director.”

“You know, our procurement team struggles with this.”

A strong answer makes you memorable and relevant—two ingredients that earn you internal referrals.

2. It Broadens Your Reach Across the Organization

Companies are networks. You often start with one contact, but winning real revenue requires reaching multiple stakeholders.

When you articulate the problems you solve in a way that resonates, you become someone people want to bring into other conversations.

3. It Builds a Stronger, More Qualified Pipeline

Weak answers generate weak opportunities. Broad, vague conversations don’t uncover meaningful problems—and they don’t produce high-value pipeline.

When you frame your company around real business challenges, you attract opportunities that matter.

4. It Positions You as a Value Creator, Not a Vendor

Buyers don’t want product experts. They want business partners.

A disciplined, customer-first answer demonstrates commercial acumen. And when customers see that in you, they see more potential for long-term partnership.

Final Thought

“How do you answer ‘What does your company do?’” is one of the simplest—but most important—tests of sales professionalism.

Get great at this question, and you’ll get more meetings, create stronger pipeline, and grow more revenue.

Because at the end of the day, customers don’t buy what your company does.

They buy what your company can do for them.