Speak To Your Customers, Not At Them.

Me me me me me me me.

No, that’s not me writing out my vocal scales for some reason, that’s what most websites read like to me and, more importantly, to your potential customer. 

Companies talking about what they do, how they do it, why they’re brilliant, and how many bloody features their product has.

And the obvious question nobody seems to ask is: Why would any buyer care?

Yes, it really is that straightforward. 

The fact is most website messaging is written from the inside out. It’s written from the perspective of the company, not the customer. Businesses talk about themselves because they know themselves. Their services. Their processes. Their credentials. Their office fucking dog.

Which is understandable I suppose.

But it’s also commercially utterly, utterly useless.

People don’t visit your website because they’re fascinated by your company back story. They visit because they have a problem and they’re wondering if you might help fix that problem for them. And they are happy to give you money for it.

If your messaging doesn’t reflect that, they’re gone. And you've lost an easy sale.

The Golden Ratio Most Websites Ignore

There’s a brilliantly simple rule from copywriting legend Steve Harrison, one of the most awarded creatives in Cannes Lions history. So he knows a thing or two.

For every time you say a 'we' type word like we, I, us etc. you should say a 'you' like word at least three times.

Three to one.

That’s the golden ratio.

In other words, your messaging should almost totally focus on the customer, not the company, the brand or the product.

Sounds obvious, right?

Yet when you look at websites out in the wild, the opposite is usually true.

Let me give you a recent example. I'm working on a brand relaunch for a client right now, and recently did some competitive analysis. As well as visual comparisons, I looked at written and tonal.

Now I’m used to seeing the ratio reversed. One “you” for every three “we” statements. That’s sadly all too common.

But this time I saw something I’d never seen before. The first two competitor sites I looked at had zero references to the customer.

None. Nada. Nish. Not a single “you”.

Just page after page of we do this, we deliver that, our platform, our expertise, our methodology.

It was like going on a first date with somebody who only talks about themselves.

You stop listening pretty quickly, you switch off, and nobody gets lucky. 

Sorry Pharrell, you Daft Punk and Nile Rodgers aren't needed mate.

People Engage and They Buy When They See Themselves

Marketing effectiveness theory aside, and there’s plenty of it pointing the same way by the way, there’s a very simple reality here.

People buy when they feel some level of emotional connection.

Not love. Not romance. Nothing that dramatic. Just recognition.

They see themselves in the problem being described. They feel understood. They think “Ah. That’s exactly the problem I’ve got.”

If your messaging starts with the customer’s problem, you create that connection.

If it starts with your company history, you don’t.

This is where most marketing goes wrong. Companies describe solutions before the buyer has even recognised the problem.

Which means the message just doesn't land. What a wasted opportunity, eh?

The CRM Example

Take a simple example. Imagine you sell CRM software. Most companies tend to write something like this:

“We provide a powerful CRM platform designed to streamline customer relationships and optimise sales performance.”

Which is technically correct, sure, but it's also technically correct for most of their competitive set and, worse than that, just completely fucking forgettable. 

Now try it the other way around.

“Struggling with your CRM? Too complicated, too slow, and nobody on your team actually uses it?”

It's not great, but works as a quick thought process and is definitely better. The buyer sees themselves straight away. They recognise their pain. Their brain goes, “Yes, that’s exactly it.”

Only then are they ready to hear about your solution.

Ss start with the problem. Not your bloody product.

The “We Problem”

When I start working with new clients, especially during brand refreshes or repositioning work, the same brief comes up every time.

“We need to sound more human.”

And usually they’re not wrong. But the fix isn’t some fluffy tone of voice workshop or a deck full of brand adjectives. It’s much simpler.

Stop talking at people.

Start talking to them.

That means framing everything around the buyer’s world. Their frustrations. Their risks. Their pressures. Their decisions.

Not your bloody catalogue.

Because nobody wakes up in the morning thinking about your bloody catalogue.

A Quick Test For Your Website

There’s a simple test you can do at home. With or without a responsible adult present.

Take the text from your homepage, or your main service pages, paste it into Word or ChatGPT.

Then search for the words we, us, our, , I you, your, you're.

Count them.

If your messaging is full of we and almost no you, you’ve got a problem. Your website isn’t speaking to customers, it’s shouting about itself.

And shouting about yourself isn’t marketing, it’s just more noise.

The Commercial Reality

Just to be clear, this isn’t about copywriting skill, brand personality or bloody poetry. It’s about business outcomes.

Messaging that reflects the buyer’s problems increases relevance to them. Relevance increases attention. Attention increases consideration.

And consideration is what eventually runs down the funnel and turns into revenue.

So yes, tone matters. Language matters. Positioning matters. 

I'd go so far as to say they are bloody essential. And so important that I bring in experts to turn my informed strategy into razor sharp words (*waves to Storm*).

But the starting point is brutally simple. Talk about the potential customer more than you talk about yourself.

Three times more, if Steve Harrison has anything to say about it. And he does.

Because “me, me, me” might be acceptable when you’re rehearsing your scales.

But on n a website? Get in the bin.

Right. The Obvious Questions Answered

Why do most company websites talk about themselves instead of the customer?

Because businesses write from the inside out.

They know their services, their process, their history, their product features. So that’s what ends up on the page. It feels logical internally.

But buyers don’t arrive on your website because they’re fascinated by your company biography. They arrive because something in their world is broken and they’re looking for a fix.

When the copy is full of we do this, our platform does that, our expertise, the buyer has nothing to latch onto. No problem being recognised. No relevance.

It’s just companies talking about themselves.

And nobody enjoys listening to that for very long.

Why isn’t our messaging connecting with buyers or generating engagement?

Because the buyer can’t see themselves in it.

People engage when they recognise their own situation. A frustration. A risk. A pressure they’re under. Something that makes them think, yes, that’s exactly the problem I’m dealing with.

Most websites skip that step entirely. They go straight to describing the solution.

Which is a bit like trying to sell someone painkillers before they’ve admitted their head hurts.

If the buyer doesn’t recognise the problem first, the solution is meaningless. Engagement drops. Bounce rates climb. Pipeline stays stubbornly quiet.

That’s the commercial reality.

How should we structure website messaging so customers immediately recognise their problem?

Start with the problem. Always.

Not the product. Not the company. Not the feature list.

The buyer’s problem.

That means describing the situation your potential customer is already experiencing. The frustration. The inefficiency. The risk. The wasted time. The thing that’s quietly boiling their piss.

When they see their own problem described clearly, two things happen.

First, they pay attention.

Second, they start wondering if you might be the people who can fix it.

Only then should the product appear.

Problem first. Solution second. Proof third.

That’s the order that works.

What’s the right balance between talking about the company and talking about the customer in marketing copy?

Steve Harrison summed it up perfectly.

For every time you say we, I, or us, you should say you or your at least three times.

Three to one.

That ratio forces your messaging to stay anchored in the buyer’s world rather than drifting back into company navel-gazing

Your company still matters, of course. Credentials, expertise, proof, track record. All important.

But those things only become relevant after the buyer recognises the problem you’re solving.

Customer first. Company second.

That’s the balance.

How can we quickly diagnose whether our website messaging is too company-centric?

Simple test.

Copy the text from your homepage or service page into a document.

Then search for these words:

• we
• us
• our
• you
• your

Count them.

If the page is full of we and almost no you, your messaging is company-centric.

Which means you’re talking about yourself rather than speaking to the buyer.

And if your website reads like your About Us page from top to bottom, you’ve got a problem.

Because buyers don’t care about you until they’re confident you understand them.

That’s the bit most websites miss.

And it’s exactly why so many of them quietly fail to generate business.