Kelford Labs Daily: The buffet problem

There probably isn’t a high-end buffet restaurant in your town.

You might have any number of all-you-can-eat buffets, but I suspect you don’t have a high-end, premium buffet.

Some towns do—tourism destinations especially—but they’re rare.

And that’s simply because people assume if they go to a buffet, none of the items will be particularly excellent, and certainly not the best.

Because we instinctively believe that if someone does everything, they’re not really the best at anything. And so customers assume that the buffet is really only good at one thing: Having lots of things.

So why does this matter to you?

Because businesses of all types and sizes can suffer from the “buffet problem.”

If you have more than 3 services listed on your website, for instance, what are you telling your prospects you’re actually good at? People may assume that you’re good at doing lots of things, but they’ll also assume you’re not the best at any of them.

So what do you do if you’re suffering from the buffet problem?

Well, the first thing you can do is stop being a buffet—focus, specialize, and trim your offering down to just 1–3 things you’re credibly the very best at.

Or, you can focus your “buffet” style offering on a particular angle or area of focus. Perhaps you do many things, but for only one certain type of customer.

In either case, it’s about demonstrating to your prospects that you’re uniquely good at one thing in particular.

Instead of just doing lots of things.