There’s an old saying that goes “Jack of all Trades, Master of none”. The saying is used in reference to a person that is competent with many skills, but is not necessarily outstanding in any particular one.
The idea of being a jack-of-all-trades in business is pretty appealing for most business owners. If you think about it, if you can do a variety of different services then there are more jobs that you can take on and you have a bigger universe of potential customers.
For some businesses in particular it is great to be a Jack-of-all-trades, a handyman for instance! But for the most part there are some real pitfalls to promoting yourself as a jack-of-all-trades.
Pitfall Number 1: If you are perceived as a jack-of-all-trades then you are perceived as a master of none… It doesn’t matter how great your skills are or how masterful you are at what you do, when you promote yourself as a ‘I can do everything’ type business, people assume you will be competent, but not the best.
Pitfall Number 2: If you do everything, then people expect to pay less. Think about it for a second, who would you expect pay more for? The handyman or the plumber? The G.P. or the Heart Surgeon? Specialists are sought out and paid more because they have expert skills and consumers who want their problems solved or needs filled seek out specialists. Affluent people seek out specialists and are happy to pay the extra, people on a tight budget seek out the jack-of-all trades. Businesses appear desperate for work when they will ‘do anything’ and take on any job that comes their way.
Pitfall Number 3: Your marketing message is harder to focus. When marketing, the more laser-focused your message can be, the easier it will be to connect with your market and make sales. For example “We sell golf gear” is broad and difficult to connect with, to laser-focus you could say “We sell left-handed golf clubs for people with arthritis”, if that’s you, it would connect for sure! A medical example would be a Family Practice vs Heart Surgeon. By having focused messages in your marketing, people know exactly how you can help them and why they should use your service or product.
Pitfall Number 4: Your target customers are harder to pin-point. If I was a make-up artist and I was using a flyer that said I did weddings, school balls, photoshoots etc… then it would be very difficult to pinpoint who needs my services. Instead if I had a flyer that focused on being a school ball makeup specialist, I could easily promote myself through schools and youth groups etc,. Prospects would be easier to pinpoint and reach.
Although these pitfalls exist, there is nothing inherently wrong with being a jack-of-all-trades. The downfall is in promoting yourself as one. Some simple ways that you can avoid falling into this trap is to do separate marketing campaigns for each service you provide, have separate flyers for the services you offer. Be a specialist in one particular service to get new leads in the door and then cross-sell them to your other services. Making this shift will change the way you are perceived by your customers!
Remember, nobody wants to have heart surgery from the jack-of-all-trades doctor who’s offering a 2 for 1 deal and can fit you in tomorrow. They want the guy who’s fully booked and costs an arm and leg!