A trend is emerging among some Coaches, Fractional CXOs, and professional service firms. Not satisfied with expanding the income they can earn for providing services within their area of expertise, many are now beginning to offer services outside of it. When someone offers to help improve results in a discipline that is not their primary focus, it may be a sign that they’re prioritizing their profits over your success.

These offerings may seem like convenient solutions to the business owner who has little time to manage multiple vendors. “One-stop-shopping” has been around for a long time, and can be great. But if that “one-stop” cannot deliver the results you need, it can be more costly and a bigger drain on your resources. There are a variety of professionals who can help manage the various vendors, but they really should not be engaging in the work outside of their area of expertise.

Take marketing, for example. There are so many tools, tactics, and methods for increasing leads and customers on the market today. It’s so difficult to keep up with the options, that even digital marketing agencies have separate groups that specialize in different areas. I could not imagine keeping up with the trends, rules, laws, or techniques in financial management. I doubt that many of the accountants or “coaches” that are now offering marketing services can keep current with marketing. And if they can’t, you are paying the price.

Innovation and creativity require a solid knowledgebase. Just because a professional was able to do something successfully for themselves or their own firm doesn’t guarantee they have the expertise or ability to get the same results for you. It rarely happens that way.

Professionals use their intuition and analysis skills to deliver the results you need. Those who lack that level of competence may not even be able to accurately identify the underlying issue, and you could end up paying for a solution that does not work. The combination of experience and expertise leads to a level of competence that can be summed up as follows:

Coaches, attorneys, accountants, finance specialists, human resources professionals, and fractional CXOs can provide great value to your business. However, there is a world of difference between someone who is offering high-level advice and someone who can design an effective solution. Expertise enables someone to analyze things more quickly and accurately. A novice lacks the intuition and analytical skill required for that degree of accuracy. Inexperience combined with a lack of awareness can result in overspending and a decline in profitability.

If your firm is considering broadening its services without enlisting experts or forming collaborations, be careful. This can adversely affect your brand’s reputation. Offering services beyond your firm’s focus, except through alliances with other experts, may seem to be a great way to grow, but a damaged reputation – especially when the brand earns a reputation for poor results – is very costly to fix, and may signal profit-centric intentions.

Need more prospects? Have a conversation with us. I promise we won’t offer to do your accounting.