If you're a stand-out professional expert in an area, you only dilute well-founded strong claims by attaching others which are weak.
What does this mean in practice ?
Well, if you're an insurance lawyer with a wealth of expertise in liability and professional indemnity, it will dilute the impact of your sales pitch if you also decide to claim significant expertise, say, in marine insurance, just because a few years back you did a couple of cases in that area.
If you're a corporate and commercial specialist, it will only water down the sales pitch you're making in this, your stand-out area, to also claim that you're also an expert in a half a dozen other areas, only tangentially connected.
For those whose claims to fame are as technology specialists, it does little to help make an effective case by adding a few more areas where they can "get by".
To unsophisticated consumers, a lawyer is an expert in all matters legal, a computer expert is expected to know about any computer system, and a management consultant can expertly advise any business.
Sophisticated clients know there are important differences.
The astute client looks to you for leads and evidence of distinctive niches in which you're expert to assess degree of fit with their wants and needs.
You reinforce your case by being clear about where you're not the stand-out expert. You further strengthen your position by framing those limitations positively.
(Watch for future eTips on how to positively frame such negatives.)
Whether it's a one-on-one pitch for business, a full proposal, or formal tender, don't dilute your core claims of exceptional credentials and fit by hyperbolising the rest.
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