Could You Be Suffering from BSHS?

Have BSHS? You could be the next to suffer from Business Services Hoarding Syndrome…

Recently I went to lunch with my husband to a tiny strip-mall restaurant near his office. It was a decent place I remembered for their quick and tasty lunch menu options. When we walked up, I noted a sign that said “Now serving Sushi.” I figured that was a typical upgrade, you see it everywhere now, even in the grocery store.

The menu, previously two pages, had grown to nearly 5. The offerings ranged through all sorts of Eastern dishes that you don't usually find all in one place. The place looked exactly the same, nothing indicating or celebrating the new changes. No adjustments in decor or new food prep/cook stations to show the new menu additions were something they were proud of or excited to share.

We ordered from the familiar part of the menu then got lost in conversation. Fast forward to 40 minutes later and we had no food, but the place had filled up and the table behind us was complaining at every turn. Needless to say we left without eating there, but we were both more disappointed that we had lost a great go-to spot to steal an hour away together.

While we were crossing the parking lot, my husband said that the place had recently changed owners and had gone downhill from trying to do too much at once. I couldn't help but agree and think of how many times I've seen something similar happen in many different industries. Folks get some life breathed into their current operations, via new management, employees, or tools and immediately move on to adding new things without concern for what that means to the existing status quo. They hoard the existing services while adding more to the pile. Eventually, it gets so cluttered that folks start walking out because the service is not up to par with the new products.

Innovation is great, adding on services will certainly help your business grow if you do it right! You've got to dedicate yourself to change completely, not toss it on the pile. That creates messed up expectations for everyone involved, and you sacrifice service. If you don't think your business is about service in the end, then you are wrong. No matter what you do, people will not come back if you're neglectful, too busy, scattered, incomprehensible, or helpful-ish.

It's easy to fall into business service hoarding trap. It often happens without you realizing it. You're smooth sailing, then one day you realize you can't keep up with all you've committed to. Not being focused on the quality, but instead the quantity of work can come back to bite you in the arse.

Symptoms of BSHS:

  • You have a laundry list of offerings with a loose connection or no discernible theme.
  • You can't describe what you do to potential clients in 5 words or less. You find yourself being pulled in too many directions to fulfill your commitments and contracts.
  • You frequently lose touch with potential contacts because you're stretched too thin trying to provide a wide variety of things to current clients.
  • You believe the more services or products you offer, the better your chances of making money and capturing more business.

Do you suffer from BSHS? Think you may?

Next month I'll offer some tips on dealing with this syndrome. Please comment your thoughts below if you'd like to see a formula for avoiding BSHS in a webinar, whitepaper, or infographic.

 

Share this post on Social

Kimberly Lipari

Kimberly Lipari

Kimberly is the co-founder of WP Valet. Her daily job revolves around business strategy and operations for their growing agency of managed support, custom development, and tailored migration services. She is also a mother to three beautiful daughters and loves the WP community.

Tell us where to send your Prospectus

Now is the time to double down on growing your digital agency.

A Free Training Series For Web Designers and Digital Marketers

Learn how to get clients.
Deliver amazing projects.
Create recurring revenues.

Download our Proposal Template Package

Start winning better projects with bigger budgets now.

Presents

High Ticket Sales Funnels

FREE TRAINING
Three things you need to know before you can start scaling your business with automated high ticket sales funnels

Join the discussion!

The Agency Hour Podcast: Guest Application