Consultant, are you bogged down by the curse of expertise?
The curse of expertise is a cognitive bias that makes us assume everyone knows as much about our field as we do. So when you talk about what you do, you simply don’t cut through to your audience.
For example:
🛑 When you describe your services, you’re overly technical and sound like everyone else.
🛑 When you write content, nobody reaches out to you or engages with you.
🛑 Your website is too hard to understand, resulting in very few or no inquiries.
The problem is that as experts, we reach a point where we assume everyone knows as much as we do. As a result, our messaging is too complex to understand.
Look at these real examples of consultants describing themselves:
🚩 [Strategy consultant] “As global leaders in strategy, our business consultants partner with clients in bringing effective solutions to meet the inherent challenges of their critical business activities. This translates into better decision-making processes and actions that produce results, giving them a distinct business advantage in the marketplace.”
🚩 [Procurement consultant] “Seasoned procurement and supply chain hands-on consultant with demonstrated ability to deliver mission-critical results in alignment with the organization’s strategic imperatives. With a clear focus on people, processes, and systems, driven to manage costs and bring value for money.”
If your communication sounds anything like the above, you’re not putting your best foot forward in attracting interested prospects.
So how do you fix complex messaging?
By simplifying it to attract and keep our readers interested.
There are many things you can do to simplify your message, but here’s a basic but powerful tip:
Start your messaging at the level of pain—present pain and symptoms. Instead of talking about technical problems or yourself, start addressing the symptoms that the reader is experiencing.
For example:
✅ [Strategy consultant] “Your sales are flat or declining over time. New upstart competitors have taken market share away from you and your key employees are considering leaving.”
✅ [Procurement consultant] “You consistently overpay for your raw materials, have frequent stockouts and lose customers month over month.”
These are basic examples but you get the picture. You can talk about what you do all you want, but start with what the reader sees, hears and feels every day at work.
That’s how you’ll draw them in and build affinity and trust.
And that’s how you’ll turn your expertise into a true advantage and not feel bogged down by it.
⭐ P.S. – If you feel your communication falls on deaf ears most of the time, let me know and I’ll send you a 60-min masterclass on how to build a 9-step strategic narrative for your consulting business to attract more sales opportunities.
Ready to add $100k-$500k revenue to your consulting business in 12 months or less without burning out? Schedule a call and let me show you how.
Image credit: Dalle-3
