The Al La carte concept, or the Chinese menu concept of services has long been linked with culinary choices, allowing diners to mix and match dishes to create a much more better experience. But can this approach be translated into the realm of products or services? For a while, the idea of offering a  “Chinese menu of services” has gained attention as a method to provide clients with a wide range of options.

Here, we will help you understand the concept, how it works, and its pros and cons, and in the end, we’ll let you decide what route to pick for your products/services.

Clients see everything:

This is how the Chinese menu works, in the simplest way, it is the process of showing all of your inventory of products or services upfront. On one hand, this is a good approach, as the concept of “what you see is what you” gets applied to your business, and at times this helps with the concept of customers feeling good about having all of the choices right in front of them.

Clients can easily understand what you offer, and along with that, the costs that they will have to pay, much earlier than the usual time it takes to get a quote through the usual route of product/service purchase.

With this, here’s what to keep in mind:

1. Clearly Showing Everything:
The Chinese menu way is like showing all your stuff right away. It’s like laying everything on the table so customers can easily see what you have without any surprises.

2. Knowing Prices Upfront:
Using the Chinese menu method is like knowing the price before you order, just like knowing the cost of your meal. This helps customers make decisions without waiting for quotes later on.

3. No Waiting, No Guessing:
Clients don’t have to wait for a quote; they see everything right away. It’s like skipping the guessing part and getting straight to the answers. This way, buying things is faster and simpler.

Is being upfront the right way to go?

While this is a good approach to the way you show list your products, the same approach may be a slow yet silent burn to your overall sales.

The problem of having too many choices may confuse your clients/customers and get them to have lower confidence than they would have with less, or rather, a compact list of products/services. The main goal when you offer your services is to get more closures per listing, but the Chinese menu concept may not be the best way to get this done.

With this, here’s what to keep in mind:

1. Showing vs. Confusing:
It’s good to show everything you have, but if you put too much out there, it might confuse customers. It’s like having a big menu – exciting, but too many choices can make things fuzzy.

2. Too Many Choices, Less Sales:
Having lots of options could slowly hurt your sales. Picture a big buffet – it sounds fun, but too many choices might make customers unsure. This might mean fewer people saying “yes” to your offerings.

3. Making Sales Easy:
The Chinese menu way might not be the best for get more sales. It’s like talking to customers clearly and simply. Sometimes, having a shorter list makes it easier for customers to understand and say “yes” to what you’re offering.

SEO strategy booster:

With all things here, the Chinese menu method can benefit well when it comes to SEO, as the overall process can be very specific, and hence have much more potential to have your page show up much more and rank higher on searches.

Instead of the conventional approach of one-size-fits-all within SEO, marketers can easily pick and choose services that align with their unique needs under the well-designed SEO process. This customization can also ensure all resources are being used well, focusing on the aspects of SEO that will have the most impact on your website or business.

With that said, here’s what to keep in mind:

1. Supercharge Your Website with the Chinese Menu Method:
Boosting your website’s visibility is easier with the Chinese menu method. It’s like giving your SEO strategy a powerful upgrade, making your page show up more and rank higher in searches.

2. Your Custom SEO Plan:
Instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach in SEO, think of the Chinese menu method as creating your special order. You get to pick what you need, making sure your efforts focus on the things that matter most for your website

3. Efficient and Effective SEO:
Choosing what works best for your website is like having a plan that fits you perfectly. This customization ensures that every effort you make brings the best results.

To know more about SEO practices, and how their tools can help you build your platform/business up to new heights, visit us at Maverick, where our team can help you navigate the world of digital marketing!

The higher the items, the worse it gets:

When working on the product/service list, adding all the products of a particular company to the same menu may not be the right choice to make, especially if with time the number and complexity of products keep on increasing, to understand this better, let’s take the example of a furniture firm.

With the mentioned Chinese menu approach, when a furniture firm lists all of their ‘x’ number of products online and their highest-selling product gets hidden in all of the organised clutter of the said organized menu, it will not get the right amount of revenue per sale as needed by the firm.

The Chinese menu approach may just not be the right approach to drive more customers, and in turn, more returns. Speaking of SEO optimization that this offers, the outbound links for specific purposes may not require to be long and complex, as they can nest higher products/services per outbound link.

With this, here’s what to keep in mind:

1. Making Lists Simple and Effective:
Imagine you have a bunch of items to show, like furniture in a store. Putting everything in one big list might not be the smartest move. Let’s take a furniture store as an example. If they squeeze in all their furniture in a long list, the best-selling ones could get lost, and the store might not make as much money.

2. Why the Chinese Menu Might Not Work:
The Chinese menu idea, where you put everything out at once, might not be the best. For instance, a furniture store could miss out on selling a lot of its best stuff because it’s buried in a long list. This method might not bring in more customers or the returns the store wants.

3. Thinking About SEO:
Even though the Chinese menu is good for showing up on search engines, it might not suit every business. It can make links longer and more confusing, especially when trying to point out specific products or services. Keeping things simple could be a better choice.

What do you think about the same? Is the Chinese menu of services the right approach? Or is it another fancy way of taking on more burden than necessary?