The vast majority of my clients run service-based businesses. This means that they sell time in some form or fashion – be it through consultants, graphics designers, or media specialists – and are quite used to taking a traditional approach when a client approaches them; “you need something done, we’ll do the work.”
But over the last couple of years, there’s been a large migration towards the productization of particular services; an attempt to convert a service into some kind of product or process for the client to be more involved in.
This new approach allows for the service provider to make the same amount of money according to the result, as opposed to the time it takes to provide the service.
It’s a clever new strategy that changes the narrative from ‘I, as the provider, do it for you’ to ‘we, the provider and client, do it together’ to ‘you the client, can do it yourself (with a bit of help)’.
Giving You The Tools To Do It Yourself
With technology transforming the way that we do things, especially in business, it’s safe to say that there will be newer and more effective ways to provide solutions to clients. Many service-based businesses are finding exciting ways to wrap their service into some sort of product that the end-user can use to produce results by themselves.
Traditionally, the provider would have to engage in manual processes that take up a lot of time, effort and engagement. However, over the last 10 years or so, we’ve seen technology involve the client in more and more of the processes required to get the job done – with the provider and client working together to save both time and energy.
Now with artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing becoming an integral part of our lives, we see these processes move into the hands and space of the client. This means that, with a bit of guidance, the client can do the work by themselves and have better control of the outcome.
One of the biggest questions that sit on the minds of these companies is “instead of charging time, how do we charge a flat price and automate some of the production within that service that the client is either aware, or unaware of?”
This has led to different companies discovering a loophole in the system and taking full advantage of it: Instead of the traditional approach of the provider doing the thinking, research and hard work, there’s a shift towards pushing the client to do most of the heavy-lifting with assistance from the provider.
An example of this is in providing the service of conducting interviews to gain insight that will later be put into a report. Instead of spending hours in a room asking the same repetitive questions and writing down a shit load of answers – making use of Google Forms to extract that information is far easier to do and brings about the same results.
Other than the ease-of-use, it’s a major time- and cost-saver for the provider.
With technology advancing these processes, instead of charging for time, you charge for the output – resulting in the same profits, but less work from the provider.
By adopting this method, service-based businesses are able to help guide and advise the client on the best route to take when they need a specific problem solved. It not only helps the customer create a more suitable solution for him/herself, but also makes the job far easier to do for the provider, while freeing up time to do more tasks and make more money.
Sure, it might not be suitable for every business, as some services need special expertise to execute a task, but this approach has certainly made a significant impact on the service-based industry as a whole.
And as a business owner, this is great news for you.
Making it a priority to determine whether or not your service is capable of a similar conversion will improve efficiency, productivity and overall profits.
With the ever-expanding landscape of technology, certain jobs will become far easier to do through automation and it would be pure sacrilege to not look into this new approach.
If you’re too conservative and prefer the traditionalist approach, then you might just lose out on these new opportunities for growth – as well as the advantage of being at the forefront of introducing new productised services to the market.
There are so many examples of these productized services, including: design-as-a-service, where you’re able to make your own custom designs through application-based tools and templates; marketing-as-a-service, where you can market and sell products/services through simple and effective features on the web; and even customer-support-as-a-service, where one company handles customers from different businesses, while still providing them with a great customer experience.
The world is quickly adapting to this approach and you should consider jumping on the bandwagon if you want your company to remain relevant in the years to come.
Let customers and clients do it themselves.
Sure, there might be a few coaching-as-a-service companies out there, but none can quite compare to the way that I do things.
You see, technology hasn’t quite captured the essence of a highly-effective, caring, energetic and experienced business coach, just yet.
Maybe it will happen someday. But, all I know is that I’m here to stay and can make a superb difference in your business and your life.
Get in touch and I’ll prove it to you: +2783 253 3339
