If you attempt to build up your revenue from consulting or a freelancing job simply by taking on more clients, you may come up against a problem that is common to many people in the same position: experiencing difficulty in maintaining a steady flow of projects.
This way of living is not feasible for all people and can be annoying and difficult.
One solution to this problem may be productized services.
The productized services structure provides a means for agency owners, freelancers, and consultants to quit charging by the hour or per project, and instead charge by the number of services given.
What Are Productized Services For?
Services that have been formulated like products, with determined definitions and prices, are known as productized services.
When we clearly specify what a customer will get and the associated cost, we can effectively promote and repeatedly sell this “item.” The customer is still provided with a service, but with the benefit of the same consistency as that of a pre-made product.
Benefits of Productized Services for Freelancers and Consultants
Productized services offer the ability to increase your business and accommodate more customers without requiring a lot of labor-intensive work per job. The model is capable of being replicated, and any changes made should be minor and not require major reconstruction for each client or venture.
Once you turn your service into a product, you can market it to different purchasers. This could result in your earnings going up without a huge hike in spending. It should be possible for you to broaden the geographical scope of your services as delivery should be simpler.
You can market this item while working on other tasks or while taking time off. If you are planning to staff up, it is possible to teach your new employees how to hawk these ready-made solutions.
In addition, if you desire to retreat from having total control, a strong set of services that have been systematized into products could be passed on to someone else to be managed.
Up to this point, this could appear to be very similar to charging on an hourly basis, charging per word, etc.
On the other hand, with productized services, the exact income gained after the completion of each project is predetermined. This indicates that there is less stress over if a task will take longer or shorter than expected, or if it’s better to decline a job in the hope that a more profitable one will materialize.
If you want surety, you can offer subscriptions for your services. This enables you to quickly bundle and promote a standardized service without needing to expend energy in regularly creating and redeveloping it.
It can also avert expansions in scope, conserving your time and financing and protecting your income per customer, and in general, it takes less time to get the job done in the end.
Benefits of Productized Services for Your Customers
Productized services offer a cost-effective alternative to typical service contracts, which require customers to pay for individual attention and fluctuating hours. A productized service offers a fixed cost and scope of service, giving customers the option to pick the one that meets their financial plan.
There is no shortage of options available for people to pick from among the growing number of providers that provide packaged services, ensuring they can get what they require. Reducing these expenses could give them additional funds to put into other areas of their business.
How is a productized service different?
Productized services are distinct from other kinds of services such as freelancing, as they involve designing a plan to focus on a specific demographic of customers who have a particular problem that needs to be solved. Your clients have a problem with their business that can be resolved through the use of your pre-packaged service.
You will employ established and consistent approaches for providing your service, making your customers’ experience effortless and pleasurable–your team will be familiar with what to anticipate each time.
Productized services come complete with straightforward costs that are given in the form of fixed packages so that there won’t be any need for creating proposals for clients. Your clients should have a clear understanding of what they can expect from the beginning.
When referring to money-making plans, productized services exist in various kinds, ranging from regular payments (or retainers) to standalone transactions. The cost generally remains constant, with only a few packages to decide from, and the services being offered will be very standard.
How to Create a Productized Service
In order to develop a standardized service, you need to determine which of your services are amenable to a conveniently packaged “product”.
Consider pain points you can solve for your customer. What do most of your customers need? Which services do you usually provide with an expected range of tasks and price tag?
1. Identify Your Niche
Select an offering that consumers want that is straightforward for you to provide via an efficient and consistent procedure. Having a routine procedure in place makes it probable that you will make a profit, and knowing that there is demand for the service ensures that there is an audience for it.
Ideally, you should come up with an idea that meets these goals, something that no one else can provide in quite the same way you can. If somebody else has already done a great job of providing a service to your clients, think about providing something different.
2. Develop Your Format
Then, you must determine the type of arrangement you will employ to supply your itemized service. There’s a wide range of possibilities here. You could design learning programs or seminars, write a book outlining your viewpoints, make ready-to-use designs, or start a website where you can share your content – take whatever approach best suits the situation.
3. Determine the Structure
Think about how frequently your customers usually require this service. Will you offer one-time support or recurring subscriptions?
As an example, if you specialize in designing logos for new businesses, you probably prefer to offer single deals that have a certain amount of work included.
Think about establishing a subscription plan where customers pay a fixed amount each month if you provide a recurring service such as bookkeeping, software, or content production.
You should also determine if there is a cap on how much of your services can be used. What other assistance will your customer require besides the packaged service?
Think about how frequently someone who uses your services will require assistance and what the cost of your services is. Your pricing needs to cover these costs. You may need to adjust the prices while trying various choices and evaluating your earnings and costs.
4. Refine Your Productized Service
Once you have settled on your productized service, simply build a list of such services on your website. Not so fast.
When you begin to turn your service or skills into a product, you will have a great deal to comprehend. You may experience some initial difficulty with your first concept, but it may cause you to consider a different thought that will generate greater interest from clients.
It is necessary to contemplate various tiers of service plans or bundles to obtain your target audience. It may require multiple attempts before you start to experience success, so keep trying. You may need to experiment with various structures and prices to make your proposal truly compelling.
Once you have determined an approach that works well, experiment with various methods of promoting it on your website, taking advantage of paid promotion, and exploring alternative approaches to marketing. Do the same thing that has proven to be effective and continue to improve your concept and what you are offering.
Who should start a productized service?
I really enjoy productized services because I have seen many business owners use this service model to take their companies to the next stage of growth. However, there are a few types of people who are particularly well-positioned to start a productized service:
Freelancers & Consultants
If you have been independently engaged in activities such as website construction, writing copy, marketing, engineering, or design, developing a product may be the optimal following action.
It is particularly pertinent if you’ve had a long career where you charge for services rendered, and have grown weary of trading your hours in exchange for money. I get it. I’ve been there.
Agencies
An agency model is a viable form of business that can eventually become successful; however, it can face many problems with expansion. The productized services model is an appealing option for digital or non-digital agencies to create steadier income growth.
Agencies must take advantage of regular income sources in order to ensure the continuance and development of their enterprise.
Formulating a standardized service is an obvious advancement for a lot of businesses as it can help regulate the “confusion” that often takes place when a lot of projects are happening simultaneously for a great number of customers and requirements. Productization enables you to target your most excellent services, for the customers that are best for you, and to run your company in a more managed and predictable way.
Software companies
Once you have created software, you can consider half the task accomplished- you possess a valuable resource. Nevertheless, you have not yet taken care of the other part of the customer’s issue – putting that tool to use.
A lot of times, customers need assistance in utilizing the product they have either built or bought.
Software companies can offer a service where they will do an implementation of the software for you (called a “concierge onboarding” or a “done-for-you” or “done-with-you” implementation). You can construct a productization plan based off of your own software or for commonly used programs that can be found in the marketplace. You can create a framework for productizing software that does not belong to you!
Unique benefits of owning a productized service
Done for you
Software is akin to a “Do It Yourself” tool, which enables customers to complete a task without having to seek professional assistance. No matter how user-friendly a software user interface is, it still doesn’t fully address the issue.
The entire answer can only be achieved if the person using it devotes some of their own time to get the expected outcome from the product.
This is an occasion when you could offer “done for you” help – you could offer a service that sets up the client’s utilization of the software, looks after the ongoing usage, or maybe manage the entire experience. You are transforming a tool into something valuable and helpful, thus giving the customer more of their valuable time.
A productized service enables you to get your desired goal much faster and often more successfully than if you did it yourself. The customer does not need to devote any of their time, nor do they have to gain additional proficiency, methods, or applications.
This aspect alone adds significant value to the equation.
Take my company, Audience Ops, as an example. That’s a productized done-for-you content marketing service. Instead of just giving out blogging software or a document editing service, we provide a complete solution that handles the process of administering a useful blog for your business.
Our standard options offer the essentials for managing a successful commercial blog: developing material ideas, writing, revising, releasing, and disseminating, all included in one straightforward, prearranged package.
Revenue comes easier and faster
When launching off your change away from a hired job or a day job, you’re continuously trying to beat the clock. How long will your financial reserves last while you are going through your transition period? This is a scary place to be—I know.
A productized service assists in extending your financial runway by allowing you to get the first customer payment quicker and simpler.
You can ask for a higher rate for providing a “Done For You” service, which is usually targeted at commercial companies, as an extra benefit. You may ask for payment in advance instead of offering customers a complimentary trial to encourage them to purchase.
It is not necessary for your business to have a vast number of customers in order for it to be lucrative. It is possible to maintain financial stability with only a few customers paying on a regular basis for a specialized service.
It is much faster to set up a productized service than to build a software organization, pen a book, or craft a digital lesson. Whereas it takes quite a few months to roll out the latter, the former can be marketed to purchasers within a few days. It is simply a process of repeating and refining progressively.
Conclusion
When you understand that you have a limited amount of time to do work that can be billed, it is important to find ways to increase your business that is not related to the time you spend. Coming up with the best way to bill your customers is always difficult, but this raises the stakes even higher.
Many businesses are unable to pay for the costly individual consulting and custom services that are considered to be the highest quality.
Additionally, many companies don’t need this level of service. If you develop bundles of the most frequent services you provide that could meet the needs of a majority of customers, you might experience rapid growth.
If you are looking to grow your business, it is important to take note of this movement. If you have no clue how to begin, contact us to discuss consultancy services, and we’ll aid you.
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