EARN RECURRING REVENUES BY OFFERING A PRODUCT AS-A-SERVICE
Service Reboot has pioneered a simple process to generate predictable, recurring service revenues from any successful product.
We've heard people ask...
When I think XaaS, it's usually in the context of IT...
sofware-as-a-service, storage-as-a-service, and so on.
Can any product be offered as a service? Even non-technology products? Could I offer laundry soap or a board game as a service in a way that doesn’t involve technology?
Yes. In fact you already are familiar with these, even if you don’t realize them for what they are. We can show you some examples as part of teaching your team how to make your product a service.
Take a moment and introduce yourself - XaaS is the most fascinating part of our work right now, and I'd be interested to hear about what you're doing:
PRODUCTIZE A SERVICE TO MAKE IT EASIER TO BUY
Services are harder to buy than Products. Many of our clients want to product-ize their service to make it easier for customers to buy and easier for staff to sell.
No problem: Productization is a one step process:
Step One: Define and constrain the service inputs
Step Two: There is no step two
You’ll find an entire chapter detailing this process in our book, Service Reboot available on Amazon.com
If you need help with implementation, please reach out. I'd love to hear about your work. David@ServiceReboot.com
INCREASE SALES OF EXPERTISE-BASED
SERVICES
We’ve perfected three basic strategies for increasing sales beyond the normal “slow organic growth” that comes by doing good work
The first strategy – obviously – is to find new clients. Every firm offering B2B service needs corporate clients. Service Reboot's One More Good Client seminar takes a hands on learn-by-do approach to teach competent professionals how to be competent business developers.
The second strategy - To sell your current clients a greater variety of services. We call this depigeonholing. Service Reboot works with your team to accomplish this. For firms offering a "full suite" of services, this approach can double or triple revenues from a client in the first year.
Finally - The sales funnel for a service business appears the same as for a product business... prospecting, closing, etc. But while the steps are analogous (and may appear identical) they are very different.
Service Reboot can update your current business development program and help you win more proposals. Our book, Service Reboot, the New Science of Selling, Marketing, and Managing Services is a great introduction.
DIFFERENTIATE THEIR FIRM FROM COMPETING PROVIDERS
Product providers differentiate themselves from their competitors by highlighting how their products’ features differ from those of their competitors. Our car gets better mileage. Our car is more luxurious. Our car is better for the environment. Our car is safest. Our car….
Service Reboot has developed an analogous system, called Faceting, allowing Service providers to differentiate themselves by aligning their market position to their clients’ service inputs.
If you aren’t familiar with the term Service Inputs, it is part of the fundamental definition of Services as published in the Journal of Services Marketing in 2006. Our book, Service Reboot, introduces the topic in layperson’s terms.
If you'd like immediate assistance with marketplace differentiation, please reach out. I'd love to hear about your work. David@ServiceReboot.com
IMPROVE METRICS FOR: SALES FORECASTS, QUALITY, SATISFACTION
The three-step Management Cycle has been the basis for decision-making since 1950. Make a plan, execute, and then see how you’re doing. The feedback from that last step informs your next round of planning.
For the management cycle to work, feedback has to measure the “right” things. Service Science recognizes that product businesses have different important parameters than service business.
Here's one example (of many). Product quality is measured by adherence to a repeatable standard. The absence of variation indicates high quality. McDonald's brags that every Big Mac has exactly the same amount of Secret Sauce as every other Big Mac.
But you would never expect the senior partner of a law firm to brag that every legal defense was exactly the same as every other legal defense. Or an engineering firm to brag that every bridge they designed and built was exactly the same length.
Service Reboot can help your team measure the right things.
CREATE ACTIONABLE ADVERTISING FOR SERVICES WITH NO FIXED PARAMETERS
How can we make our advertising actionable?
Our research shows that shows that seven out of 10 Service ads have no call to action. By comparison, 90% of Product ads have at least one call to action, and many have several.
Chapter Eight of Service Reboot, The New Science of Selling, Marketing, and Managing Services offers ten rules for creating effective Service calls to action. The best news is that they are self-explanatory and obvious once you see them.
Need more help? Reach out. David@ServiceReboot.com
We can help you implement.
BTW: If your marketing team says that the role of your advertising is to drive awareness of your service, and not drive sales, you need more help.