There is a growing movement to productize in the B2B service industry. But what does that actually mean?
To unpack this idea, Adi Klevit, founder of Business Success Consulting Group and host of the Systems Simplified podcast, sat down with Eisha Armstrong, co-founder of Vecteris and author of Productize: The Ultimate Guide to Turning Professional Services into Scalable Products. Their discussion offers a clear roadmap for service-based businesses that want to scale by providing repeatable, efficient, and value-driven solutions.
What is Productization?
Productization is best understood as a spectrum or ladder. At the base of the ladder are bespoke, customized services: highly tailored, time-for-money offerings that rely heavily on human labor and expertise. This is where most B2B service firms start.
The next rung is what's known as productized services. Here, the work becomes more standardized. You're creating repeatable packages, using value-based pricing, and making it easier for multiple team members to deliver consistent results.
This is when you begin to build processes, integrate automation, and utilize other tech tools to provide a consistent customer experience. These all elevate the client experience while still providing the feeling of personal service. However, pricing is no longer tied to hours worked.
The final rung on the ladder would be a product offering. For example, a marketing company may pivot from offering newsletter writing services to a course that teaches attendees how to write a newsletter themselves. This is where software as a service (SaaS) or learning as a service comes into the productization equation.
Not every company needs to climb the entire ladder. For many, stopping at productized services is enough to scale significantly. However, for those who are ready, bundled solutions (combining services with software) or full-blown SaaS offerings can open new growth channels.
How to Determine if Your Business Should Productize Services
Not every business is set up for productization, and most do not have the immediate capability to tackle the final rung of the ladder.
Many firms make the mistake of assuming they can tap into a new audience by spinning off a lower-priced product like a DIY course or e-book. But, that often requires an entirely different marketing engine and an audience that may never convert to higher-tier services.
Here is a step-by–step approach you can use to determine if productization makes sense for your business:
- Document your existing business processes.
- Examine the processes and determine if anything can be automated or otherwise simplified by the use of technology.
- Implement automation/technology changes.
- Measure the difference in your performance metrics.
- If taking this first step on the productization ladder helped your business performance, consider taking the next step. That is, a step-on strategy.
What is a step-on strategy?
A step-on strategy is when you create lower-priced offerings that are aligned with your current ideal customer and act as an entry point. A common example of this is a lead magnet with real value. This includes e-books, mini-courses, and assessments. These products don't often generate revenue. Instead, they help build trust with prospects so they can eventually graduate to higher-tier offerings.
To successfully execute a step-on strategy, you have to adopt a product mindset. That means:
- Identifying the right target market.
- Understanding what problems they're willing to pay to solve.
- Testing and validating before over-investing.
- Evaluating delivery scalability.
- Planning for marketing and sales infrastructure.
Tackling productization of any kind requires a mindset shift. Service-based businesses are used to putting out near-perfect deliverables and always knowing the answer. However, pricing and packaging require experimentation. The truth is, you likely won't get it right the first time, which means you must have a testing strategy so that you can rapidly iterate and land on a compelling offer.
Many productized ideas begin with internal resources you're already using. If your team is repeating the same instructions or building the same templates repeatedly, that's an opportunity. Capture that knowledge in a consistent format, such as a video series, checklist, or onboarding toolkit, and you've got the start of a productized service.
This internal innovation also improves delivery: your team becomes more efficient, and your clients receive a more consistent experience.
Are you ready to take the first step toward offering standardized, productized services? Get in touch with the process experts at Business Success Consulting Group. We work with businesses to help them document their processes so they can automate and standardize their offerings.
