If you have expertise in a certain domain and you are trading time for money, you can most likely package it in a digital product. The services industry is pre-eminently an industry filled with opportunities for a (partial) product pivot. Whether you are a pure service provider or selling physical goods in combination with a service, it all boils down to converting existing client patterns into a productised offering.
Our partnership with Progressio, a leading European consulting firm in procurement and supply chain, serves as a prime example. With years of consulting experience in the sourcing and tendering industry, we jointly worked towards the tender management platform “Valcori” that allows users to directly tap into Progressio’s industry expertise.
Similarly, we’ve been partnering for over 5 years with a global accounting firm fostering an overall ambition to turn parts of their services business into digital products. By leveraging these digital offerings, they are able to provide clients complementary value-added services.
The productised model offers key advantages:
So when the advantages are so obvious, why isn’t everyone pivoting? Because doing it is hard. It takes focus, patience and a willingness to play the long game.
The process follows a set of operating principles that can be repeated across industries and companies. At the very essence, you’ll need:
If you acquire 1 new customer every day throughout a period of 2 years for a price of €120/month, you’ll have an annual recurring revenue of over €1mio at the end of those two years. In a product business, small daily efforts make all the difference.
As a service business, you need to constantly reinvent yourself to remain relevant. Setting out a product strategy is therefore one of the reflections every services company should consider. This strategic exercise should focus on the following questions:
Ultimately, any traditional business model has the potential to become a productised business. It’s a matter of turning that potential into concrete steps.
At Panenco, we turn industry expertise into lovable digital products. We combine the expertise of our partners with our refined product development methodology. Want to discuss how your service business can be turned into a productised model or want to discuss a bold idea? Contact ruben.opdenakker@panenco.com or schedule an introduction call.
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