Are you a professional? Here are 3 reasons why you should present your service as a product.

Are you a lawyer, accountant, doctor or architect? These are the services that first come to mind when we think of a professional. The dictionary definition of a professional is : relating to a job that requires special education, training, or skill : done or given by a person who works in a particular profession. By that definition, those that can be considered a professional is much broader. Anyone who is an image consultant, chiropractor, physiotherapist, acupuncturist, social media consultant, branding consultants, business coaches and many more have a professional practice.

If you have a professional service practice?  Here are 3 reasons why you should present your service as a product.

1) Services Are Difficult to Evaluate, but Products Are Easy!

Not many of us have hired an architect or interior designer. Even fewer actually understand the process and work that an architect or interior designer actually does. We do as rule know what outcome we want, a new contemporary home or a stylish loft. Professionals can make it easier for clients to buy by making their service transparent and the process we use to deliver the service easy to understand.

2) Products Have Set Prices.

One can look at and compare several toasters or iPods and compare its merits. It is relatively easy to compare features of each and which one will work best for you. However one cannot evaluate accounting, marketing, consulting, or other professional services the same way. It is hard to relate to someone who bills themselves at $400 an hour.

3)Productized Services are More Credible

Professional services cannot be touched, smelled, tasted, or tried on before being purchased, which makes them riskier to buy. This perception of risk when considering an intangible purchase is a major obstacle for the professional services firm, because the stakes are often high: a failed IT implementation, unsuccessful ad campaign, or poor accounting advice could cost millions. As a result of these high stakes, prospective buyers of professional services want evidence – or at least some assurance – of probable success. At the root of this need for assurance is credibility – credibility of the firm, of the people in the firm, and in fact, the service itself.  By productizing a service offering, the professional services firm is, in effect, improving the credibility of the offering by making it more tangible, thus providing a glimpse into the actual service experience. People who need professional services often seek various forms of assurance that their problems can in fact be solved by the prospective supplier of those services. To get that assurance, prospective clients seek client references, look for examples of past work, inquire about industry expertise of individual service delivery personnel, and attempt to evaluate various other “features” of the proposed solution. Alleviate these concerns by making your services more tangible: productize them. Make your service tangible.  Creating a brochure seems to make the service more “real”; establishing a fixed price reduces the risk of runaway costs; identifying the actual names of people who will do the work adds credibility that the supplier will actually meet its obligations.

Interested in some examples?

Let’s say you are an image consultant, and you’ve been selling your time for $75 per hour. Instead, you offer a “One-Day Makeover” at a price of $495, and include a wardrobe assessment, color consultation, and shopping trip. You’re giving your clients a defined result with a clear timeframe and set price, making it easy for them to buy. Plus, you are able to let clients experience a range of the services you offer and suggest additional ways they can work with you.

A branding consultant working with corporate clients at $250 per hour could instead provide a “Market Position Blueprint” for a flat fee of $2500. The package would include a comparison matrix of three key competitors, qualitative data from interviews with six loyal customers, and recommendations for improving the client’s market position, all to be delivered with 30 days. Clients know in advance exactly what they are paying and what they will get for it.

Would your business improve if your service was productized? If so, connect with me. Let’s see if it makes sense to work together.