Dear Reader,

Pre-PS: the subscriber-only Jan promo ends tomorrow (Australia Day), so this is your last chance to grab vouchers at the old rate.

To continue my theme of quick wins to get ahead this year, I thought I'd use this edition of Box Clever to talk about productised services. I'm convinced that any service, no matter how intangible or offline in execution, can be packaged up into a product and sold online. I've listened to loads of service-based business owners declare 'if only I sold products!'— well, friend, it may seem impossible, but you absolutely can.

Yes, many services still require a high level of skilled, offline intervention, however I'm yet to meet a business owner who can't be persuaded of (and ultimately amazed by) the value of productising services to improve profitability, systematise processes, eradicate admin through automation, create winning client-nurturing ecosystems and increase the value of the business.

Productised services don't have to be one-offs. They can be delivered on an ongoing basis to keep clients engaged with your business, so they feel there is value for them in being a customer of yours. They can even be subscriptions.

For service-based businesses, having a really close look at your core services and determining which services can be productised can save you an enormous amount of time and keep you organised for the year ahead. Productising your services eliminates the need for proposals (which take up time) and clarifies your offering, making you more organised as you are working within a tightly defined scope.

I'm super passionate this topic as I've seen productised services benefit my business big time—the intensive day rates packaged up as Clever Days in particular have been selling like hotcakes since I introduced them mid-last year. This sort of time-based intensive can be productised and systematised by any service-based business, and is a great way to get started with productised services without having to invest loads of time into setting up your offer. I can highly recommend it for a quick win this year.

Read more in my Clever Guide to Productised Services relevant to professional firms here, alongside examples relevant to a range of service-based businesses. I also had a great chat about productised services with my Portlander friend Sarah Moon late last year; if you missed it, you can watch the replay here.

Chat in a fortnight,
Nic

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