Business services are activities that benefit companies without supplying physical products. They can include everything from consulting to marketing to office space rental. The services help companies meet their goals and improve productivity and quality of work. In contrast, a product company produces something that is sold to consumers through retail channels.
Some examples of business services are a delivery service that provides company supplies, such as paper and printer cartridges, to businesses without the need for employees to go shopping. Other business services include a landscaping company that keeps a workplace’s outdoor spaces looking neat and tidy, or a translation agency that offers in-office or telephone interpreters for clients with language barriers. Many organizations prefer to rent or retail their workspace rather than own it, so real estate firms provide this type of service by helping companies find and negotiate leases. Some businesses also rely on technology services such as IT support teams that fix computer, network, and other technological issues.
The challenge of managing a service business is to design and deliver successful services that are both useful and attractive to customers. This requires a shift from focusing on products to understanding what is important to customers and what makes your business unique. The “Define and Design Business Services for Success” techniques are particularly effective when it comes to designing new services, but are also useful for upgrading existing ones as business conditions change. They use simple and powerful techniques for mapping customer needs, understanding the value your business brings to customers and how this is expressed in the service, and determining what resources are required to create and deliver the service.