Insights — Channel Creation & New Revenue Streams — 3 min read
Which Services are Suitable for Productisation?
Not every service should be productised. Understanding the criteria for suitability is the difference between a scalable new channel and an operational disaster.
In short
Services suitable for productisation are those with high frequency, a clear and quantifiable outcome, and a limited number of variables. The best candidates are diagnostics (audits, assessments), implementations (setup, installation), and maintenance (monitoring, reporting). Services that involve deep emotional support, complex strategic change, or highly subjective creative work are usually better left as bespoke consultancy.
The dream of productisation—selling a fixed package at a high margin without senior involvement—is alluring. But the attempt to productise the wrong service can be a costly mistake. If a service requires high levels of empathy, complex multi-stakeholder negotiation, or relies on genuinely unique creative breakthroughs every time, it may be a poor candidate for productisation.
To build a successful productised service channel, you must choose a service where the value lies in the outcome and the process, not the personality of the provider. You are looking for 'work that scales', not just 'work that repeats'.
The Productisation Scorecard
When evaluating a service for productisation, we look at four key criteria. If a service scores highly across all four, it is an excellent candidate for a new productised channel.
- Outcome Certainty: Can you guarantee a specific result (even if that result is just a finished report or a configured system)?
- Variable Control: Can you define a scope that doesn't change based on the client's internal politics or technical mess?
- Frequency: Is this a service that many clients need regularly, or is it a once-in-a-decade event?
- Delegability: Can the delivery be taught to a competent professional who isn't the founder?
Category 1: The Diagnostic (Audits and Sprints)
These are the easiest and often most profitable services to productise. A 'Technical SEO Audit', a 'Cyber Security Risk Assessment', or a 'Commercial Growth Sprint' all have fixed inputs and fixed outputs. They are also excellent 'foot-in-the-door' products that lead to larger engagements.
Category 2: The Implementation (Setup and Migration)
If you repeatedly help clients set up a specific tool or move from one system to another, this is a productised implementation. By standardising the migration path, you can offer it at a fixed price, which is far more attractive to a client than a 'time and materials' quote for a move that could go wrong.
What NOT to productise
Avoid productising 'Change Management' or 'Culture Transformation'. These services are inherently messy and depend entirely on the human variables of the client organisation. Trying to put a fixed price and process on these leads to either huge losses for you or a poor result for the client.
Evans Sales Consultancy helps you navigate these choices. Through the Channel Creation Programme, we audit your existing services and select the ones with the highest potential for margin and scale, ensuring you don't waste time standardising work that should remain bespoke.
Could your business support another route to revenue?
Evans Channel Creation identifies, validates and builds additional revenue channels from capabilities a business already has — B2B to D2C, D2C to B2B, product to service, recurring revenue or partners — and says so plainly when a channel should not be built. Programme from £1,995 + VAT per month over six months.
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