Should You Offer a Productized Consulting Service to Help Build Your Business?

"Joe isn’t a consultant because he provides a package solution.”

That is exactly what a new consultant said to me. But guess what??Joe is a consultant. Just because he is providing a package, doesn’t mean he isn’t a consultant. In this scenario, Joe is offering clients what some practitioners referred to as a?“market-focused consulting service”?in addition to an overall customized solution.

When it comes to providing services to clients, consultants and freelancers have options. Consultants and freelancers can follow the traditional service offering path by providing a customized solution that helps a client achieve what they want and need to achieve. But they can also provide a package approach which you might hear referred to as a?productized consulting service. Or they can provide a combination of services as Joe is doing — a package and customized solution.

As more people have become consultants, freelancers, and other types of independent workers providing a package or productized consulting service has become quite popular.?It is an option that works well for some consultants but not all consultants.

But what is a package or productized consulting service offer?

Simply, a consultant identifies a?high-value but narrowly focused portion?of their overall service offering — their how — and then integrates that expertise into a standardized product or service.

There are quite a few benefits associated with providing a smaller fixed price package to a client. Consultants are able to

• work on?developing a strong relationship?with a client as they obtain a better insight into a client’s needs before proposing on a larger initiative.
• deliver a?top-notch client experience?providing not only value but a quality product or service.
• open new doors and attract new clients?with a low-price high-value offer.
• shorten the “selling” and proposal process?with the help of a minimalist engagement letter that might be a simple e-commerce online purchase agreement.
• scale their business?by hiring people to assist with package support freeing the consultant enabling them to spend time growing the business.

Clients also benefit. A?low-price, high-value product or service?for which there are clear expectations provides a?low-risk?way for a client to get to know a consultant before the client spends funds on a larger initiative.

There are three common types of packages or productized consulting services:?market-focused, product-focused, and service-focused.

Market-Focused Approach

Consultants often think of a market-focused service as the?“foot-in-the door”?or?“let’s get to know one another”?approach. The consultant provides a selected high-value service to the client at a reasonable price. Each person gets to know one another and build trust. A key characteristic to a deciding on the right market-focused service is that the service should position the consultant for future work with the client.

• A network consultant who focuses on helping smaller mid-market businesses with their technology might offer to perform an assessment of the business’ network. The client receives a standardized report with findings and recommendations. The client can use the report and discuss it with other technical consultants or they may ask the network consultant if they are interested in helping them implement the recommendations. The help might be first the development of a technology strategy and later assistance with the strategy’s implementation. The network consultant displays the assessment as a service on their website.
• A marketing consultant offers a two-hour strategy session. The offer which is listed on their website explains how strategy session works and what is included. If a person is interested in the service, they sign-up, pay online, and schedule a time to talk.
• A business development consultant offers a limited (focused) on-line course teaching clients how to fill their sales pipeline. Included is a one-hour session with the consultant to discuss the course and to answer questions. The person signs-up via a link on the consultant’s website but the consultant goes an extra step to get the word out. They add the online course information to their LinkedIn profile.

Product-Focused Approach

Deciding on a product-focused approach requires a consultant to analyze the work frequently asked for by clients and determine if there is a typical scope, average timeframe, and a standardized deliverable. If that is possible, a consultant can create a fixed price package with fixed product deliverables. The package must provide value and specify what the client can expect for the price they are paying.

• A PMO consultant provides a training course for companies for?Establishing & Managing the Project Management Office.?An outline with course completion goals is listed on consultant’s website with pricing and contact information. The consultant clearly states they will respond to any course requests within 24 hours.
• A writing consultant who focuses on helping authors write books realizes inspiring authors frequently ask about how to market books. The consultant decides to offer a marketing package that includes such “asks” as a press kit and website. A website displays the product offer that includes information such as what is included, the fixed price, and a link to schedule a time for a consultation.

Service-Focused Approach

The final package approach is a service-focused approach. There are routine needs in every business that clients do not want to concern themselves with but the work needs to be done for the client to be successful. In some cases, that same recurring work is necessary for the consultant to be successful. If it is possible to identify a recurring service and determine how long it takes to complete the work as well as the deliverables to be produced, a consultant might want to create a service-focused package.

• An accountant focused on helping small business owners with financial decision-making offers a bookkeeping package to their small business owners. For a fixed price, the bookkeeping needs are taken care of and financial reports created. The bookkeeping package offer is displayed on the accountant’s website as a service but the service is only provided to clients for which the accountant is a trusted advisor.
• A small business consultant who helps small business owners improve and develop small businesses decides it would be good to hold joint monthly meetings with their clients. The consultant takes a survey determining there is interest with his clients and sets up a monthly mastermind gathering and charges a reoccurring fee.

In Conclusion

In every example provided above, the package or productized consulting service augmented the consultant’s customized solution. In all scenarios the consultant made it easy for the client to hire them and work with them. The package created provided a high-value product or service which helped the consultant as well as the client get to know one another.

I believe the benefits of packages far outweigh the negatives for some consultants. For a package offering to work, it must be?repeatable and continually provide value to clients.?The?best packages are based on a consultant’s experience-they help highlight the expertise of the consultant and help them be seen as the “go to person.”

Unfortunately, offering a package or a productized consulting service is not for everyone. If it is not, don’t despair because there are many other ways to help you be seen as the expert.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article.

Laura

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P.S. - Are you wondering what the BEST Consultants Do to Get Clients? Consider joining me on June 17th for Three Keys To Getting the BEST Consulting Clients. Sign-up is on LI.