I am often asked if customers can tell what kind of services they need and what kind of services provide them with added value?

The follow-up question is practically always whether they are ready to pay for the services.

Service or service

I recently met with a client who reminded me of the roots of their service business. It all started with one of their important clients calling and asking my client to find out how many forklifts they actually owned. Who would have thought that managing such information could be the beginning of a new service concept for the supplier? Yes, customers were willing to pay for it.

The representative of a steel wholesaler, on the other hand, left with the "cargo" on the same ride to the customer. He immediately noticed during the unloading phase that they had loaded the steel discs in the wrong order. At the factory, the laborious unloading of the cargo began in order to get the different pieces to the right production points. The next time, the cargo was packed in the right order for the customer. It was obviously a service – free for the customer but clearly valuable for the customer.

Yes, you can get valuable ideas from customers if you keep your eyes and ears open. and some even without presenting them with different available options.

Research information

I tend to attach the question to all customer experience measurements - What should we do to get new business with you?

How does this vision of an entrepreneur in the construction industry sound and what kind of service concepts could it create?

"My vision is that in 20 years I could buy both a machine and a professional driver in the same package"

Not everyone is able to identify their needs, but in the comments for the new business there are clear wishes that the traditional product- and sales-oriented culture does not yet support.

"Think about new things and options, not just selling certain products. For example, the possibilities of the sharing economy, service sales and to some extent renting, etc.

The question of new business opportunities is, on the one hand, simple, but on the other hand, it is surprisingly difficult to answer. Especially when it's suddenly presented. I urge that it be placed at the center of every customer encounter instead of presenting the product's features.

Appreciation of the service

Appreciation of services only develops when the service has a clear content, purpose of use and price. For years, I have followed the development of the appreciation of different services by measuring how important customers consider different services. I have not seen any service grow in value until it takes shape. Of course, there are exceptions - one example is maintenance and spare parts services, the importance of which reaches critical limits, after all the investments made must be in productive work as much as possible.

Electronic commerce is a good example of that. Its appreciation in the technical trade has been almost non-existent. Until one company decided to launch one. Contrary to the opinions and expectations of competitors, customers found the online store quickly and its appreciation grew. It required an innovative and determined company management that saw the possibility of new trading methods in a very traditional industry. Now the contestants are starting to run out of jokes and even they sound a bit crass.

3 opinions on why it is worth investing in service business

Over the years, I have developed a strong picture of why it is worth investing in the service business.

1. Your customers' know-how and technical know-how has deteriorated and it opens up new opportunities to sell design services. The new generation is no longer so focused on the product, but rather on business planning. You will have a growing role in technical expertise.
2. The purchasing habits of services have developed. Now the services that you can produce are sold by companies in the design industry, among others. Their role makes you a third party in the transaction, and the risk is that your relationship with the customer will be lost while someone else takes care of the most valuable capital - the customer.
3. Service business increases the customer's willingness to buy and pay - contrary to what many companies fear. The properties and technical quality of the products are not capable of the same.