It’s no secret that people like to shop online. In fact by 2023 it’s estimated in the US alone over 300 million people will shop online. While traditionally online shopping has been relegated to subscriptions, SaaS products, and packaged goods, the penchant for shopping online is bound to expand to other industries. Like professional services. 

Some argue the shift toward buying services online has already begun. In the last few years, new companies offering mortgages, insurance, and accounting services have emerged, all promising purchase with the click of a button. Productization of services espouses creating the same inventory of solutions, applicable to all buyers, and merchandising them in a standardized way. It's a business model that discourages the notion that each client needs intricate, tailored, proposals – instead promoting the idea that services and client work can be cataloged and sold like products.

In a world where people prefer to shop online, and typically take less than a minute to choose a brand, having a productization strategy means greater efficiency and scalability – freeing you up to spend more time serving current clients and less time selling.  

So how can you take the first steps towards productized service? Introducing B12’s new service catalog.

Convey your value proposition and expertise at a glance

When you create a draft website in B12, your homepage automatically presents a place to display your service catalog. Tiles with sample service offerings automatically load and can be edited by clicking on the Services section in the B12 Website Editor. You can edit the title of the service, add short and long descriptions, adjust how they're displayed, and change imagery.

With productization of your service, visitors can see at a glance what your business offers, cutting out unnecessary back and forth inquiries and creating clarity for prospective clients. If you charge standard amounts for certain services you can even add a set price, helping to establish a price floor for any further negotiations.

Remove barriers for prospective and existing clients with clear calls-to-action

Beyond just presenting your services in a productized format, B12's service catalog also enables you to add calls to action to encourage visitors to take relevant next steps. Buttons or links can be added to each tile, prompting visitors to learn more, buy now, or schedule an appointment. You can customize the next action you want visitors to take and gain more control of their purchase and onboarding journey. 

B12 makes it easy to connect call-to-action buttons and links to other parts of your site. Using the B12 Website Editor in the Services section, just click on the service and edit the page CTA. You can choose to link to an informational landing page on your site, a client intake form, your calendar for appointment scheduling, or a payments page for online checkout. 

Spend less time with edits and launch your site faster

B12's AI-powered website drafts provide pre-populated industry-specific recommendations for catalog items. Using algorithms that pull from thousands of websites for similar professions, the initial selection of items provides you with a jumping-off point that can then be further customized to match your business. That means less time making website edits and more time to focus on your business.  

Plus, pages like client scheduling and client intake forms are automatically on your website to start, so instead of adding these pages from scratch, you only need to make a few edits to make sure they reflect your business.

Ready to turn your services into scalable products?

Productization means no longer needing to carve out your own time to deliver a hands-on sales process. With productized services you market your knowledge and expertise in a way customers are used to buying. For a busy service provider, that means more new leads and sales with less effort. With software like B12, your business can easily sell online in just a few clicks.  

If you're interested in launching a website that shows off your services, you can get started on your own today. If you don't know where to start, or don't have time to begin on your own, you can also contact us at hello@b12.io to connect with one of our experts. They'll show you how we’ve helped thousands of professional service providers create and launch their websites in under 30 days.