Productization can have one of the greatest impacts on a company’s ability to grow and scale rapidly. We have helped many clients realign their offerings using this method, and can provide testimonials that speak to the significant positive impact it has had on their businesses.
Yet productization remains one of the most misunderstood aspects of creating offerings that propel success in your targeted markets. Productization enables a company to structure offerings that provide value at every level, and can create a natural framework for discussing pricing, which we will tackle in our next blog. It also can drive up your profitability.
Let’s take a look at five common myths and how these may be holding your growth back.
- Productizing offerings is the same as bundling offers
A productized offering is structured, repeatable, scalable, and offers a defined outcome, scope, and process. Bundling is taking separate offerings and putting them together in a combined offering. Productization creates structure and value; bundling combines things and discounts pricing.
Think of productization like the plan for using the shelves in a library. It defines the dimensions of the shelf, the category and number of books on each shelf, and makes it easy to locate specific books. Bundling is like putting a bunch of books on the shelf with other, related items (say, bookmarks or reading lights) and creating a combination price for the items.
- Productization reduces or eliminates customization.
Many leaders believe turning services into products creates a one-size-fits-all model. In reality, strong productized services include clear customization boundaries, and makes it easier to avoid scope and feature creep, adding to the profitability of every engagement.
- Productized services are only for small businesses or solopreneurs.
Productized offerings enable companies of all sizes to grow faster. Larger firms are increasingly using this strategy to scale more efficiently, improve forecasting, and reduce delivery variability, while maintaining customizations that make the solution unique for each client.
- Clients prefer bespoke solutions, not standardized ones.
Decision-makers overwhelmingly prefer clarity over open-ended engagements, leaning into defined scope, timeline, and outcomes. Productization builds trust by reducing ambiguity. The structure created enables customization within the framework, makes value more visible, and leads to decreased customer churn.
- Productization limits creativity and innovation.
By streamlining the repeatable components, teams gain time and cognitive capacity to innovate where it matters: strategy, insights, and client experience. The operational efficiencies gained via standard workflows and repeatable processes enable continuous refinement and iteration, not just rote delivery.
Would you like to discuss the value of a productization strategy for your company? Set up a complementary 15-minute call to gain insight into how it can drive faster business growth for you.
