3 Shifts to Make When Selling Standardized Services vs. Custom
“Jaime, I can’t figure out Zoom’s new features. It’s hilarious—like I was a product person, but I keep clicking the wrong button and getting kicked out of the meeting.”
I’ve had similar issues recently. But here's the thing, selling a productized service can feel a lot like learning those Zoom features: confusing at first. However, once you get the hang of it, it transforms how you interact with customers. I’ve been in those Zoom sessions, and it’s often the same story for companies transitioning from services to products: You think you know how to sell, but suddenly, you're using the wrong buttons.
For service-based businesses venturing into products, here’s where it all starts to flip: You’re no longer selling yourself or your expertise. Now, you’re selling a solution to a very specific problem. This requires you to stop saying, “we can do anything you need” and start saying, “this solution solves this problem.”
In this blog, we’ll explore three key shifts you need to make to succeed in selling standardized services, especially if you're used to the relationship-driven world of customized services.
1. From Flexibility to Focused Messaging
When selling custom services, especially in a B2B space, flexibility is often the main selling point. “We can tailor this just for you,” becomes the tagline. But when you shift to productized services, that strategy doesn't fly. Instead of selling the company’s flexibility, you need to shift the conversation to the problems of your specific market segment and how your standardized services solves them.
As I’ve often said, “With products, it’s not about customization anymore.” Instead, you're solving problems at scale. You understand your niche, and your messaging should reflect that. So stop focusing on your company’s expertise or flexibility. Start focusing on the specific customer problem you are solving. Take it from one of our clients in the HR sector who struggled with this very shift when launching their new product suite. They had a solid consulting reputation, but their sales conversations fell flat because they were still talking about their expertise instead of the customer’s pain points.
2. From Brand Building to Lead Generation
In the custom service world, marketing is all about brand building and thought leadership. You’re typically showing how great your people and your firm are. With productized services, however, it’s all about generating leads by addressing customer needs directly. This means you’ll likely need new marketing tactics that are tailored for standardized sales.
Take, for example, another client we worked with—a consulting firm transitioning into selling software. Their marketing was top-notch for thought leadership: white papers, speaking at conferences, and publishing articles. But they didn’t have the product marketing infrastructure they needed—things like standardized sales collateral with clear, repeatable sales messages about solution features, benefits, and ROI. They had to invest in new marketing resources to make sure their solution was solving the right problems and reaching the right customers.
Marketing for standardized services is more about speaking directly to the customer segments you’re targeting and ensuring that you’re building a pipeline of leads interested in solving a specific problem. In short, it's less about showing how great you are and more about showing how your solution makes their lives easier.
3. From High-Touch Sales to Lower-Touch Efficiency
The final shift is in your sales process. When selling services, you’re often engaged in high-touch sales—working closely with each prospect to tailor your offering to their unique needs. Product sales, on the other hand, can often be much lower touch, meaning you need fewer resources to close a sale. Instead of crafting custom proposals, you’re offering a defined solution with clear benefits.
This is where investing in self-service sales materials, and customer success functions comes into play. You want to make it as easy as possible for customers to buy. This might mean automating parts of your sales process or hiring a customer success team to handle onboarding and support.
A recent example comes to mind from our own work: an organization in the government sector was used to highly customized contracts. They struggled when they tried to move toward a more productized model with off-the-shelf solutions. By focusing on streamlining their demo process and investing in marketing automation, they were able to lower the touch points needed in sales—making it easier for customers to engage with their offerings at scale.
Conclusion: Lead with a Product Mindset
Transitioning from custom to standardized services is a journey, but one that can be navigated with a few critical mindset shifts. Stop focusing on your flexibility and start honing in on the specific problems you solve. Remember it’s not about you, it’s about them.
Want help making this transition? Reach out to us at Vecteris, and let’s discuss how we can refine your productized sales strategy.
The shift to selling standardized services is no small feat, but with the right approach, it can lead to scalable growth and new opportunities for your business. Let's make sure you're pressing the right buttons in your sales process—without getting kicked out of the meeting!
To learn more, check out our new book, Commercialize: How to Monetize, Sell, and Market Productized Offerings in B2B Professional Services, written by Eisha Armstrong, Jason Boldt, and Sean Gillispie.
Don’t forget to download the tools and templates that come with Commercialize! These resources are designed to help B2B firms effectively market, sell, and scale their productized offerings. From pricing strategies to go-to-market plans, these tools will guide you in turning your ideas into action.