I’ve seen a group of top management review, discuss, and approve tens of millions of dollars for new plants all within a single 30-minute meeting. I’ve also seen this same group of executives agonize over the course of several meetings and several months over spending $60,000 to launch a pilot services project that would validate the services assumptions and business model that all agree is vital to long-term business success. Amazing when you first think about it, but remember the backgrounds of these executives. They have grown up in products and have been successful because of their knowledge learned running product companies. They have the experience and the insights to make competent, correct product decisions quickly and confidently. However, as pointed out, services are a different business, and as any of us would do when faced with something out of our expertise, the tendency is to cautiously go slow and keep a very tight rein on funding.
Yes, you should look for low-hanging fruit that doesn’t take large investments, and target quick wins to help pay your costs. If there are doubts about the value of services within your organization, then conducting a pilot is a low-investment, low-risk way to confirm your services assumption and demonstrate its value.
Please resist the temptation to cautiously cut corners in hope that magically a new business will sprout and bloom without adequate fertilizer, water, and grooming. Don’t do it. Anything in life worth having requires a commitment of time, money, focus, and sweat. Remember, you are creating a new business! If your senior management group is not willing to invest to build a services capability the right way, then save your energy for better times. As Lou Gerstner, past chairman and CEO of IBM, said in his book, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance:
In building services, there’s no such thing as a toe in the water. When you take this plunge, it’s full-body immersion…I’ve said repeatedly that this is the kind of capability you can’t simply acquire (though our competitors keep trying). The bet you’re really making is on your own commitment to invest both the years and the capital, then build the experience and discipline it takes to succeed.
GIST: In for a penny, in for a pound.
Hopefully, I’ve made my point. There are many obstacles that can cause a selling services initiative to stumble, and like any meaningful change, it takes stalwart executive support to make it successful.
If you have any serious hesitation now, don’t launch the selling services initiative—you will do more harm than good. Remember: In for a penny, in for a pound.
Tags: selling services
