Surrey Business Club

October saw our return to the Cricketers, a cosy pub in Cobham, for an informal workshop led by Keith Grover, called ‘Productising Your Service Business’. 

RELAXED AND INFORMAL
We were snugly accommodated in one of the small bar areas, and our guests soon felt at home – especially as we began with the buffet for a change. The catering was as splendid as ever (including chips with mayonnaise and ketchup!) and given we were in a bar, those who were so inclined were able to have a drink with their meal. No other networking group does ‘relaxed and informal’ quite like SBC!

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS
After a short structured networking session we settled into the workshop itself.  The aim was to discover ideas and techniques for ‘packaging’ our service businesses by developing product offerings to attract prospective customers. In groups of three, we worked through the exercises on Keith’s handout, sharing our thoughts and experiences as the evening unfolded.

“Thanks for the marketing refresher course Keith – I’ll be revisiting the way I present my services in the light of this evening’s insights.” Graham Whittle, Going4Growth www.going4growth-ltd.co.uk

PRODUCTS ARE MORE ‘REAL’ FOR CUSTOMERS
Keith urged us as service-focused consultancy businesses to make our offering more compelling by creating products out of our services, knowledge and skills. 
Some advantages of products:
- they are tangible
- they are easily defined and understood
- they carry a recognised price

LEARNING LESSONS FROM THE RETAIL SECTOR
If you have a range of  products, you can start customers on a low-priced service and upsell them in the future – the Bronze, Silver, Gold ‘progression’. You can even discount without devaluing your core business. It’s also easier for others in your network to sell your products for you – offering different products to suit the variety of people they meet.

“I thought your presentation last week was the most useful I have heard in my six-year membership of SBC. It gave me an idea which then took root at the Woking Means Business exhibition and I believe I can take it forward. So often the simple ideas seem to work best and have the biggest potential.“  Ian Kent, Certax Accounting http://tiny.cc/iankent

CREATE UPMARKET PRODUCTS – AND WIN!
You don’t always have to aim at the lower end of the market. Deryck Svensson had invited along as his guest for the evening Dr Joe Gelona, a prominent  business psychologist and one of our former Club committee members.  Deryck described how Joe identified a need that he could address by creating a premium product which solved a common problem in the educational sector.  He successfully sold his product into a very high-profile academic institution, and with the glowing endorsement they provided Joe has been able to roll the product out widely – indeed, internationally - across the sector.

“While Deryck was telling Joe Gelona’s story, everything suddenly fell into place and I had a ‘lightbulb moment’ – I realised I’ve been missing a trick when selling my services all this time!”  Richard Peasley, Churchill Securities www.churchillsecurities.co.uk

ADDITIONAL TOPICS covered during the session included:
• Creating knowledge and information products (ebooks, audio mp3s) and using them to attract new prospects to your service business
• Becoming a recognised authority in your specialised niche by writing and publishing your own books – at minimal cost!
• The ‘Product Funnel’ – creating enthusaiastic customers by giving away valuable information at little or no cost to you
• Using your Product Funnel to segment your market and migrate customers to your premium rate consultancy – never sell on price again!
• Selling other people's products whilst they sell yours – everybody wins…

ANOTHER PROFITABLE SBC MEETING...
With enthusiastic participation from all present, we covered a lot of ground and discovered more about each other’s businesses, which is what makes for great networking.

After a very stimulating evening, we settled down to finish off the buffet over a drink – there are definite advantages to meeting in a pub!


All photographs by Club Photographer Peter Searight of The Remarkable Studio.