Service in a Box

The term “productised service” is a relatively well-used term, at least it has been in my world for a decade or more, but I’ve been lazily using it assuming that people would just understand what that was.

I recently went through a handful of student recordings and heard some minor confusion, probably more often than I would’ve remembered.

To help clarify it, I’d used some variation of “it’s a service in a box” – they pretty much got it before that, but the example with box analogy helped focus the idea.

Made me wonder if the visual cue of a box helps with all the things that make a Service in a Box unique – like a known deliverable (or fixed scope), a set price, a guarantee, and exclusions.

I think it’s my preferred term – to me it’s clearer language which I prefer, even if it uses more words (but actually, fewer letters 😂). Plus bonus points for it avoiding the awkward productise/productize dance.

One of my favourite examples of a Service in a Box is VetChat, who offers a video or text chat to either resolve a pet issue, or know whether you need to head to a vet clinic:

• Scope: Speak to a Vet via video or text chat 24/7
• Fixed Price: $59 one time fee regardless of call/chat length
• Guarantee: We respond within 15 minutes
• Exclusions: We can’t prescribe medication

It’s a perfect example of a service-based profession finding a service they can deliver in a repeatable way.

Sell services? You can almost certainly create at a Service in a Box, which at the very least could be a consultation – essentially what VetChat is.