Business services are a broad category of businesses that assist businesses in delivering goods and services to customers. This includes everything from transportation and utilities to information technology.
Unlike physical goods, which can be stored for future use or sold at an established price, a service must be delivered when the customer demands it. In addition, the demand for a service can vary widely from one customer to another, making it a dynamic business.
The value of a service cannot be measured in dollars or euros; it can only be measured in terms of how a company benefits from providing the service. In this way, business services often provide a unique competitive advantage over physical products.
Strategic management for service businesses is challenging, and requires an entirely different set of skills. Many of the traditional techniques that apply to product businesses also apply, but the tools are only now being assembled for this new business environment.
There are four major components of service design: people, resources, processes, and the customer. The latter plays an increasingly important role, and the ability to manage service customers enables service companies to achieve cost and quality advantages that are hard to find in physical products.
Service providers need excellent interpersonal skills to be successful in this type of business, as they must work closely with their clients and communicate with them effectively. They also need to be able to deliver on their promises and make sure that their work is done with care and attention.
