Business services are a category of activities that provide non-financial value to businesses without delivering physical goods. These services include advertising, marketing, consultation, logistics (including travel and facilities), waste handling, staffing, shipping, administration, and security.
There are three main types of service businesses: business-to-business, social, and business-to-consumer. The three types differ in their purpose, but are all essential for a successful business.
Business-to-business or B2B services help other businesses for a flat or hourly rate and typically assist with operating their business, reducing costs, or generating more output. These companies are mainly used by larger firms that require assistance with a range of business processes.
Service-oriented management: The customer experiences you offer are a key determinant of whether your service becomes successful or not. Customers may rely on your service for convenience, or for the friendly interaction that makes them feel valued by your organization.
Practitioner insight: When designing your service, it’s best to start with a small set of use cases that you’ll test to prove the business case for the service, like employee office moves or a customer order modification. That way, you can create services more quickly to demonstrate success.
A digital business service needs a home, or a system of engagement that consolidates and simplifies how customers access your services. This includes a service catalog and a service portfolio management process that governs the creation, maintenance, and retirement of digital business services.
Define and document how your organization will catalog and communicate about digital business services, typically about provisioning policies, service level options, cost, and ordering steps. In addition, ensure that the service delivery meets customers’ functional and technical requirements, as well as their organizational needs for interacting with the service.