Types of Business Services
Business services are a set of intangible assets that help businesses function and accomplish their trade activities. They are important for the growth of a company and provide many benefits to companies and their employees alike.
They can also help companies save money and improve work productivity. Some of the most common types of business services include training, financial and personal services.
Training Services
A majority of businesses need training to help them achieve their goals and develop skills that they don’t have in-house. For instance, some businesses need training to train employees in how to use software or how to manage their time more effectively.
Financial Services
A large number of companies need financial services to handle taxation, depreciation and valuation. They may also require services that help them make decisions about expanding their operations. Some of the most common types of business financial services include bond issuance and workers compensation insurance.
Insurance Services
A lot of companies need to hire services that handle their insurance needs. This includes life and health insurance, as well as liability and property protection. These services can help companies reduce their financial burdens and keep their finances in good shape.
Maintenance Service Professionals
A company can hire maintenance professionals to handle problems with their appliances, lighting and more. These professionals are able to handle issues quickly and efficiently, so that employees can continue working.
Tech Support Specialists
A large number of companies hire technology specialists to assist them with troubleshooting technical problems that can arise. These individuals can help a company troubleshoot their computer or network problems and ensure that they remain productive.
Personal Services
A business can use personal services if they want to offer their employees a place where they can get exercise or relax in between working sessions. Employees can get massage services, spa services or even a workout room.
They can also hire an interpreter to help them communicate with customers who speak different languages. This service helps people communicate in a more effective way and promotes inclusivity.
Creating a Successful Service Business
There are four critical elements of the service business model that all successful businesses must follow: design, management, people and processes. Managers must get these elements to work together or risk pulling the whole business apart.
Design
The first critical step is to create a service that appeals to an attractive group of customers. It must meet their needs and desires in a way that distinguishes it from competitors. This is similar to the challenge of designing products, but the experience that consumers have with the service — the value it adds — is very different.
Management
The second critical step is to manage the people who provide the service. As with product businesses, managers must be able to identify and manage their employees’ individual strengths and weaknesses. But the unique challenges of managing people in a service business are that they are often in a much more critical role than in a product business, and that they are sometimes not in control of their jobs as easily as they would be in a product business.