Business services are a broad range of activities performed by businesses that do not produce any tangible products. They include warehousing, banking, marketing and inter-departmental communication among many others.
The term ‘services’ is sometimes used in a narrower sense to mean the quality of service provided by an organisation. For example, a restaurant may provide a physical good, such as food, but also provide services in the form of ambience, setting and clearing the table.
However, while both goods and services can be described as being intangible, there are some key differences between the two. The first difference is that services are not stored for future use, as they must be delivered whenever they are demanded.
Another important difference is that services involve people. They must be staffed, paid and managed in a way that ensures customer satisfaction and the smooth running of the operation.
A successful service business is one that understands how to deliver its product to customers in a timely, effective manner. It needs to be flexible enough to respond to changes in demand, while at the same time remaining a profitable enterprise.
Business services are growing in importance as companies seek to cut costs by reducing internal labor and hiring outside service providers, while leveraging new technology platforms to offer integrated offerings. As a result, business services providers are facing increasingly complex challenges to deliver an attractive ROI to shareholders and serve customers in a more efficient and timely way.
The industry is driven by globalization, consolidation and technological innovation and by the need to satisfy evolving regulatory and environmental standards. The sector is also underpinned by the need to develop innovative service offering strategies that can help clients take advantage of these opportunities and differentiate themselves in a competitive market.
Our approach to business services is centered on understanding the critical performance drivers of a client’s operations and the contractual framework that underpins those processes, and then working with clients to develop and implement operational strategies that deliver sustainable results. We have deep and cross-industry expertise that helps us support business services providers as they strive to deliver exceptional customer experience and profitable returns to shareholders.
Using a combination of traditional management tools and innovative approaches, we help clients to optimize their service portfolios so that they can meet the changing demands of their customers, drive growth and create shareholder value. Our experience in a wide variety of industries, including retail, financial, industrial and healthcare, provides valuable insights into this challenging but exciting area of business.
We work with businesses across all industry sectors and have particular expertise in the energy, health care, and consumer/technology services markets. We help clients to develop new business models and strategies, to identify and assess strategic partnerships, and to evaluate new service platforms that will help them deliver more cost-effective solutions to their customers. In addition, we advise clients on regulatory compliance and the development of scalable service offerings that will help them outperform their competition.