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The Strategy of Service

The Strategy of Service

Is your organization leveraging forward-looking economic trends? Services now account for 80% of the U.S. GDP, with other developed nations showing similarly high percentages.

Product-dominant companies are adding service to their offerings because it is relatively inexpensive to implement, provides recurring revenue, and creates an effective differentiator in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Consider how these companies successfully profited from this trend:

 1.     Capitalize on Services as Recurring Revenue Streams:

When Jack Welch took over at GE in the early ‘80s, he realized that relying solely on product sales was a short-sighted approach. He shifted the mindset of the company from a one-and-done sales strategy toward creating ongoing revenue streams with clients. GE now sells airplane engines nearly at cost but bundles them with highly profitable, multi-year service contracts. Can your bottom line benefit from service-and-product bundling?

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Transform Your Business (Model)

In the face of an accelerating pace of change and complexity, how do you keep your business relevant for years to come?

As complacency becomes increasingly dangerous to your business and stakeholders, reinventing your business model can help stave off competition. This reinvention can mean changing the business you are currently in, making a drastic change in the way business is currently done, or even finding new ways to add value to your customer.

For inspiration, consider the following approaches to transforming your business:

  1. Create a Paradigm Busting Revenue Model:  Launched in 2008, MileMeter was the first company in America to offer pay-by-the-mile auto insurance without a vehicle-tracking device. This system was created in response to customers’ increased cost sensitivity and a perception that the industry was overcharging for insurance. By redefining the standard for calculating insurance, MileMeter provides peace of mind and coverage that is based on customers’ actual usage. How can you reinvent the way your business makes money?
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Client Quotes

  • “futurethink is always thinking ahead about learning and 'innovate' it before we ask! Their programs have been a huge success with our teams.”
    Director of Learning & Development, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Sonovian Pharmaceuticals
  • “futurethink made the topic of innovation, which means different things to different people, real, meaningful, and actionable.”
    Steven Rubinow, Chief Information Officer, NYSE Euronext NYSE Euronext Logo
  • “futurethink is the innovation expert. They fine-tune their training to our clients' needs. I'm constantly looking for new opportunities to engage them in our work.”
    Brian Weberg, Director, National Conference of State Legislatures
  • “The futurethink team did an outstanding job in designing and facilitating an innovation event for our senior leaders, many of who regarded this as the best innovation workshop that they had ever been a part of. I would recommend futurethink to any organization that is looking for clear and actionable pathways to Innovation.”
    Wayne Pethrick, Director, Marketing and Consumer Insights, Pitney Bowes Pitney Bowes
  • “Innovation is deliberate, if done well. There is a science and process to it. futurethink has done their homework to provide a wealth of practical knowledge to their customers.”
    Senior Vice President of Innovation, Wells Fargo Wells Fargo
  • “We need to look beyond our organization's walls to innovate.”
    Mehmoon Khan, Global Leader, Innovation Process Development, Unilever Unilever
  • “futurethink's proven methodology, research, and tools help ensure we're always ready to meet the evolving public service challenges of tomorrow.”
    Sandy Stosz, Rear Admiral, United States Coast Guard United States Coast Guard
  • “The futurethink workshop not only provided an incredible jolt of energy to our collective innovation efforts and established the common understanding of innovation concepts, but it was also a wonderful team-building event. I don’t think it could have been organized and conducted any better.”
    Michael Ripa, Manager, FRI Infomatics
  • “futurethink's sessions included excellent examples and energizing exercises that brought innovation to life. They got us to look at our business with new eyes.”
    Joan P. Lawrence-Ross, Chief Learning Officer, AXA
  • “If you don't make innovation a strategic part of your business plan and you don't drive that into the culture, I don't think you'll have a strong innovation pipeline.”
    Mark Hausfeld, Innovation Manager, Global Business Services, Procter & Gamble Procter & Gamble
  • “futurethink made my leadership team think in new ways and helped us develop winning business ideas right in the room. My team now embraces innovation rather than fearing it.”
    Mary Fennoglio, Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate Investment Bank Citigroup
  • “futurethink's research and 'how-to' tools have been essential to building our innovation program.”
    Cindy Morgan, Innovation Manager, New England Federal Credit Union New England Federal Credit Union
  • “Working with futurethink was a very rewarding experience for our team. They brought a great combination of provocative outside ideas, market perspective and a program design that challenged us to think of our own business in more innovative ways.”
    Jim Daly, Vice President of Human Resources, Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's
  • “Any innovative company must develop processes for understanding and responding to consumer needs in a very focused way. Otherwise, they're just inventors, they're not necessarily innovators.”
    Tony Tomazic, Director of Consumer Innovations, Humana Humana
  • “If you don't innovate, be creative and look to the future and the possibilities of what will evolve over time, you will cease to be relevant.”
    Randy Voss, Senior Manager, Global Strategy & Business Development, Whirlpool Whirlpool
  • “futurethink is enabling us to build critical innovation skills and share best practices across our global organization.”
    Jeff Honious, Vice President of Innovation, Reed Elsevier Reed Elsevier