2 builders who never spoke to each other
Make a service buy the way software buys
Put a public price, a self serve signup and a dashboard in front of work that humans still do by hand, and the buying decision stops being a negotiation. A flat monthly subscription replaces scoped projects and retainers quoted job by job, which removes the estimate from the sale entirely. The customer experiences a product; the delivery stays a service out of sight.
The method
- 01
Package a consulting service the way software is sold: self-serve signup, a flat monthly subscription and a dashboard, with humans doing the work out of sight.
- 02
Sell agency work as a flat monthly subscription rather than as scoped projects or retainers quoted job by job.
What it returned
- 2023
Conversion Factory, the subscription agency he started with Zach Stevens and Nick Loudon, launched in July 2023 and beat his expectations by a wide margin.
Bench sells bookkeeping this way - you sign up as you would for a web app, pay monthly and get a dashboard.
Sources
- 2023 Year In Review | Corey HainesCorey Haines · corey.co · What went well · 2024-01-01
- What is a productized service?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · What is a productized service? · undated
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in pricing
- Make them pay before the thing exists8 unconnected · contested
- Decide whether a free tier earns its keep7 unconnected · contested
- Put a cheap rung below the expensive offer7 unconnected · contested
- Undercutting alone is not a position7 unconnected · contested
- Turn the service into a product with a public price7 unconnected
- Charge for the result, not the hours6 unconnected · contested