Productization
Every project is custom. You re-scope, re-propose, and re-explain. A consultant does 4 audits a year at $15k each because each one is a new engagement. A coach runs 20 sessions a week because every client gets a bespoke plan. Productization is converting your time-based services into standardized offerings—packages, group programs, fixed-scope deliverables—so you can sell the same thing, deliver the same way, and scale by adding capacity to that process instead of adding more of your hours.
Same expertise, different package. The consultant turns the audit into a "Diagnostic + 90-day roadmap": fixed scope, fixed price, 3-step process. Now a junior can run the data pull and first draft; she does interpretation and the client conversation. Same 3-week delivery, 2x the projects. The coach turns 1:1 into a 12-person cohort at $1,500 each plus a self-serve course at $97. She's still in the room for the live sessions, but the offer is repeatable. Productization is the bridge between 1:1 delivery and true scale.
One repeatable offer. Fixed scope, fixed price, documented steps. Sell the same thing; deliver the same way.
How to productize
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Name the outcome. What does the client get? Not "10 hours of strategy" but "a one-page positioning doc and a 90-day launch plan your team can execute." The deliverable is something they can hold, use, or hand to their team. When the outcome is clear, you can fix scope and timeline.
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Define the steps. Break the work into a repeatable sequence. "Discovery call → data pull → first draft → review with you → client presentation." Once it's written down, someone else can run parts of it. This becomes your SOP and the basis for service standardization.
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Set the price. Tie the price to the outcome, not the hours. "Positioning sprint: $12k, delivered in 2 weeks." The client buys the result; you manage the process. Value pricing and productization go together—packaging makes value visible.
What breaks
Productizing too late. If you wait until you're drowning, you'll rush the definition and end up with a vague package that still feels custom. Start with your best repeatable project—the one you've done six times—and turn that into the offer.
Keeping too much custom. "It's productized, but every client needs something different" means you haven't drawn the line. The point is to say no to the extras (or price them as a separate outcome). Clean boundaries: fixed outcome, fixed price.