Services vs products as a career focus

Updated 2024-07-03. Originally published 2012-04-10 on VocationVillage.com

I meet many people who have never considered whether they prefer services or products as their career focus, and I think this is one important variable in career decision-making. Understanding the differences between these two possibilities can help you choose or change to a work direction that is best for your interests, personality, and skills. I interviewed people with both types of careers to get their perspective on their day-to-day experiences with their jobs.

Subjective vs. tangible measurement

Mary Whitney, founder of Women Planting Seeds, is a leader and developer of social change. Whitney has worked in both service and product-focused roles. She observed product-based jobs have clear expectations, and the results are easy to measure. With service-focused jobs, it is more challenging to quantify the success of what you have achieved. Funders ask Whitney to show metrics for her work with clients and she works to quantify variables that are subjective. She said,

"It is a victory when a homeless client showers regularly and dresses in clean clothes, but this is difficult to measure. A product-based endeavor is more easily quantified. When I am selling a product, you can easily tally up by the amount of sales I made compared to another person's total. You can easily tell that Walmart sells more products than quite a few other stores compared to the markets they serve."

Time to market is usually faster with service-oriented businesses. Whitney commented,

"It is often easier to convince a client to attend a workshop (service) than to buy and read a self-help book (product)."

Problem-solving vs. self-expression

Sara Martin is an artist, writer, and designer. Martin described herself as a "creative, expressive person," and she said her years in business taught her how her business model affects her satisfaction with work.

Martin noted,

"In a service business, your job is to facilitate the success of your clients. Their success is your success. The client gets to set the metrics for what makes up success. You, the service provider, may develop opinions about the best course of action for your client, but it's not your call. This business model is great for people who enjoy solving puzzles or finding many solutions to a problem. If you find it satisfying for your creativity to solve a problem for someone, this model will work for you.

That's not how my creativity works. I desire self-expression. My greatest satisfaction comes from putting myself out there and seeing who I attract. Product business models make this possible. Product business models make this possible, and they are a good fit for people with high idea productivity. The major challenge is finding the intersection between your self-expression and the market. This intersection will not happen with every idea, so resilience is key."

Upfront investment

Duane Preiss, Business Development Manager for 3M Mobile Interactive Solutions Division, is in a product-focused career. He said,

"It is rewarding to deal with multiple entities and technologies required to develop a product and to watch the evolution from idea and concept to scale-up and launch. However, product launches can require significant financial outlay for R&D and capital expense, and if the product doesn’t delight the customer, there is no guarantee of a good return on the investment."

Direct connection vs. behind-the-scenes

Laura George, a business consultant for artists, said that people choosing a career path should reflect on whether they want to connect directly with others or to be more behind-the scenes. George observed,

"There's nothing like getting to build deep relationships with your customers. With a service-based business, you interact with your customers on a personal and emotional level because you're working for their needs. You end up discussing their needs, and thus their emotions. And of course, you offer the best service when you build a relationship with them and become invested in their well-being. It's a very joyful situation. On the flip side, product-focused businesses are inspiring because of the initial creation process. Manufacturing (unless you craft your products by hand) and delivery are not full of life and spirit. But the conceptualizing and design ... those are full of passion and love."

Scalability

George also mentioned the limitation of time as one of the biggest differences between services and products. Service businesses are hard to scale. George explained,

"With a service-based business, no one else can be ‘you.’ You can't find someone to take on half your clients without completely restructuring your business, and if you hire employees or contractors, you must oversee everything they do. With a product-based business, it is easier to grow larger, because you can outsource different aspects of the business, everything from manufacturing to customer service."

Clarity and concreteness

Michael Civitelli, Director of Sales and Business Development for a variety of technology companies, said,

"The biggest rewards in a product-based role are the clarity and the concreteness of the business solutions. My customers know what I am offering them: I sell products that enhance mobility and parking systems. When I was a consultant, a big part of the job was helping the client to define the deliverable. Clients may not follow your recommendations. With products, it is much clearer to the client what the product is and what they will do with it once they buy it."

The challenge of commoditization

Some creative service professionals say the market has shifted from a creative thinking (service) focus to a commodity (product) focus where clients ask questions like, "How much will it cost to get a brochure done?" Rick Tuckerman, Creative Marketing Director of ZoomIQ, warned,

"It takes thick skin, courage of conviction, and lots of patience to succeed in a creative services career. The ‘business’ of creative services requires working within tight budgets, dealing with the whims and misgivings of well-intentioned smaller clients, and gauging the relationship between their time, a client's budget and the ability to work fast and efficient enough to generate a decent income. Understand that selling your ideas is just as important as creating them."

It's all service?

Finally, from a customer service perspective, John Tschohl, founder of The Service Quality Institute and author of Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service, said even if you're in the product business, you're still in the service business. He explained:

"To be the best in the service business means to be empowered to decide in favor of the customer, to be a people person, to be speedy, and to offer resolutions to problems that come up. If you don't have the answer, you find someone who does. It's about taking care of details or the little things that most people miss. It's about making the customer experience smooth and enjoyable."

Your turn

So what do you think? Do you work in a service-focused job, a product-focused job, or both? Do you like it? What should others know to make the best career decision? If you have ideas to share, please contact me, and I may feature your insights in a future article.