When You Need To Tweak Your Product And Service Ladder

When you need to tweak your product and service ladder, it pays to do a deep dive into your business and revenue model first.

“Sharon” runs a consulting practice that looks a lot like many successful experts’: a high end, high value service with an entry level introductory option. Her product/service offerings—or ladder—look like this:

Industry thought pieces via email (2x month): Free

Entry service (1x assessment): $2,500

Advisory service (annual): $20,000+

Custom consulting: $50,000+

Most clients start by buying the entry service and then about 80% go on to one of her higher options—and stay engaged with her for years.

Her advisory service (the middle choice) is highly leveraged and exceedingly profitable, so her goal is to funnel her best-fit clients there.

Since up-selling 80% of her introductory projects is a pretty good hit rate, her challenge wasn’t closing on new advisory clients. Instead, she needed to get more of her sweet-spot into the pipeline for the entry service.

It’s an interesting problem because there are many ways she could tweak her product and service ladder to solve it:

She could start a (free) podcast on her specialty and create a new avenue for fans to find and engage—and ultimately funnel to her introductory option.

She could write a book to entice a much larger audience to engage with her content and up-sell to her $2500 option. That book might also push her into more speaking engagements that will put her in front of her best clients.

She could create a self-directed course to teach an essential principle (one of several that she covers in the introductory option) and price it in the low to mid hundreds.

She could even offer a virtual, live workshop—with a still higher price point—where she taught to many what she historically performed one-to-one.

She might even go all the way to a membership option where she keeps a significant cohort warm as she teaches her expertise and how to apply it to their situation.

It’s helpful to know that her typical client is a Fortune 1000 C-suite decision maker, which makes many of these options less attractive to her.

So, while intrigued by the podcast, Sharon gravitated to the book concept, even though it’s a high commitment, low price point option.

She felt her audience highly values being served by an acknowledged expert—which is what publishing the right book will make her.

And that book will help grease the skids to paid speaking opportunities and invitations to industry platforms that are jam-packed with her ideal audience.

Here’s my point: the thing with tweaking your product service ladder is that there is no one right answer for everyone.

You’ll need to start by understanding how you currently pull potential clients and buyers into your pipeline and how they work their way through your offerings.

Not to mention how you most want to spend your time and contribute to your bottom line.

*If this is something you’re grappling with now, check out my ConsultantsNation group coaching program here. Our August topic is Building Your Product and Service Ladder—if you use coupon code LADDER by July 31, you’ll get $50 a month off the price forever (AND have immediate access to the last seven months of recordings).