Investment in services is key to combat the fall in profits in companies. This concludes Winning with Service Excellence, a new study published by the German group Handelsblatt Publishing Group that reveals that products with after-sales services achieve profit margins ten times higher than with traditional sales.

The study, conducted by the German consultancy Karim Barkawi Consultants, analyzes the crucial factors of success in the provision of services and reveals how the after-sales service market is characterized by constant growth, even in spite of the current economic situation. According to the publication, some of the leaders in services in the b2b sector generate more than 50% of their turnover with the provision of services applied to the products.

Winning with Service Excellence analyzes is based on eight case studies on leading groups in service provision and shows how these companies act and differentiate themselves from their competitors, gaining market positions. The companies analyzed are ABB Robotics, Agfa Graphics, SonyEricsson, Pentax, Trumpf, Bang & Olufsen, Bull and EMC2.

Frank Reichert and Michael Springmann, the researchers who have carried out the study, present an approach to the most innovative b2b services and an analysis of the most frequent problems that a company must resolve to be an excellent service provider. The study highlights the ten most influential factors for the success of a company in the service sector: branding; an innovative service portfolio; after-sales services; e-technology and e-services; management of consumer expectations; quality of service; an explicit service strategy; services as an independent organizational unit; incentives in the area of ​​services; and design applied to the service.

The study analyzes how there is still an important gap in companies between offering products and offering successful services and answering questions such as: When is the perfect time to implement a strategy based on the provision of services? How can a business identify the areas in which to bet on services can be translated into success?