Business Services
Business services are activities that benefit companies without supplying a physical product. They provide value and improve work efficiency, safety, cost and convenience. They include many different sectors, including IT, telecommunications, management consulting, accounting, legal services and facility management. A company that provides these services can be either an independent service provider or a division within a larger corporation.
There are several characteristics of business services: intangibility, a lack of inventory and the need to modify them according to client preferences. The intangibility of business services makes it difficult to differentiate them from physical products, but they also offer advantages such as a more positive experience for customers and flexibility for providers. For example, a psychologist’s advice is a service, but it cannot be saved for the future and it may need to be modified depending on the individual client.
Services are essential for any economy, and the business-to-business (B2B) sector is a large and important industry. A B2B service provider can help an organization meet its objectives by providing expertise, training and other resources that it may not be able to develop in-house. In addition, these providers can scale their offerings to meet a business’s needs. For example, a large manufacturing firm may outsource some of its production and shipping operations to third-party logistics companies. This allows the manufacturer to focus on new technology, product design and other core functions while reducing costs and improving overall efficiency. This is known as “servitization” and it is becoming a key aspect of global competitiveness.