3. Adjusting the idea selection criteria (including financial aspects and strategic value) as the firms need for new service offerings changes

Key Deliverables

Market information

Ideas documented in a standardized and comparable format Work plan for commit support step

Key Questions

What client need does the proposed service offering address? How does this offering meet the client need?

What is the current status of the service offering? (Existing intellectual property and client(s) versus green field)

How well does this service offering idea match the firms current capabilities?

Does the firm need to acquire internally unavailable capabilities using an alliance or through other means?

Commit Support. The objective of this step is to commit resources to those ideas that are most likely to succeed. This step begins the conversion of an idea to service offering and will likely be the most difficult to complete adequately. Competing demands between (1) profit-seeking motives to show immediate results and (2) the analysts tendency to remain in the research stage indefinitely must be balanced. This is a challenge in professional services firms that tend to emphasize current billability above investment. A real commitment by the firm partnership or management, as well as a culture shift toward investment in future services, will be required in such firms.

Although it often will prove difficult, it is essential that each proposed service offering be detailed with a sufficient level of specification. This includes elements such as individual skills and capabilities, knowledge repositories, and support from software and hardware. Ideas that are elusive to sufficient specification may entail risk that the firm is not willing to accept. Along with each service offerings proposed contents, a full understanding of the financial aspects (anticipated revenue, cost of service) and strategic benefit of the envisioned service offering is needed to ensure that a comparative analysis is possible.

Key Deliverables

Service offering specifications

Initial version of business plan with financial and strategic objectives Initial market research to support investment case Work plan for develop and test market step

Key Questions

How will competing offerings be evaluated and compared? -Client value proposition

-Fit with existing-firms direction, offerings, sales, and delivery channels

-Prospective market value (required investment) -Perceived sustainability and expandability

At what level in the firm should development of a given offering be funded?

How much of the service offering can be developed internally? What elements of the service offering need to be acquired from outside resources?

Develop and Test Market. The objectives of this step are to develop the service offering, perform trial engagements with receptive clients, and determine whether rollout of the service offering is desirable. A development team is organized and is tasked with building the service offering based on the specifications created during the previous step. Depending on the complexity of and cost associated with developing the envisioned service offering, it may be desirable to create a prototype. The completed service offering is then test-delivered to a trial client under the auspices of a trial engagement. Trial clients should be chosen carefully. Selection criteria should include the clients willingness to participate in and provide support for the firms efforts. Trial clients should also be willing to provide feedback and ideally possess size, industry, and other attributes that are reflective of the intended market. Client feedback serves two purposes. First, it provides input about weaknesses in the proposed service offering that can be corrected. Second, feedback provides the basis for documenting prospective clients business benefits. Multiple trial engagements may be used to provide useful input such as the realized benefits and associated monetary value of the service offering, sales and marketing requirements for the next step of rollout, and the amount of training and type of support needed to deliver the service offering.

Key Deliverables

Service offering solution or reasonable facsimile via prototype Completed trial engagements Client feedback

Financial and other considerations for rollout Sales and marketing materials

Work plan for launch and grow step

Key Questions

What level of completion is required for the proposed service offering so that a target client can effectively evaluate it?

What criteria should be used for target client selection? How will prospective clients be approached?

What is this service offerings value proposition for prospective clients? Why should a client buy this service? Who in the clients organization will likely make the buying decision?

How will the firm ensure that the clients expectations are met? How much and what type of sales and marketing material and support will this service offering require?

What will be the attributes of a typical client engagement (duration, staffing, revenue)?

Launch and Grow. The objective of this step is to begin sales and delivery of the service offering to the market. Early client engagements should be viewed as extensions of the trials conducted in the previous step with client feedback actively pursued and acted on. As sales and delivery are optimized, engagement profitability receives added emphasis and attention. Long-term plans, including enhancement objectives, sales and marketing approaches, and ongoing management structure and responsibility, are developed for service offerings that attain projected growth and profitability targets.

Key Deliverables

Service offering refinement

Various plans and deliverables to support marketing, sales, delivery, and training

Transition of service delivery responsibilities to designated unit

Key Questions

What steps are needed to ensure adequate deployment of the service offering?

Are elements of the service offering suitable for intellectual property protection?

Roles to Support the Process

As the firm defines and adjusts its process for new service creation, it is essential to clearly delineate roles. Regardless of the level of formality introduced, accommodation for sponsor and director roles is recommended. The sponsor role is tasked with establishing the firms strategy for developing