Stick around for a fantastic offer from one of the best piano teachers in the nation. But first, a quick note about innovating as a service provider:

Google “product innovation.” What do you see? Pages and pages of awards, articles, and consulting firms offering to help you innovate and build a better mousetrap. Now Google “service innovation.” When I did that, the first result was for a customer service process innovation association. Immediately below that was a Newsweek article from 2008 describing service innovation as “the next big thing.”

Manufacturers (selling a “thing”) have the advantage of being able to look at their widget side by side with another widget. How is my widget different? Better? Worse? What can I do to make it different/better? Service providers don’t do this (at least not nearly as much) for two reasons:

1. Services are intangible. It is harder to change what we can’t see.

2. Providers are not selling a product – they are selling themselves. Makes it a bit tougher to cast a critical eye, don’t you think?

I got to thinking about this during a conversation with my good friend Steve Nixon. He is one of the best young keyboard players in the Chicago scene today – his bio is a who’s who of the blues. Steve has been very successful as a player by understanding business, positioning, marketing and sales better than 99% of his competitors.

We were talking about ways for him to create a more compelling coaching/piano lesson program in order to reinvent the mousetrap. Realizing that he’s not selling widgets, it really made me think “what CAN a service provider do to innovate and create differentiation?” Funny thing is that since services are intangible by nature, lots of the “service innovation” is perceptual and therefore just a matter of repositioning. Here’s  what I’ve come up with so far:

1. Do not be humble in copy. This is particularly a problem with small businesses. Steve is a pretty humble dude, and his site reflected this. “Steve has performed with so-and-so” could become “Some of the best names in music have looked to Steve…”

2. Remember to sell benefits, not features.  Instead of telling folks what your service is going to DO for them, tell them how their life will be better afterword. “Learn modal techniques” may become “Play jam nights, open mics, and family get togethers with confidence!”

3. “Package” your service. This is a big one. Instead of touting “I’m a piano teacher/SEO/etc.,” create a packaged offering that a) folks will understand, and b) offers performance tracking and benchmarking along the way. I suggested that Steve create a curriculum broken in to 12 steps, with objectives and requirements for each step, then come up with something like a martial arts rank system to track progress. (In the case of piano lessons this also gives the student a feeling of accomplishment and closure once a topic is learned.”

4. Pivot. In music theory, a pivot tone is a common note that is used when moving from one key to the next. You can keep it the same while changing keys, and because the note is common to both keys it sounds good. Your business can do this. Think for a while about the result your service intends to bring customers. Better SERP rankings? Flatter abs? Being able to play Rach 3? Now make a list of other ways to get there. Steve is doing it by looking at things like virtual lessons via Skype, student bulletin boards and that sort of thing….

What other ideas do you have?

The Offer: Call or e-mail Steve about his new program. Tell him I sent you and the first lesson is free!