Services as a product (SaaP™) - How to accelerate services sales & set yourself up for success

At Propel25, Mark Sloan, Managing Director at Asaph Advisors, delivered a high-energy, wisdom-packed keynote on transforming professional services into a proactive, productized engine for business growth. His core thesis? By treating services like products—through clear packaging, documentation, and planning—you eliminate chaos, shorten sales cycles, and scale sustainably.

Having built and led a PS org from 8 to 1,600 people and consulted on over $100M in services revenue growth, Mark's playbook is grounded in real-world results. His Services as a Product (SaaP™) framework offers a tactical blueprint for today's PS leaders.

Why "it depends" kills deals and frustrates everyone

Mark kicked off with humor and honesty: no one grows up dreaming of being a PS leader. Most stumble into it—accidental pros trying to build scalable systems while dousing fires.

He recounted his early days transitioning from Accenture to an in-house PS team. He expected a low-key role but ended up scaling a fast-growing implementation org. As demand surged, so did the chaos. Estimation escalations from sales on Friday evenings became the norm.

The biggest friction? Pricing and scope uncertainty.

• Clients want confidence: When asked, “How much does it cost?”, saying “It depends” deflates trust.
• Sales is left hanging: They’re stuck trying to close deals without firm answers from PS.
• Solutions are now simpler: With more repeatable products, there’s no excuse for vague delivery plans.

Mark emphasized: "It depends" is a deal killer. It creates tension, delays deals, and damages your org’s credibility.

The SaaP™ framework: productizing services to scale

Mark’s Services as a Product (SaaP™) approach centers around building repeatability, clarity, and alignment across the PS lifecycle.

1. Define and package your services like products

Productizing services isn’t starting from scratch—it’s structuring what already exists.

• Audit your delivery history:
  
  • Identify the most common types of projects.
  • Look at customer needs and roadmap trends.
• Build a standardized toolkit:
  
  • Pitch deck: What problem does it solve? What’s the impact?
  • Case studies: Demonstrate past success and ROI.
  • Pre-built SOWs: Scope, assumptions, pricing, timelines, resources.
  • Templates: Requirements docs, deliverables, onboarding checklists.

Mark shared his early struggle: building a 50–100 page SOW manually at 2 a.m. Post-SaaP, it’s all predefined—ready for download on the 18th hole.

2. Drive cross-functional alignment with clear roles and playbooks

Repeatable offerings aren’t just about PS—they improve how PS and sales work together:

• Assign roles:
  
  • Sales leads early conversations.
  • PS steps in for consultative needs or complex scope.
  • Both teams understand their lane.
• Proactively guide GTM:
  
  • Suggest offerings based on resource capacity.
  • Drive pipeline toward services you’re best equipped to deliver.

This flips the script: instead of reacting to sales, PS drives the agenda.

3. Operationalize delivery, staffing, and planning

SaaP enables data-driven operations:

• Translate pipeline into people:
  
  • Map offerings to staffing needs.
  • Use sales data to forecast future demand.
• Smart recruiting:
  
  • Create a "warm pool" of pre-vetted candidates.
  • Keep 65–70% of them warm for quick activation.
  • Cut onboarding time from 8 weeks to 2.
• Contractor buffer:
  
  • Keep 15% of headcount flexible.
  • Tap partners to meet short-term or niche demands.

Mark used this model to shift from panic hiring to precision scaling—and helped a client drive $100M in growth before a Cognizant acquisition.

Why this transforms your entire org

1. Sales velocity

• PS-defined packages empower sales to move faster.
• Proposals are off-the-shelf, not custom every time.
• Sales no longer needs to chase PS for scoping help.

2. Delivery consistency and margin protection

• Repeatable work means fewer surprises.
• Knowledge is embedded in tools—not just people.
• You get better leverage from junior resources.

3. Real-time resource planning

• You know which roles, skills, and locations are needed—when and where.
• You forecast weeks ahead, not after the fact.

4. Clearer customer expectations

• No more vague promises or misalignment.
• Scope, timelines, and effort are clearly defined.
• Change requests are documented, priced, and enforced.

What about complexity and customization?

Not everything can be shrink-wrapped—but much of it can be scoped smartly:

• Start with low-complexity work: Common implementations, integrations, audits.
• Use bucketed hours for variable needs: Include buffer time upfront.
• Issue $0 change orders: Establish process discipline and client behavior.
• Watch for patterns: Turn frequent customizations into new productized offerings.

Enabling both sales and delivery to succeed

Mark underscored the dual enablement of sales and PS:

• Sales kits:
  
  • Decks, scope documents, and pricing guides.
  • Enable reps to sell without waiting on PS.
• Delivery kits:
  
  • Project plans, onboarding templates, deliverable checklists.
  • Train junior talent using proven playbooks.

When expertise is captured in docs, not individuals, teams scale without bottlenecks.

How to get started: Mark’s advice

"Think big, start small. Just pick one. One offer you do all the time. Build it. Then another. Then 15."

You don’t need to solve every use case today. Focus on your highest-volume, most predictable service. Build the toolkit. Enable sales. Watch the momentum build.

Bonus tips from the Q&A

The session closed with Q&A-packed gold:

• Headcount vs. contractors: Use contractors as a flex layer—shed them before cutting FTEs.
• Annual planning tension: Use rolling monthly forecasts, not rigid annual plans.
• Documenting tribal knowledge: Use buckets of hours or tiers to start organizing legacy expertise.
• Portfolio mindset: You may end up with 15–20 offerings. That’s OK. Think of it like Lego blocks—modular and scalable.

Stay tuned for more Propel25 session recaps and insights from PS leaders pushing the industry forward.