Creating value for the customer with industrial services: Selling industrial services is not a matter of price

According to the ESIC (European Service Innovation Centre) report, the Upper Austrian region is characterized by a strong manufacturing sector where service innovation driven transformation represents an inevitable step forward and is thus used as a large-scale demonstrator for the dynamic and broad impact of service innovation. The pricing of industrial services is a vast topic and difficult due to the complex parameters of services but represents one of the issues when talking about industrial services. As the Austrian region with high export rates and a broad international business presence, this paper focuses on companies in Upper Austria when elaborating on the importance of pricing regarding different value oriented services. Moreover, the paper emphasizes on general parameters that are important in the field of industrial services. In order to receive a more profound knowledge about the topic the authors worked closely together with the industry. A qualitative study conducted with five Upper Austrian companies highlights the challenges as well as the most important parameters and dynamics when actively selling additional services in the manufacturing industry. 51 in-depth interviews were carried out with sales employees, customers and experts from the respective companies. The results suggest that there are certain value dimensions which have to be taken into account for the successful delivery of industrial services. From a sales point of view price is the most important factor. However, this contradicts the common view of customers who rather base their choice on the aforementioned value driven aspects. Customers are more long-term and relationship oriented. Hence, the value benefits should be the main communication message towards the customer, and sales staff has to be trained accordingly.