Chapter 7
Understanding Your Products, Services and Solutions
Introduction
Every organisation exists to solve problems.
Some solve them through products.
Some through services.
Some through consulting, training, technology or partnerships.
Customers are usually less interested in what we sell than in the problem we help them solve.
This chapter helps us understand your offerings from the customer's perspective.
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7.1 What Do You Offer?
List your major products, services or solutions.
| Offering | Product | Service | Solution |
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7.2 Who Is It For?
For each offering:
• Who uses it?
• Who pays for it?
• Who benefits?
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7.3 What Problem Does It Solve?
Instead of describing features, describe the problem.
Customers buy solutions, not specifications.
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7.4 What Makes It Different?
Why should someone choose your organisation?
It may be:
• Better knowledge
• Better quality
• Better support
• Better price
• Better experience
• Better outcomes
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7.5 What Should Customers Know Before They Decide?
List the three or four things every customer should understand before choosing this offering.
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7.6 What Questions Do Customers Ask?
Record the most common questions.
No more than ten.
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7.7 Which Offerings Are Most Important?
Mark them as:
• Core
• Growing
• Future
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7.8 Which Offerings Work Together?
For example:
A consultancy may naturally lead to training.
A product may require installation.
A course may lead to certification.
Understanding these relationships helps us present the organisation more clearly.
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7.9 Which Offerings Need Better Explanation?
Some offerings are immediately understood.
Others require more explanation.
List those that deserve dedicated pages, videos or case studies.
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7.10 Chapter Summary
| Offering | Customer | Problem Solved | Priority |
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Notes for the Consultant
By the end of this chapter, we should understand:
• What the organisation offers
• Who each offering is meant for
• What customer problem it solves
• Which offerings are strategically most important
• Which offerings require stronger explanation on the website
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Chapter Completion Check
☐ Major offerings identified
☐ Customer groups linked
☐ Problems solved are clearly stated
☐ Core offerings identified
☐ Related offerings connected
☐ Priority offerings selected
☐ Offerings needing better explanation identified
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What We Have Achieved
We now have a clear picture of what the organisation actually offers and, more importantly, why those offerings matter to customers.
This chapter moves the discussion away from internal product lists and towards customer value. It provides the foundation for creating clear service pages, product pages and solution pathways that are easier for visitors to understand and easier for search engines and AI systems to interpret.
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I think this shorter style is the right direction for the remaining chapters. It keeps the workbook engaging, reduces respondent fatigue, and leaves the deeper analysis to the Consultant Design Workbook, where it belongs.
