Offering free services may seem like a good way to keep customers happy, but how much money is your business leaving on the table? By redefining freebies as paid opportunities, B2B firms can generate new sources of income and secure long-term growth.

This not to say that companies should stop providing free services altogether or attempt to turn every free service into a revenue stream. It may make sense to provide free ancillary services as part of a strategy to capture value elsewhere. However, too often services are offered at no cost due to fear, inertia, resistance, or a failure to understand how much value they bring.

This is increasingly true of new digital services enabling activities, such as preemptive maintenance, remote monitoring, and industry benchmarking. Too many companies use these digitally enhanced offerings solely to facilitate underlying product sales instead of redefining the service into a profitable stream of business for the company.

 …