How to Scale Smarter: Productizing Value with Brian Kessman

When businesses talk about “productizing,” they often picture cookie-cutter scopes and rigid templates. But according to Brian Kessman, that’s missing the point.

Brian is the founder of Lodestar Consulting, and he’s spent 25 years helping agencies and consultancies scale without burning out teams or eroding margins. His approach isn’t about productizing services – it’s about productizing value.

In this episode of The Handbook: The Operations Podcast, Brian and Harv dig into what that really means, and how it can transform both your client relationships and your bottom line.

Here’s what we cover:

• The difference between productizing services (deliverables) vs. productizing value (outcomes)
• Why improving operations alone won’t fix a business model that’s not designed to scale
• How to spot patterns in your expertise and codify them into structured solutions
• Why productization doesn’t kill creativity – it actually creates more space for it
• Smarter ways to think about pricing, from fixed fees to value-based models

Brian also shares case studies from consultancies and agencies that have reframed their offers around outcomes – unlocking higher margins, more predictable delivery, and stronger authority with clients.

If you’ve ever felt stuck between reinventing the wheel on every project or being forced into commoditized work, this episode is for you.

Additional Resources:

 👉🏽 Follow Brian Kessman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankessman/ 

💡 Check out Lodestar Agency Consulting: https://www.lodestaragencyconsulting.com/ 

👨🏽 Follow Harv on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvnagra/ 

📈 Measure your business maturity and find out how to get to the next level: https://www.scoro.com/business-maturity-quiz/ 

📬 Stay up to date with regular ops insights. Subscribe to The Handbook: The Operations Newsletter: https://www.scoro.com/podcast/#handbook 

➡️ This podcast is brought to you by Scoro, where you can manage your projects, resources and finances in a single system. Sign up for a free trial or a demo at https://scoro.com/demo – and for the VIP treatment, tell them Harv sent you.