Today, no manager could possibly be unfamiliar with this word: cost reduction.
In a period of economic slowdown, being expensive is the original sin.
Beyond giving up profit margins, many companies, in order to secure room for survival, have had no choice but to cut costs as if they were “squeezing three drops of water out of a dry towel.”
01 The Challenge of the Traditional Service Model
As a leading company in property services, Cushman & Wakefield Vanke Service had already begun to feel pressure from clients several years ago. “We’re under huge pressure to cut costs. Can you reduce the property management fee to one-Xth of what it is now?” Within Cushman & Wakefield Vanke Service, about 93% of project managers explicitly said that clients were continuously making cost-reduction demands.
On the corporate side, companies are pursuing “cost reduction and efficiency improvement,” while property services are caught in the middle: on the one hand, clients still want a high-standard experience; on the other, the pressure on budgets and labor efficiency keeps increasing.
So how can a way out be found between cutting costs and maintaining a good experience?
02 The Breakthrough Point Found Through Deep Insight
Service directly affects experience. In the past, in order to win a good experience, people often piled on services somewhat blindly, which led to many hidden costs. Innovation begins with deconstruction. So first, we needed to break down the services provided by Cushman & Wakefield Vanke Service. Then, using the “ruler” of customer experience, we measured what each service item actually meant to the customer experience. After being broken down, the services were divided into three categories:- Basic services: ensure operations with industry benchmarks, control costs, and cover price-sensitive customers at the lower end;
- Expected services: improve employee satisfaction and visitor experience, and stabilize the mid-end market;
- Excitement services: create differentiated value, support acquiring higher-end customers, and build brand reputation.
03 Breaking Through with a Lego Mindset for Services
Have you ever thought that services, too, could be “played with” like Lego? Each Lego brick is precisely designed, independently priced, and fits together seamlessly. By mixing and matching them freely, you can build a basic version, a premium version, or even a surprise custom version beyond imagination. Since products can achieve such a high degree of modularization through Lego thinking— why can’t services do the same? Based on the earlier deconstruction, China Bridge proposed and put into practice a new model of tiered services with Cushman & Wakefield Vanke Service: the traditional “four protections and one service” model — security, cleaning, repair and maintenance, greenery, and customer service — was completely restructured and broken down into 49 standardized service units that could be flexibly combined. Imagine property services becoming a clear and easy-to-understand Lego brick menu:- Value is clearly visible: each “brick” corresponds to a clear value and cost, so every cent spent can be seen and felt;
- Combinations are flexible and efficient: modules can be recombined flexibly to respond quickly to client needs under different budgets and scenarios;
- Recommendations are evidence-based: based on scenario analysis and precise cost calculation, the “best combination” can be recommended — controlling cost, preserving experience, and even creating pleasant surprises.
From the perspective of customer experience, selecting service modules becomes as free as ordering dishes from a menu — where the money goes, and where the experience goes, is immediately clear.
Take a high-spec internet workplace as an example: enterprise clients can freely combine service plans according to scenario, budget, and expected experience.
At the same time, when matched with operating-cost breakdowns, for property service providers this means:
- faster bidding: quickly presenting solutions that fit budgets while remaining competitive;
- cost reduction without reducing experience: precisely trimming redundant items while protecting core quality;
- value differentiation: creating “above expectation” surprises in higher-spec versions.
04 The Essence of Service Design Is Resource Allocation
Tiered services were not decided by service designers simply “using their heads.” In the project, we invited the client’s CFO, middle- and back-office teams, and supply chain team to join early. Together, they calculated each item one by one in light of scenario, touchpoint, cost, and labor efficiency.
This ensured that every piece of “service Lego” could pass two tests:
- user perception: does it meet the client’s real needs?
- financial accounting: is the input-output relationship clear and calculable?
As one project participant said:
“We hope the service menu can become a powerful tool at contract renewal.” — Representative from the market side “This round of customer insight has made us much clearer about the differences in configuration across different types of enterprises.” — Representative from the operations side “The competency models for each role will help the procurement side implement this next.” — Supply chain representative
05 Results and Meaning
Through the Lego mindset, China Bridge helped Cushman & Wakefield Vanke Service achieve the following in its property services:- clearly define which services must remain high-spec and which can be flexibly adjusted;
- establish a clear cost framework and negotiation mechanism for new demands;
- allow property service providers to control costs while ensuring that the experience does not go offline.
- You may think clients only want to force prices down. In fact, they only want to pay for services that are worth it.
- You may think service is about competing on smiles. In fact, the real competition is about understanding the industry, understanding enterprises, and understanding experience.
- This is no longer an era of A-party versus B-party games, but fertile ground for mutual achievement through precise service.