Customisation, integration, data migration, training, system tuneups, and license management are all basic services that customers want done well and are willing to pay for. And there are often broader customer pain issues—personal career development, project management, business process analysis, expert domain advice—where technology companies are often uniquely positioned to become credible sources of help and even trusted advisors. In fact, it's very possible that these services represent one of the next big opportunities for the technology world as a whole.

But first technology companies have to do a better job with the basics of services design, delivery, and marketing. With this goal in mind, we recently invited our members and friends to share lessons they've learned about how to grow fee-based services. We heard from managers in the trenches, consultants, and authors, and the advice they gave us is reflected in this report. Browse through the tips that follow—there's a lot of wisdom here that should boost your professional services revenues significantly.