Abstract:Global competition and declining margins have made enterprises in diverse industries increasingly aware that assuring low cost, product performance and high quality is no longer sufficient for long-term success. Integrating products and services to customized solutions can help firms to differentiate from their competitors. Based on 11 in-depth interviews with managers from solution providers and an exploratory survey with 45 solution providers we derive a four-step process of value creation as well as a set of critical activities and pitfalls within each step. Selling solutions require customer-supplier relational processes comprising analysis/consulting, design/configuration, implementation/delivery, and support/operation. To get a better understanding of the relational process we adopted this perspective on creating solutions in order to identify crucial routines and activities. Two main capabilities within this process can be identified: customer interaction and project management. Both capabilities are required in order to deliver more effective solutions at profitable prices.