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This article explores how service-company attempts to win market share by offering numerous customer options can be counterproductive and can create consumer anxiety. The authors research the product offerings at major North American banks and find a large range between one bank offering four credit cards and another offering 29. They define “productization” as when service organizations add value by providing products that complement their service offerings. Unfortunately, productization is often left unchecked, resulting in product bias in a firm’s innovation strategy and the proliferation of products. Excessive complexity produced by productization hinders employees’ ability to manage service encounters, and productization as a differentiator is unlikely a defensible position. <br><br>When considering productization in a service environment, firms should remember that product satisfaction should be subordinate to good service and that a product’s capability and reputation should complement the service delivery and customer perception of the service. To better serve customers, firms should a) review the vision and direction of the organization, b) reduce complexity by understanding what type of customer is served, c) eliminate products that do not support the vision, complement the service or appeal to the identified customer, d) apply freed resources to train front-line employees and e) guard against the introduction of inappropriate new products and services.