Purpose This research aims to understand the relationship among Intellectual Capital (IC), Service Dominant Orientation (SD-Orientation) and firms performance. Design/methodology/approach A model conceptualizing the relationship among the three constructs was tested through structural equation modelling on a sample of 101 firms from SABI Spanish database. Findings The results confirm the influence of IC, in all of its dimensions, on SD-Orientation and of SD-orientation on performance. Furthermore, the results show that SD- Orientation fully mediates the relationship between IC and performance, except for relational capital that by itself also directly influences financial performance. Research limitations/implications Data is limited to a sample of only one country and 101 services firms. Therefore, future studies should be carried out with samples from other countries. Practical implications The main results show HC, relational capital and SC are a great influence and antecedent on SD-Orientation, therefore, as an implication, firms need to take care of the several components (human, structural and social) of IC in order to become more service oriented, something that will allow them to achieve a better performance. Originality/value Until know there was no other study testing the influence of IC on SD-Orientation, therefore this study contributes to understand SD-orientation and the necessary resources to operationalize it, including the links to financial performance.