The increasing variety of mobile multimedia services raise the need for mechanisms to select those services that best match individual user requirements and allow for service customization. In this paper we describe an advanced concept for service personalization in next-generation IP-based mobile systems. Our approach extends conventional service management by introducing a preference order on the available service features according to the specific demands of a user. Furthermore, we exploit the fact that in current IP-based mobile communication systems application layer signaling messages traverse several network functional entities between client and server application. Our architectural solution based thereon comprises a stepwise refinement of profiles and preferences including an early matchmaking to service capabilities.