3 Ways to Make Your Social-Impact Product More Competitive for Business Growth
Wondering what you can do to boost your social-impact product's success? Check out these three strategies to help you shift your focus and start attracting business buyers for your product.
When it comes time for social-impact business owners in the tech not-for-profit and social business spheres to expand their reach and impact, things often feel a little challenging.
From navigating market expectations to aligning product value with buyer willingness to pay, it’s a complex balancing act between maintaining financial sustainability and staying true to social missions.
That said, I often find that there is a larger challenge revolving around product and business growth - many social-impact businesses with a tech product want to create product accessibility for end-users; yet there’s a reluctance to directly charge these users for access
due to ethical concerns or mission alignment.
So, what's the solution?
Well, a great way to address this challenge is by syncing up with larger companies as potential buyers to distribute the product widely.
Ultimately, by partnering with organizations that can leverage the product to meet business objectives while supporting social goals, tech not-for-profits, and social businesses can carve a path toward growth and impact.
Let’s take a closer look at what that process of finding and securing partnerships looks like – and how you can position yourself (and your business) for success in such a dynamic landscape.
Understanding your audience
Do you know your audience? Things like their needs, their likes, their dislikes, their preferences – all of which contribute to how you approach and sell to them.
That said, and unlike conventional businesses, tech not-for-profits typically cater to two distinct "target audiences": the end-user and the buyer.
But… what exactly is the difference between the end-user and the buyer? Here’s what differentiates one from the other:
1. End-user dynamics
Put simply, the end-user is the individual who directly interacts with the product and benefits from its features in their daily lives. However, there’s a catch: their willingness to pay is typically very low – if at all.
This lack of funds then creates a series of challenges – such as limited scaling opportunities and financial constraints – that can hinder your organization's growth and sustainability in the long run.
After all, when you target the end user, you’re inadvertently limiting your product’s revenue potential by solely focusing on a customer base that doesn’t really have the means or resources to purchase.
In other words, it’s a customer base that can’t (or won’t) contribute significantly to your financial sustainability or cover the costs of development and distribution – meaning that you’ll be missing out on crucial revenue streams.
At the same time, these financial limitations can also hinder your ability to expand and distribute the product more widely, which will ultimately reduce its potential social impact and undermine your mission.
2. Business buyer dynamics
On the other hand, business buyers are typically businesses or organizations that can derive business value from integrating the product (as in, your product) into their operations.
For example, a healthcare provider might use a meditech product to improve patient care, reduce costs, or streamline administrative tasks.
Unlike what happens when you target users, when you target the buyer, you’re expanding your revenue opportunities by focusing on customers who have the budget and willingness to invest in solutions that not only meet their needs but also drive their business objectives.
This creates a symbiotic partnership where you make their business better, and they buy the product from you.
Furthermore, buyers can also help when it comes to increasing business sustainability. Plus, they also offer better scaling opportunities by aligning the product with their business objectives.
Over time, this alignment fosters partnerships that can lead to long-term collaborations, additional projects, or referrals within the buyer’s network – all of which work to enhance your product's visibility and potential impact.
Why do these differences matter?
Once you can recognize the difference between these two, you’ll have a much easier time doing the following:
Customizing your messaging and marketing approaches to cater to the specific needs and motivations of each audience segment.
Building your product or service with a dual emphasis that prioritizes user experience enhancements for the end-user, while also showcasing the business value proposition to the buyer.
Putting together a pricing strategy that accurately reflects the value proposition for both audiences.
Potentially adopting a model where the end-user accesses the product for free (or at a subsidized rate) while the buyer bears the cost and benefits from the organizational value gained.
Identifying and pursuing strategic partnerships that will lead to more efficient product distribution – expanding your reach and impact within the target market.
3 key strategies to consider when engaging with a potential buyer
One of the most important things to keep in mind while working to position and sell your social-impact product is that, although it’s technically the end-user who benefits from using the product immediately, the most sustainable revenue model lies in identifying and engaging with business buyers.
While this means that you won’t be dealing with everyday consumers or individual users who are looking for personal convenience, it does mean that you’ll pave the way for dealing with organizations and teams that actually hold purchasing power and the capacity to invest.
Switching your approach isn’t a matter of just flipping a switch or making a simple adjustment, however. Instead, focusing on buyers requires that you and your team strategically position and showcase your social-impact product differently than you would when dealing with consumers.
Don’t worry, though – this business-focused approach isn’t as intimidating or complex as it sounds.
In fact, the entire process can be broken up into three actionable steps that’ll help you effectively engage with potential buyers and maximize your product's appeal.
These three strategies are:
1. Identifying the best match for a potential business partner
2. Prioritizing high-value service options
3. Transforming your product into a strategic business solution
Let’s break these down separately.
1. Identifying the best match for a potential business partner
When looking out for potential business collaborations, it’s important to start the process by pinpointing partners who closely align with your product’s mission and target market.
This means that you can’t just approach any company for partnership purposes. Instead, you need to meticulously assess and choose organizations whose objectives and values resonate with your own.
Here's how you can effectively go about doing that:
Analyze industries, sectors, or specific companies that could benefit from integrating your product into their business strategy.
Conduct comprehensive market research to understand potential partners' needs, pain points, and how they align with your product’s capabilities.
Engage in networking and industry events to establish connections and gain insights into potential partners' business strategies and challenges.
Once you’ve completed your research and networking efforts, you can then move on to identify how your product aligns with each organization’s objectives, challenges, or gaps in service.
How can you achieve this?
To achieve this, develop a targeted approach to initiate conversations with these potential partners. Put together personalized pitches that specifically address their needs, highlight how your product offers a solution, and make sure you emphasize the mutual benefits of the partnership.
By focusing on how it can add value to their business strategy while advancing your social impact goals, you’ll be well-positioned to identify and secure the best business partners for your social-impact product.
2. Prioritizing high-value service options
Along with identifying the right partners, attracting and retaining business buyers requires that you differentiate your product by highlighting the aspects that deliver substantial business value.
To do this, it’s important that you adopt a business buyer mindset and thoroughly evaluate your product's features and services – this way, you can pinpoint what truly matters and what sets your offering apart.
A few questions to ask yourself when prioritizing high-value service options are:
Which aspects offer the highest business value?
Which features can result in significant cost savings?
What enhancements can be made to increase efficiency?
Once you’re clear on which features and services provide the most value to business buyers, you can then start to offer premium service options or packages tailored to high-ticket buyers.
This includes customized implementations and enhanced support, as well as additional features, or integration services.
How can you achieve this?
To accomplish this, prioritize resources and development efforts toward enhancing these high-value services and features. For instance, prepare a clear and compelling presentation of these services for potential business buyers, and emphasize their benefits during sales pitches.
Additionally, underscore how these services can address specific business needs and lead to a strong return on investment – all of which can resonate with business buyers and increase their willingness to invest.
3. Transforming your product into a strategic business solution
Lastly, the third and final approach to help position your social-impact product as valuable with potential buyers is to flip the script completely and stop thinking about what you’re selling as a mere tool for end-users.
Instead, you’ll want to think of it as a holistic solution that, once implemented, serves a much broader array of business objectives.
That said, to transform your product into a strategic asset, you’ll also need to make sure that it aligns with the comprehensive needs of your business clients.
In most business scenarios, buyers don’t care about features – they want to know how your product or service can be integrated into their existing ecosystem to improve operations, customer satisfaction, or bottom line.
Essentially, it’s about shifting the focus from individual functionalities to overall business impact.
This also means that you and your team need to be ready to adapt. Sometimes, it’s necessary to either modify or update certain features or functionalities so that your product is better-fit for specific business needs.
How can you achieve this?
To achieve this, tailor your sales approach so it focuses on the strategic value your product brings to a business – not just its features. A great way to do this is by highlighting or showcasing case studies and real-life scenarios where your product significantly impacted business metrics, objectives, and outcomes.
At the end of the day, your main goal is to center on solution-focused selling. That way, you’ll be more adept at identifying how you can solve a buyer’s challenges with what you have to offer.
How shifting your focus can lead to greater impact
Whether you're contemplating a change in strategy or refining your existing approach, aligning your efforts with business buyers is crucial for long-term success.
However, before you pivot or strategize new approaches to growth, it’s important to recognize that, as a tech non-profit Founder, your main focus should be on targeting business buyers that can invest, collaborate, and propel your mission forward – all while ensuring sustainability.
That way, instead of focusing on the end-user who typically doesn’t have a budget to contribute, targeting business buyers means you have a much higher chance of securing sustainable funding and expanding your product’s reach.
However, there’s more than just intent and ambition that goes into this transition.
This mindset shift and strategic realignment also requires you to evaluate and adapt your business model to a whole new approach that involves the following:
1. Identifying the best match for a potential business partner
2. Prioritizing high-value service options
3. Transforming your product into a strategic business solution
Once you’re able to engage and partner with the right business buyers effectively, it’ll be much easier to scale your impact and ensure financial sustainability – all of which will help to further your social mission, expand your product’s reach, and ultimately make a difference.
Are you a tech non-for-profit looking to reassess your current monetization strategy? Schedule a Discovery Call with our Founder, Margherita, to learn more about how you can make your social-impact product more competitive in today’s market. competitive in today’s market.