Free Download! Templates for Creating Public and Social Sector Products and Services

When I hear someone call for the public sector to be more market driven, I always suspect they’re looking to make a buck at the public’s expense.  And it’s an obvious statement–nearly everything in the public sphere is market driven. But I do believe that the public and social sectors need to be more marketing driven. In this post I show you how using a sequence of free templates for creating public and social sector products and services.

The templates cover

• Creating your value proposition.
• Designing your customer’s experience.
• Structuring your business model.
• Identifying growth factors that will help your endeavor succeed.

A note before we begin. Many public and social sector people can get put off by the vocabulary of the for-profit world. Terms such as customers, business model, revenue, marketplace may not be your everyday terms. However, I guarantee that they are your everyday concerns in serving your community, raising funds, and increasing your impact.

State the Value of Your Social Sector Products and Services

First, your value proposition simply states how the product or service you want to offer improves the lives of your target audience. Creating a clear, concise and compelling value proposition is harder than it sounds. Check out this value proposition video for a quick but helpful 5-minute tutorial. The video includes a template for building your value proposition.

Next, map out how your customers will acquire and experience your social sector products and services. Being very specific about customer experience helps ensure a positive interaction for both you and the customer. That drives positive word-of-mouth to help your product or service succeed. Use this free customer experience template to discuss, plan and document your customer experience.

Model Your Business

Next, plan the organization you’ll needed to deliver on your proposition and experience. This includes nitty-gritty operational items like raw materials, distribution channels, cost structures and payment mechanisms. This free business model creation ebook (72 pages) and accompanying 2-minute video tutorial show you how to build your business model.

Finally, you’ll want to look around you and into the future to understand what trends will help or hinder the success of your organization as it delivers your social sector products and services. Launching your new product or service will be much easier if you can swim with the tides of the marketplace. Use this business growth factors template to map the trends you face.

These tools will give structure to your work of creating and delivering meaningful, sustainable products and services to serve your communities. They will make the work easier, but not easy. Thorough and precise planning is never easy, but it is necessary for success in any line of service, for profit or not for profit.

(Thanks to Business Model Generation website and book and How to Draw Toast for the materials referenced in this post. Business Model Generation and other books mentioned in this blog are available in the bookstore.)

(Image downloaded from Flikr and obtained under license.)