What's the pitch based on value to your customers, rather than some imagined "social value" from political causes which your customer may well perceive negatively?
We hope we produce well made software for our clients which tries to follow the best industry practices when building these kinds of things both technically and in terms of project direction. This all springs from a very close and collaborative relationship with the clients that being a coop lends itself to: user led design with plenty of user testing, short sprints focussed on delivering high value products that can be used immediately, close interaction with clients so we always produce precisely what they are after (standard agile methodologies apply here) a high quality of support and after care and so on.
As for clients perceiving the social value offer negatively, we tend to find people choose us because of the way we share and distribute the surpluses we make. In honesty I've been working here a year and it hasn't come up.
Sometimes clients come to us because they know that we are the only place that would be interested in building what they are after. Amongst other things, basically, if we love a project and think it can help make the world a slightly better, fairer place, we may actually support it's development (or further development) by funding some of its design and build ourselves. That's one way that a client may get value, but not the only way.
we tend to find people choose us because of the way we share and distribute the surpluses we make.
In my experience engaging consultants, I've never asked how they spend their profits. It surprises me that would be your major selling point, but maybe your clients are spending other people's money.
Many of the kinds of clients we have - charities, tech for good companies, third-sector organisations, unions, local government, lobbying groups etc - are pleased to work with someone whose profits are used to further aims proximate to their own organisations. But in pitches to clients I don't think we make it the main selling point, but part of the overall package.
As for clients perceiving the social value offer negatively, we tend to find people choose us because of the way we share and distribute the surpluses we make. In honesty I've been working here a year and it hasn't come up.
Sometimes clients come to us because they know that we are the only place that would be interested in building what they are after. Amongst other things, basically, if we love a project and think it can help make the world a slightly better, fairer place, we may actually support it's development (or further development) by funding some of its design and build ourselves. That's one way that a client may get value, but not the only way.