Customer demand for sustainability is increasing year-by-year. The challenge that most companies face, including my own, is how to meet this demand in a ‘sustained’ and lasting manner, without making false promises.
It’s not an easy task, especially when you must ensure that your client is always the one who benefits from building sustainability into your operations.
So, here are some insights I have learned during my eight years in Sprout World to hopefully inspire other leaders and companies. I would encourage you to ask yourself these three questions:
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Is sustainability an-add on or part of the company culture?
It’s easy to pick two or three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and state on your website that your company is working with them. Or to send a newsletter to your clients saying that sustainability is important to your business. The challenge is being concrete and forthcoming with details – how exactly do you work with sustainability? Do you have proof of the processes in place? Are your employees aware of what you do and where you are heading?
Read more: The dos and don'ts of customer-centric sustainability
It is one thing to be clear with your customers, but it’s another to share your goals and steps along the journey with your team. They are the ambassadors after all. They often have direct contact with your clients and partners, and must be able to answer and highlight what sustainability means when it comes to your products, the production, the shipping and the working conditions.
Integrating sustainability into the company culture takes time and requires constant and continuous communication and dialogue with your employees. The great advantage is that working in a company that authentically prioritizes sustainability, makes team members feel proud. Being part of something bigger, a cause that does good beyond making money is very motivating.
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What’s in it for the customer?
If sustainability is such an important factor for most customers, you should go all-in with living up to the highest standards and achieving all the possible certifications as soon as possible, right?
Well, not quite. We mustn’t forget that working seriously with sustainability is a very time-consuming and costly affair. That is why prioritizing and making a long-term plan with sub-goals is so crucial; otherwise, your company will end-up burning-out, along with all its good intentions.
Start by asking yourself which improvements would make the greatest difference for your customers? To give you an example from Sprout World; some years ago we looked into replacing all seeds in our plantable pencils with organic seeds, simply to make the products even more eco-friendly. However, we soon realized that this would increase the price significantly because organic seeds are scarce and difficult to source. Also, organic seeds were not a priority for our customers, which should always be taken into consideration. On the other hand, having a SEDEX certification, where a third party visits the place of production and evaluates it, did have an impact because it’s one of the greatest concerns for our corporate customers.
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Do the clients believe in what we say?
Greenwashing is such a widespread phenomenon that you must expect clients to be skeptical when it comes to sustainable statements. It is a positive thing that claims are not freely bandied around anymore and they must be substantiated by documentation. Of course, customers do not expect you to be perfect, but they do expect you to be honest. As long as you can prove that, for example, in our case, the product is made of sustainable wood, is recyclable, or plastic free, we can’t be accused of making mis-leading claims. This is also important when communicating on social media. An evidence based approach to your sustainability claims can prevent you from ending up in a corporate crisis.
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