Ecolutionary Selling

Banks Begin to Enable a Sustainable Economy

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:22:32 +0000

Tom Zeller jr.

Hooray for the Banks! They are finally putting their mouth where their money is–as Tom Zeller reports in the NY Times:

“After years of legal entanglements arising from environmental messes and increased scrutiny of banks that finance the dirtiest industries, several large commercial lenders are taking a stand on industry practices that they regard as risky to their reputations and bottom lines.”

Who is stepping up? Wells Fargo, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, CitiBank and even giant HSBC are beginning to be picky about what practices they finance.

What does that mean for those of us in Sustainable Sales? It’s time to step up our game regardless if we’re selling a product, a service or a financial product. Our actions will be rewarded by the free market that just turned risk adverse. All eyes are watching the green bottom lines–including sales–the first step in this economic cycle

Thank you Tom, for pulling the information together and restating what has been happening one-by-one-by-one. This level of change deserves front page placement.

Thank you New York Times for remaining a credible newspaper and bringing news to use vs. news to abuse. That’s the reason the Times is my homepage online and my Sunday paper of choice.

For the full article, go here.

Prove it!

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:11:46 +0000

For the last post in the 16 Things for a Green Sales Edge series, I’m going to aggregate the topics of, Carbon Footprint, Energy Efficiency, Resource Consumption, Greenhouse Gases, and Ozone Depletion under the PROVE IT category–all are interconnected and all will soon be requiring proof by federal, state, and local governments as well as retail giants such as Wal Mart.

Holy smokes, what’s a simple sales rep to do? Everyone knows we aren’t rocket scientists, how can we prove that our product and company is being honest about its environmental impact?

The truth is, we can’t prove anything unless the company invests in a tracking program that will monitor and aggregate all of the above information into a useable report which could be audited just like taxes. The reports are what we sales types will want in our files–when our clients ask the tough eco-questions, we’ll be ready with tangible evidence.

That’s no small task, but fortunately by the time the mandates hit the streets in 2011, there will be plenty of ways to get to the bottom line. The Los Angeles Community College District comprising of nine campuses, is using Conserviscorp.com to track the “Prove It” areas as well as water and other resources. The Conservis product is sustainable standard agnostic, as standards change, it can be updated to meet the new requirements and audit issues.

Yes, this will cost companies money up front, but it will also save tons of money on the backend as energy wasters are identified and fixed–they’ll be spending far less on operational costs. It also will help to put truth back into your green advertising. The marketing department will love having facts to back up their messaging.

What did I miss in this series that you would like to see addressed? Please send me your thoughts at Mary@ECOlutionarySelling.com

Where is Your Human Rights Statement?

admin — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:56:53 +0000

Part 9 of 16 Things for a Green Sales Edge.

Do people really care about human rights, will they actually want to know before they buy a product if families in another country were impacted? The sad truth is, not enough would care, but the few do could cause big problems for your brand and stop a sale in it’s tracks.

No one wants to be guilty by association and now that companies are expected to know what their supply chain is doing, there is no place to hide and no excuse.

A human rights statement is the first step. It needs to be easy to locate on the corporate website so that the sales teams can point to it quickly. It also needs to be good for it’s word or the competition’s sales force will use it against you.

RainTech states the following:

We think that a successful company has a responsibility to increase stakeholder value, not just shareholder value. That means that we look out for our community, employees, purchasers, sellers, vendors, and the world in which we live. By using locally produced materials we lessen our footprint on the earth and contribute to our local economy. We also support numerous charitable organizations including Save the Rain and Charity Water, who work diligently to enable underserved communities to harness the power of the rain, thereby making a difference in their corner of the world.

At the end of the eco-day, co-creating a sustainable world means being kind to the planet and each other first and always before commission checks.

Sustainable Brands 2010 Top Take Aways for Sales

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:04:36 +0000

I’m interrupting this 1-16 Eco Sales tips to report on the Sustainable Brands 2010 Conference, held last week in Monterey, CA last week.

TAKE AWAY ONE: Prove it!

Transparent Tracking of everything you do and being able to hand those quantified results to a government or a customer is finally coming into the marketing and sales experience.

Panelsts, David Mallen, Brooks Beard, and Scot Case addressed how greenwashing isn’t being tolerated by the legal courts or the courts of public opinion anymore. Watch for FTC Green Guides to come out in October 2010 covering such topics as:

Be specific
Substantiate and be able to show proof within 30 days
Consider all claims from the perspective that a customer truly understands the implications of what you’re saying.
Be careful with logos and seals, use ANSI approved, consensus made, third party audited certifications which are consistent with ISO standards.

Besides the guidelines for product development, also pay attention to NAD, National Advertising Division, they’ll be watching for truth in green advertising on national products.

Apple was the shining example of sustainability, for using the EPEAT standard process to back their claims. I love Apple, it not only builds great products, but at the same time is building the next generation of advertising. Instead of fixed offline ads, the online world can eliminate the clutter we see everyday and serve up information when we need it via our ipod. Who needs a sign when an app or a GPS located can find whatever you need?

On a global scale, the World Resources Institute (WRI) hosted a grueling, workshop with 96, fine-print slides demonstrating the path they took to create their global, product sustainable standard. The standard (or protocol) should be ready for the public use in December. Watch for the public comment period this fall and add your two-cents on what you think this global standard should include or leave out.

WRI used the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as it’s backbone which has been adopted by 60% of the Fortune 500. The WRI protocol is building on that work to create a something that international companies can use in any country. In layman’s terms, WRI is trying to provide one set of rules, (like baseball) and then let companies play on a T-ball or Major League level. Competition always lives at the top, so expect the games to begin soon after this is introduced, but not before all the other 600 or so standards have a say… I’m already hearing rumblings that this standard/protocal takes the Kyoto lite approach according to another competing standard.

TAKE AWAY TWO: Embed Eco Manufacturing through all Processes

SB10 provided a nice cross-section of big business such as Nokia, IBM, Ford, Best Buy and smaller companies such as Timberline… all had great stories on how they are integrating their processes.

John Viera, a Director at Ford admitted that they are turning dark green to stay ahead of government regulation that can destroy a five-year plan. If they stay ahead of the curve, they can progress at a steady rate instead of retrofitted a manufacturing line. I’ve been a big critic of Detroit’s Big Three on my other blog, this presentation made me want to buy stock in Ford.

Nokia’s Kirsi Sormunen, told us how Nokia repackaged their phones into a smaller, more sustainable container and saved thousands of carbon-shipping miles and MONEY through that one simple act. Kirsi also shared how Nokia embedded a warning bell into each phone to remind the 1.2 million who have a Nokia phones to unplug them after it’s charged. (saving wasted energy).

Clorox offered an afternoon session providing a step-by-step overview on how they organize and execute on sustainable product development. They consider the entire product life cycle in this process from raw materials to, “will Wal Mart approve,” to how will the customer dispose of it?

All companies we heard from spoke to making sustainability as core to your business as profits.

TAKE AWAY THREE: Pay Your Passion Forward

One of the more honest and passionate stories came from self-made earth saver Paul Stamets the author of Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Save the World. I have to admit, his passion moved me to tears and I have a copy of Mycelium Running in my hands. I wouldn’t be surprised if Avatar’s writers, didn’t read his book before creating the movie. He tapped into my little biological soul when he told of a the 2,400 acre fungi in Oregon that was 2,200 years old, only to be cut in half by loggers.

Mike Harrison of Timberline (the boot people) told a different earth keeper’s story and how it revitalized their brand from the inside out. At Timberline, not only did they recreate the waterproof boot in a better eco image, but have planted over 1 million trees in the China to help stop desertification. They did that for six years before they even went into the Chinese market. Was it a blatant long-term sales program? Probably, and I hope more companies do the same. It sure beats boondoggles in long-term brand and earth growth.

Along that same line, Phil Berry explained how third world factories can replace philanthrophy with LOANanthrophy. It’s an updated version of the “give a man a fish…” adage. He showed how investing in tiny village factories turned the villages around, providing money to eat and incentive for the kids to stay in school. In one village, only 5% of the kids went to school before the factory, 95% attended after it was in place. “They create factories where people are happy, not just happy to have a job,” Phil said. If you don’t know what social equity is, that’s about as good of an example as you can get.

MY CONCLUSION? As Nike says, “Just do it”

Sustainability is here to stay. Start with a transparent and trackable product. You don’t have to be perfect, but you should know what your goal is and how to get there. Take your customer on the same journey. Teach your sales staff how to handle the most difficult questions a customer may have about sustainability.

Past Brands were about creating a personality to go with the product. Sustainable Brands will come with an embedded, unshakeable personality just like people do. To paraphrase Emerson, Who you are as a company should speak so loudly that it enhances everything that you say sell.”

Installation, Use and Maintenance – the Long-Tail of Green Sales

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 04:38:12 +0000

Part 8 of 16 Things for a Green Sales Edge.

Long tail of green sales costs...

You’ve heard about long-tail sales, it’s when the right side of the sales bell curve extends out indefinately as buyers can buy things forever off the web and retailers don’t need to discontinue products. Think about itunes and how songs that have long run their course are still being purchased. In many cases the cumulative affect of that long-tail surpasses the sales generated inside a typical bell curve sales cycle.

The cost of owning a product has a long-tail as well. With green products, which tend to cost more initially, installation, use and maintenance becomes the long, green-tail of total cost. Seasoned reps know how to step around this one, but for the newbies in the audience, lets break it down.

1. Money. What’s this gizmo going to cost up front.

2. Money. What’s this gizmo going to cost over its lifetime? When it comes to working with a new, green product line:

Installation: Who in the company needs to be trained to use the right tools, the right adhesives, or set up a room with the proper ventilation, etc.
Use: What happens when things wear out? Is it like a light bulb with higher up front costs, but a longer life? After that life is over, will you take the product back? If not, how do they dispose of it and at what cost.?
Maintenance: Who will come in contact with the product? What’s it’s VOC level (volatile organic chemicals? Do you have to use additional special materials to keep it looking its best? What are the safety risks if workers are over exposed?

Add up the bigger package and pretty soon you can demonstrate where you outshine the other contenders. As a sales leader you should have a checklist or FAQ of the above ready to go and part of your second call proposal.

If you have an LCA conducted on the product, make that available as well as the Material Safety Data Sheet. Companies, consumers and investors are all looking to avoid risk. The more you can prove that your product’s risk is low along with long-term costs the closer you are to closing the sale.

Do you have your water use facts ready?

admin — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:01:35 +0000

Part 7 of 16 Things for a Green Sales Edge.

The next time you pass a magazine stand, buy a copy of the April 2010 National Geographic. The issue was produced in conjunction with World Water Day (March 22). The entire magazine (including the ads) is dedicated to how much potable water we have left.

There are 18 pages dedicated to the problems that California faces alone. It’s a big eye opener if you have never considered the issue before.

Where does your company and products stand? Are you working to solve the problem?

The new selling points to consider are:

Does your product conserve water when it is used?
Is the process you used to created the product use little water?
How are you keeping post manufacturing contaminants out of the water you do use?
What about your supply chain? Are they being as conservators as well?

Not every buyer will want to know the answer to these questions, but ever citizen will have to live with the net results.

CA Green Summit

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:13:10 +0000

I’ll get back to the 16 Things for a Green Sales Edge in the next post, but first I’d like to give a shout out to my new friends at the CA Green Summit who heard my Creating Permanent, Positive, Promotion talk this morning.

As promised, there is a special E-treat for interested attendees, just send me your contact info to Mary@EcolutionarySelling.com with, “I want my E-Treat”! (one per company) – Mary

Testing, Standards and Certifications

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:21:34 +0000

Part 6 of 16 Things for a Green Sales Edge.

You’ve conducted a Life Cycle Assessment and now you want to legitimize your findings further by hanging them on a benchmark standard. Which ones do you pay attention to, the ones that are getting the most press because their marketing campaign budget is a winner or the ones that are credible for their science and their multi-stakeholder formation, i.e. the ones with global legs?

If you’re smart, you’ll dump any standard that doesn’t REQUIRE an ISO LCA or LCIS (Life Cycle Impact Statement) or has an EPD (Environmental Product Declaration). You’ll also dump any that don’t REQUIRE a third party auditor who can de-certify non-compliant products after the original certification. Anyone can look good for the first year, it’s being consistent over many years and around the globe that will create public trust in the standard label.

In Standard-land there are “single attribute standards” such as Energy Star (low energy consumption) and single industry standards such as FSC (Forest Stewardship Council – forest management) and then there are multi-industry and attribute standards such as SMaRT or SCS.

Some argue that multi-attribute and industrial standards are too broad, that they can’t really focus in on the issues pertaining to a single sector such as food or textiles. Or the other side of that argument is poor buyer who has to figure out which standard out of 300 or so is worth considering. How does the SMaRT Platinum rated office chair compare to BIFMA’s rating compared to C2C’s rating?

For the above reason the Sustainability Consortium is trying to sort it out letting science tell the tale as to which standard is the most comprehensive and best for the world to follow.

Meanwhile, the cost of waiting for the top dog standard to emerge distracts from your market position. What do you say when your buyer asks you why you aren’t certified to XYZ Standard that she just read about in the NY Times?

Your sales force will have that answer without flinching if:

1. Educate them on what Sustainable Standards are and are not, m ake them fluent in “attributes” and how standards are created and know the difference between a Type I and Type II certification.

2. Determine which standards are the top contenders in your sector and do your own cross-comparison using the List found on Green Building Pages, Green Format or the ASTM E2129-05. Do three comparison’s at a minimum. If you have the due diligence done to show your buyer, they won’t have to do it and you just took a big step forward.

3. Using your Life Cycle Assessment information, show how you stack up if you were benchmarked on any of the standards. Don’t fudge, address ALL the questions. This isn’t about advertising your best assets, it’s about being transparent in your all practices throughout your supply chain.

Lastly – don’t overwhelm your buyer with your new-found knowledge. If you give them a checklist spread sheet (just like what you see on the back of a software package) it will help them make a decision in under 30 seconds. If you ask them to read pages of collateral you will send down a rabbit hole of confusion vs. closer to closing.

What’s on Your Production Input/Output List?

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:48:37 +0000

Part 5 of 16 Things for a Green Sales Edge.

If someone asked you for your Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), you probably could send them one, but do you know what’s on it? More accurately, do you know what’s IN your product’s production?

More and more buyers have a redline list – things that they ask their buyers to watch for in products. If they learn that these chemicals are present, then they are encouraged not to buy that product.

When was the last time you looked at your MSDS sheet or had a sales training class on it? Can you make a solid statement that there are no POPs in your product (Pervasive Organic Pollutants).

Go HERE for the original POP “Dirty Dozen” followed by nine more added recently. How well would your sales staff do on a “POP” quiz?

If you were selling into the LACCD, the following have been redlined with exceptions found here.

Arsenic

Cadmium

CFCs

Cholorinated Polyethylene &

Chlorosulfonated Polyethlene (except HDPE and LDPE)

Chrome

Creosote

Formaldehyde

Halogenated Flame Retardants (PBDE, TBBA, HBCD, Deca-BDE, TCPP, TCEP, Decholorane Plus, Bromine or Chlorine

HCFCs

Lead

Mercury

Neoprene (chloroprene)

Phthalates

Polyurethane

PVC

They will also want to know if steps have been taken to reduce the use of toxic materials in the production process, and are there any outputs from the manufacturing process of this product on any of the following toxic materials lists?

EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) List

Office of the Environmental Health Hazard Assessment List of Chemicals know to cause Cancer and Birth Defects.

DOE BNL Carcinogens Table

Next time you hold a sales training, be sure to include a good game of ”Toxin Bingo” .

What’s Your Life Cycle Assessment for Sales?

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:46:33 +0000

Part 4 of 16 Things for a Green Sales Edge.

Can you send your client to the public posting of your product’s Life Cycle Assessment?
Do you know which LCA you used as the base format?
Do you know which LCA facts to use when talking to different sell team members – in the most transparent way?

LCA’s are the backbone of everything you claim in your collateral or apply in a standard’s certification. LCAs are somewhat like accounting of money except your accounting for your environmental and social impacts. In LCA land what facts you gather and how you weigh the facts later is determined by which LCA you use. And just like accounting for money, a good “CPA” of LCAs will be needed to get you through the extensive list of questions. LCA specialists are ready to help you.

The ISO LCA is garnering global endorsements to become THE matrix to use, but conduct a due diligence of latest softwares and solutions before you venture in. This is important to know as different LCA structures provide different results. Don’t be blindsided by a question that deserves a two word answer that can distract you from closing.

What the high C’s team wants to know:

For CEOs / Cover their assets proof. Your LCA provides proof for the facts seen on the collateral that nothing will come back to bite the CEO’s company. For example, your paint has no VOCs that could bother their clients or was made by children in Brazil.

For CMOs / Mission matches. Find the facts that line up the most with the company’s mission and use them to anchor your conversations. If they strive to save energy, show how your processes save energy at your manufacturing facilities and (if applicable) will save them energy in using or disposing of the product.

For CSO (Sustainability Officers) / Be fluent in Eco-language. You wouldn’t leave your tech person behind if you were presenting software, don’t leave your SO behind even if they are so-so. At least you have one and that’s a step ahead of others.

For CFOs / Save money and reduce risk. LCA’s generally flag where you an cut back and save money by doing things differently or avoiding long-term risk. Talk to the CFO about how this product will also help them avoid long-term risk and liability and therefore lower insurance rates or clean up issues.

We’ve gone from green to sustainable to “prove it” in just a few years. Now the final question is “whose proof are you going to use”? Today, while you’re waiting for a dominate standard to take the lead, get your LCA done and be ready to answer all questions your prospect team will have. (free LCA software here)