GREEN is the new GR$$N

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A few weeks back, Jill Konrath of Selling to Big Companies posted the question, “What is your prediction for sales in the coming year”? Since Jill’s popular site gathers the best in sales leadership, I was very interested in learning what top gurus would say. They offered many valuable ideas, but I was surprised that no one mentioned GREEN VALUE , sustainable attributes or Life Cycle Assessments in their predictions. Where was the need to know how to speak green to big companies, campuses or municipalities?

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In the next 16 posts I’ll provide what we look for at the Los Angeles Community College District (where I consult) and how you can add green value to your sales process. First let’s get everyone up to speed on where the green market is now and why it’s critical to be seen as a ‘10′ at the beginning of this eco-market decade.

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1. It’s already past the tipping point…

In the Business to Consumer world, Wal Mart is asking their vendors to be fluent in GREEN. Because Wal Mart cares, the Sustainability Consortium came about to help develop a global program to benchmark Sustainable Standards based on science, not a great marketing program.

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In the Business to Business world, the USGBC has been on top of the green game for years via their LEED certification process for creating green buildings. LEED provides the framework for tallying credits that can be substantiated; for example putting a bike rack in front of your building will earn you credit for encouraging lower carbon footprints in transportation. What it doesn’t do is ask, “What’s the carbon footprint of that bike rack while it was being manufactured across its entire manufacturing supply chain”?

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The Los Angeles Community College District, is asking its vendors to provide green value statements with their product bids even though the LACCD is required by the state of California to buy via the lowest cost. It’s an awkward position to be in as the LACCD wants to walk the talk, but it is hindered by state requirements. These green value statements are a first-step-bridge to “green talking points” that the LACCD can quote from later should a product be selected. In other words… it’s a competitive edge.

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As for cost…. today, providing a green product does add dollars, but those dollars are now getting in line with the traditional options. At the same time, bid requirements are raising the green bar for what is acceptable and what isn’t; for example, the LACCD has a list of banned chemicals. (we’ll talk about it in an upcoming post).

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In a couple of years, I predict that only products that can meet sustainable standards will be part of the bid process regardless of the institution. The winning standard will be made under consensus, be LCA based, and require third party audits. At some point everyone will have to walk the talk all the way down to the products they use. It isn’t enough that buildings may be energy neutral, water efficient and toxin free if the manufacturing processes to provide the products used, aren’t.

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2. Academics are leading the way and setting students on a new course

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The LACCD is comprised of 10 campuses serving over 225,000 students. It is deploying over $6 billion in bond money to make all 10 campuses as sustainable as possible. That’s a lot of influence and getting a Master Agreement Contract would make a nice commission check for anyone. In Wal Mart terms, it’s a gorilla of B2B market influence. Getting your products embedded with green market leaders like the LACCD may lock in your green market position for this entire decade. That’s worth knowing how to speak green.

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3. Companies, municipalities and governments are under extreme pressure to bring down energy, water cost while lowering employees exposure to toxins, they need decision-making help.

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There are over 300 sustainable standards all vying to be THE pro-active benchmark that everyone follows. At the moment, with no clear market winner, no one knows which standard to certify to that will provide the most market clout. What you can do is start the LCA process which will substantiate the claims you make on a later standard and back up any sales and collateral material. Meanwhile read up on what the ASTM E2129 standard requires. You can also go to Green Building Pages and see how many questions you can answer of the 160 asked. GBP covers the ASTM 2120E questions. Don’t be put off if your product isn’t a “building” product. The questions pertain to both the B2C and B2B worlds.

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Clearly the next 10 years will be revolutionary times. The next 16 posts will help position your sales staff to the group leading the Ecolution.

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NEXT: Finding Green Marketing Safety in OSHA