Now that your staff is trained on how to better understand the green and LOHAS consumers and you communicated to them what you are doing in this arena, it’s time to communicate it to your customers. It’s ironic that you can come this far, then forget or neglect to effectively communicate to your customers your green essence. I often asked myself, “how could this happen?” I often found that companies fell into one of these categories:
A. They assumed that their customers already knew what they were doing.
B. They were doing it because it was part of their value system and thought communicating it was too showy.
C. They incorporated green practices out of necessity—pushed by a vendor, supplier, corporate office, marketplace, etc., and didn’t feel customers really cared about this.
Regardless of how you as a company fell into this, it’s critical that you effectively communicate what you are doing to your customers—this starts with your staff.
So now that your staff understands who these consumers are, how do you effectively disseminate this information to your customers?
The answer? Very carefully.
Why? You need a plan, a strategy, to effectively communicate in the most environmentally friendly manner as possible.
Do remember in my last couple of posts I asked you some questions about how you were green or environmentally friendly? You need to ask yourself these same questions when you consider your external communication methods to ensure you’re not saying you are green and then practicing something else. We call that greenwashing and there are many awards you can win for that.
I’ll take a look at some of the specific ways to effectively communicate to your customer your greener efforts.
Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends
Colette Chandler
