Are You Ignoring Potential Sales? 4/5/2011 11:21:00 AM 
Can anyone afford to ignore potential sales in today’s economy; the answer is obviously very few. Despite the obvious answer, some do and they do so only because they are in denial of the importance environmental issues hold with many customers, both commercial and residential.
Before you sign this off as “just another green article,” give these facts consideration:
• A surprising 82 percent of Americans say they're still buying green products despite changes in the economy.
• “…more than half (52%) still rated a firm’s eco-consciousness as “very” or “somewhat” important, compared to 32% who were neutral, and only 16% who said this was not very important.”
• Federal Building projects now require LEED Gold as the minimum requirement. The emphasis on LEED extends to both state and local governments including these requirements for commercial development.
Prior to doing research for this article I was under the mistaken impression that green was most important to the 18 to 35 year old consumer group. I found that to be only partially true; there is a far more important demographic: education and income, independent of age. People with advanced degrees lead in green awareness; they also have the most buying power and are willing to pay a premium for green products.
In addition to retail customers there is an ever increasing focus on the part of a wide spectrum of companies to present a green image. Green is chic, it is important and it isn’t going away. The majority of high end millwork projects in the New York City market now include green requirements, a trend I have seen increase steadily over the past few years. This trend is broad; it includes health care, financial, legal, educational, retail and commercial office spaces.
Another surprise in my research, commercial green awareness goes far beyond the high end of Manhattan businesses. Few would be surprised by Starbucks but green is increasingly important to companies such as Chic-fil-A and even Denny’s restaurants.
In the world of kitchen cabinets 140 companies are now certified in the KCMA Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP). Polls show that green buyers say third-party certification is important to verify credibility and not simply “greenwashing”. You might believe offering what you perceive as a higher value product would assure your sales; however the reality is the sale to that higher educated, higher income demographic will likely go to one of those other 140 sources. Can you afford to take that chance?
Both retail and commercial customers want to deal with companies that walk the talk and have also adopted green as their own corporate culture. Don’t ignore green implementation opportunities in your own business, some of which can save you money. Then make sure you get the story of your own “greening” in front of your customers.
There is no area of our industry that is not or will not be impacted by green; I find no good business rational to ignore this market. Spring is here; green up your products as well as your own business and image.
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Created by Lakisha on 8/16/2011 1:30:53 PM
I'm shocked that I found this info so elsaiy.
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