The environment matters! The concern over the environment does affect people’s choices of business. We bring our own recyclable grocery bags to food markets, we use less paper in our offices, we adjust our office lighting, we use more environmentally friendly detergents to wash our clothes, and most of us are willing to spend more for “green” products and packaging.
Green marketing is not just the weekend garden place you can go to buy fresh vegetables, fruits, and home-made goods in your community; it is a tried and true marketing strategy to get more customers and make more money. There are no special customer service tricks in going green, but there are some basic principles to be followed to ensure a successful endeavor.
Most important in green marketing is to be true to an organization’s environment saving campaign. A business has to be consistent. For instance, Mary S. owns a shoe store, and encourages her customers to bring their own recyclable cotton made bags to her store when they go shopping. She no longer accepts cardboard or the plastic packaging in the boxes from the manufacturers; working in her own little way to cut down on paper and plastic goods, and when a customer buys a pair of shoes, the customer just puts them in their reusable bag. Rarely does she ever get a complaint, and word of mouth has brought in new customers just because Mary S has stepped out of the “box” in a very traditional community.
Part two is that Mary S actually educates her customers as to the overuse of plastic packaging and how plastic bags, packaging, and bottles end up in landfills or oceans. She tells people how plastics are made up of petroleum-based, and non biodegradable materials. Since we live within moments of the Atlantic Ocean, she is able to be even more convincing by explaining how plastics are designed to last forever and do not break down, are not digested by marine organisms, and describes the potential danger to our oceans and our futures.
Let’s face it; it’s all part of customer service. We do our best to provide the best products and services for all of our customers. As part of the living planet, we have the opportunity to educate and then let our customers participate. Now more people may choose to utilize better practices in their lives; use less plastic, and even use alternative packaging.
“My customers don’t have any qualms about walking out with a product from my store that hasn’t been wrapped. I give them a sales receipt, and they’re grateful because I reflect my savings back to them, plus I’m helping the environment and actually doing something more for my customers. I’m making them aware of our planet, and they like it! They tell their friends, and we’re all utilizing new ideas to make this a greener world,” stated Mary S.
photo credit: siftnz
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