Over the past few years, sustainability legislation, industry guidance and environmental best practices have evolved at an unprecedented pace

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in the March/April issue of Dealer Support

For businesses operating in the office products and workplace supplies sector, keeping up with these changes isn’t just a compliance issue – it’s a sales imperative. As customers become more eco-conscious and demanding in their expectations, the ability to confidently support and advise them on sustainability is now a critical part of building trust and closing deals.

In this excerpt from our Green and Eco Deep Dive, Paul Savill, product manager for office and digital papers at Antalis, explores the areas where business leaders must invest in their own training and development.

“First and foremost, business leaders must commit to educate themselves and their workforce to ensure everyone has a detailed understanding of this arena plus the relevant insights. Aside from the physical product/ service there are several aspects that must be investigated and understood, these include but are not limited to:

Regulatory/Technical

Leaders must stay updated on evolving sustainability legislation, ESG frameworks and best practices. This knowledge helps them not only ensure compliance but also leverage new opportunities for sustainable innovation. In addition, a well-developed understanding on how to measure and manage environmental impacts, such as carbon footprint and compensation calculations, energy and resource optimisation is crucial.

Supply Chain

Having an in-depth understanding of sustainable supply chain practices and risk assessment enables leaders to support their customers achieve their own goals.

Communication

It’s essential to effectively communicate the tangible business benefits of sustainable practices. Leaders should hone their ability to align their sustainability initiatives with customer needs. The inability to understand, demonstrate and more importantly verbalise how new legislations and initiatives work when directly related to an organisation’s sustainability commitments can be hugely detrimental and suggests a lack of authenticity.

Buyers and consumers are becoming more demanding and more “questioning” in their behaviours. The inability to be able to respond to a customer’s feedback can lead to a loss of credibility on the subject matter, particularly if your competitor has a better and more readily digestible grasp of the detail topic. The key here is to engage your supplier and to challenge them to offer you the support and guidance you need. They should have a broad selection of resource and documentation to demonstrate any product, manufacturing process and service claim with detailed narrative and supporting documentation.”