Sustaining a green bottom line

Printing vendors are actively developing products that reduce costs through lower energy consumption and duplex printing, and also ensuring that new products comply with all necessary legislation, helping to make printing green for every business.

Xerox (XRX) believes that ‘green’ isn’t just a buzzword, but a tangible, cost-efficient solution for customers. It also has the potential to affect positively the customer’s bottom line. It is important for resellers to communicate the benefits of sustainable business to ensure buy-in of green. This can be achieved by:

o    Emphasising the commercial implications and cost savings of a move towards an integrated sustainable solution, as opposed to delivering philanthropic messaging
o    Communicating the importance of sustainability from a regulatory perspective
o    Highlighting efficiency improvements associated with the transition to sustainable tactics
o    Emphasising to the customer the internal and external reputation benefits that will be achieved by opting to go green
o    Suggesting the positive effects that sustainable solutions have for customers’ new business prospects

Below is a list of suggestions to ensure that the reseller’s sustainable advice is relevant and not considered ‘greenwashing’:

o    Don’t oversell the green element
o    Be transparent and don’t use ‘tech-speak’ or marketing jargon to communicate the benefits of green
o    If you don’t have proof of savings or benefits, don’t make false claims regarding the success of sustainable solutions
o    Publicity stunts, including tree planting and donations to charity does not mean that your organisation has implemented a sustainable solution