You're in the sustainability and Net Zero space, how do you attract sceptical clients?

Given the near constant media mentions of climate change and ecological break down, you'd think that selling sustainability, Net Zero, energy efficiency and related environmental consultancy into businesses would be a shoe-in these days. But the reality is a lot of business leaders remain sceptical about it all.

Businesses have doubts

A survey of more than 2,000 executives at over 660 firms in 12 countries, carried out by the Capgemini Research Institute, found that almost half (45%) of respondents believe there is no clear business case for improving environmental sustainability.

53% said that the costs of sustainability initiatives always outweigh the benefits, with the same portion agreeing that sustainability initiatives are “a financial burden” and that they approach them as a tick-box exercise in order to maintain a social license to operate.

A separate survey by the British Business Bank found that the biggest barriers to action on Net Zero among smaller UK businesses centre on concerns about costs (35% of respondents) and feasibility (32%).

The three key themes that stand out there are:

?? No clear business case

?? Costly

?? Unfeasible

Getting it pitch perfect

So, what does this tell us?

First and foremost it strongly suggests that pitching your services as a way to save the planet isn't going to land well. Where's the business case in that?

What you need to do, instead, is demonstrate that the direction of travel is only one way; it's coming whether businesses like it or not, and so the business case is actually 'adapt or die' - you can either embrace change now and get ahead of your rivals or you can try to play catch-up later. You almost need to create a sense of jeopardy, highlighting how business-as-usual is going to erode competitiveness in the medium- to long-term.

When it comes to costs, you need to reframe the conversation. The reality is that in most cases, the bulk of improvements can be made at low cost, but also inevitably lead to savings and a bottom-line boost. Take energy efficiency - a lot can be done with behaviour change, swerving the need for investment in technology, where every kWh avoided by getting staff to think differently translates into a monetary saving.

This point also goes to the heart of the feasibility question. Right now, there's a lot of confusion about what Net Zero means. It specifically doesn't mean that every business has to reduce its carbon emissions to nil - Net Zero recognises that there will continue to be hard-to-avoid emissions and they're essentially baked-in to the whole concept. Over time, new business models may emerge and there will be changes to supply chains, but no business is expected to eliminate 100% of their CO2 emissions. The mission is to reduce them to the greatest extent possible, and a lot of that can be done easily. For instance, if your sales team commits to holding even just 10% of sales meetings on Zoom rather than driving to hold them in-person, there's an emissions saving right there.

The key, as ever, is to hone your value proposition and make sure it fully addresses customer pains and provides them with gains.

And, if you get this right, you become a much bigger part of the solution because you'll be motivating more businesses to get stuck in and make a difference.

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Want expert help with brand and performance marketing to help you attract more clients to your sustainability-focused business, backed by a solid strategy that's infused with behavioural communications designed to change opinion? Just ask, we have a wealth of experience in this area. Contact us Fifty2M .