Selling Footprints It is well documented that end users of office equipment supplies continue to increase their interest in the carbon footprint being created by the products and services they are choosing to buy and use. This fact became immediately apparent to me as I was discussing a proposal for a Managed Print Services agreement recently. The potential new customer handed me a printed sheet that was titled, "Sample questions business owners should ask to better understand how to be more ecologically responsible." The list of ecological concerns began with the company's Green Policy statement. As I was reviewing the list of concerns, the end user continued to explain, "I am more concerned with the carbon foot print that our supplies are leaving on the earth than I am with what brand they are. Under our MPS agreement, whoever we choose to do business with has to be responsible for all the service and supplies. So I am not worried about the copy quality or serviceability of our equipment. That will be your problem. You must select a product that will work up to our expectation." My prospective customer continued, "I do not care if you use HP brand supplies. I have read that many OEMs actually destroy, crush, or bury the empty copier and printer supply containers that are returned for recycling. So it is OK with us that your MPS agreement states you may use non-OEM supplies. Our concern is that the products your company chooses to provide to us for use in our copiers and printers, (covered under your MPS) will use earth friendly products." "Our Company is setting corporate sustainability goals which includes that all products we use adhere to national and regional sustainability standards and regulations for all the products and their packaging. We are requiring our suppliers to be environmentally responsible." -"We are committed to making corporate buying decisions that uphold green practices and principles in all their products manufacturing, packaging, distribution and ultimate end of life disposal. Responsible, earth friendly, green supply chain standards must be an integral part of all the products and services that we plan to purchase and use. Our goal is to use products that decrease the carbon footprint on each phase of a product's lifecycle." I was quickly realizing that my company's 20 year history of OEM authorization, great service, community involvement, industry awards won and recommendations from other local companies were of little interest to this end user. I slowly read the list of the following requirements necessary to be eligible to compete for this company's business. Items that will be considered in your evaluation of the products that we buy include: Design: 1. How does our vendor reduce the overall use of material and impact on the environment? 2. From original design to ultimate disposal, what is the total carbon foot print of the products that will be consumed by ABC Company? 3. Have any considerations been given to making these products conducive to remanufacturing or recycling into another product after its end of life as a supply product? Manufacturing: 1. What portion of the product is made out of renewable, recycled, or remanufactured material? 2. From a waste generation viewpoint, how efficient are the manufacturing processes dealing with material use, energy consumption, and emission? 3. Will your company provide indemnification from any intellectual property or patent infringement claims? Packaging: 1. While ensuring that the functional requirements of packaging are not compromised, what proportion of the total material is reused, recycled and renewable? 2. How have you reduced the size and packaging to minimize waste? 3. What testing procedures of recognized green manufacturing techniques and/or industry recognized certifications have been earned by those corporations who are manufacturing and transporting the products? 4. Will we have access to the original country of origin and the country that is doing the remanufacturing of aftermarket supplies? 5. Are there any banned or non-recyclable material used in the packaging? 6. Is your company complying with the same ecological sustainability standards and performance rating that are being required by governmental users and enterprise level corporations? 7. How are you determining and rating your level of compliance? Distribution: 1. Are you considering the impact that shipping has on the environment? 2. Are items being manufactured overseas? 3. Are recycled items sent off shore? 4. How is the ecological impact of multiple overseas shipping being considered? 5. Domestically, what type of vehicle design is being used to optimize fuel economy? 6. What clean fuel usage is being used or being considered for the future? 7. Are you using a truck idling reduction program? 8. Has your company implemented a structured daily routing optimizing plan to minimize driving mileage and/or actual road time? 9. Does your company do self delivery or use a common carrier? 10. Are you aware of which delivery companies have the most ecologically friendly delivery programs? End of life Disposal: 1. Are you tracking what happens to the products at the ultimate end of their life cycle? 2. How are the used products ultimately being disposed? 3. What is the total ultimate carbon foot print at the end of the life cycle? 4. How is this being measured? After viewing this green document, I asked our prospective customer where he had come up with this document. It was very detailed. The customer looked around and leaned close to me, replying in a whisper, "Our owner is relatively young and very green." Very green indeed I thought. Was this green document a sign of a new requirement in the selling cycle? I asked the potential customer if they had received any written responses to this document from other vendors? "No," was the instant reply. "This pretty much scares off sales reps." I immediately understood that answering this company's questionnaire would be a big road block to most sales people. I also understood it was a sign of the future. Upon closer review, I realized each question expressed a legitimate concern. As a buyer of new OEM and aftermarket products I am mainly concerned with price, quality, yield and availability. As an occupant of the Earth, who truly believes in improving sustainability, I should have many more concerns. I reached into my brief case and retrieved a thumb drive. I held it out and I asked for an electronic copy of their requests. I didn't want to waste paper and toner making copies. I already knew I would be emailing it to several vendors. I was curious about how they would respond. I thanked the potential customer for their time. "It will take me a few days, (or weeks I thought) to get this information together. Once I have all our information documented, I think I will have earned an appointment to talk directly with your young green owner." "I think I can arrange that," was my potential customer's reply. We both smiled. My question to the readers of this article is: How prepared are you to factually reply to the concerns of this potential customer? Sooner or later servicing dealers, distributors and OEMs will all be asked these types of questions. My challenge to you is to be more prepared than I was. I am still following up with many of my OEMs, re-manufacturers and distributors to get real answers that can be backed up with written policy or other substantiated proof. The spread of new technology, a growing emphasis on sustainability, green consciousness and increasing demands from our ecologically concerned customers will shape the future market for office services and supplies. Now is the time to do more than just talk about the green values within your business. We must actually walk the walk that will improve the carbon footprints of the products and services we sell and use. u Ronelle Ingram, author of Service With A Smile, also teaches service seminars. She can be reached at ronellei@msn.com.