Green Goes Mainstream? Customer service and the green agenda

The green agenda is an opportunity for organisations to show leadership and innovation to benefit society, their customers and business performance. There is growing recognition of the scale of change required across the economy and society but the roadmap to enable change is less clear. The restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 lockdowns have perhaps given us a taste of what a drop in emissions looks like. But achieving deep and sustained change, in the context of acute economic uncertainty, will require innovation and commitment from government, organisations and individuals.

What has changed is that the green agenda has moved from being a branch of corporate social responsibility to a key strategic driver affecting operations, supply chains, products and services, customer engagement, employee recruitment and engagement. Our research suggests indeed that many organisations are highly focused on sustainability impact of their operations and supply chains. Yet the level of commitment and focus varies by sector and size of organisation. Only 41% of the organisations we surveyed published an environmental impact report that is available to customers.

Environmental sustainability is now a mainstream concern; almost all customers care about the environment and know that action is needed. They are looking to organisations to demonstrate
a credible commitment to sustainability in their operations and business practices and help their customers make sustainable choices. In this research, we highlight the key enablers for organisations to integrate the green agenda into their customer proposition. Organisations need to understand the issues that resonate strongly with their customers. The environmental benefits created by products and services need to be relevant, specific and credible. Customers want to make environmentally sustainable choices as part of a coherent offer that meets their needs for price, quality, reliability and service.