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Should You Switch to Selling Green?

Written by: Dixie Schmatz

Article Overview: Should you switch to selling green products? It depends.

Should You Switch to Selling Green?

As with many things there is not clear answer to whether you should switch to selling green products but there are factors you can consider.

There is no question that consumers are interested in preserving and enhancing the environment. Within the past year a Roper study found that 87% of consumers were seriously concerned about the environment. It also found that, for more than 70% of consumers, a company’s environmental practices were important in helping the consumer make decisions about what they purchased, recommendations to others and where they shopped.

Just because consumers think “green” is important, does not mean that green products are necessarily your best bet. For most consumers the first criteria for a product purchase are – do I want it or need it, and does it work. The environmental aspect is a final selling point. If there are two products that both work and meet the need, then, given a choice, many will choose the one that is environmentally friendly over the other. They may even pay a small premium for the environmental aspect, but the product first has to meet the buyers’ other criteria.

So the real question here is – what does selling green mean? If you can sell green products that work as well or better that other non-green products, and have a similar price, that would likely generate good revenues - if you are good at getting the word out to the right buyers.

However, even without switching products or services, if you can advertise that your company is environmentally responsible, that can be an additional selling point for whatever you already provide.

In summary:
· You do not want to switch to green at the expense of quality or service.
· If you are thinking of switching to green products, make sure they are as effective as their non-green competition.
· If you are doing anything environmental as part of running your business, let people know. You can increase sales of your existing products or services just by promoting your green attitude. (Plus many of the environmentally friendly things you can do as a business also can save you money. You can read more about this in my article “Going Green Saves Green”.)

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  Green Biz Idea #32 - Certify Your Business as Green

Article Tags: attitude, best bet, consumers, decisions, environmental aspect, environmental practices, existing products, many things, roper, switching products



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