As more organizations look to improve sustainability, consultants should look for ways to help clients meet this goal and use that ability as a selling point.
Currently, 80% of CEOs say that in response to changing stakeholder expectations, they’re making changes to minimize the social and environmental impacts of their business operation, according to PwC’s 2016 global CEO survey. Plus, the study finds, 76% think business success in the 21st century will be redefined by more than just financial profit. This sentiment likely indicates that many organizations will want to make changes to improve sustainability.
Sustainability’s Financial Incentive
Still, many businesses are focusing on sustainability because of their own customers’ interests. Globally, 66% of consumers are willing to pay more to purchase from a sustainable company, according to a 2015 Nielsen study. Plus, 72% of 15-20-year-olds feel the same, finds Nielsen. So as those young people come of age and gain purchasing power, sustainable brands will likely see even greater benefits.
Sustainability is already paying off though, with Nielsen finding that sales of consumer goods from sustainable brands grew over 4% during the year leading up to the study, while those without a demonstrated commitment to sustainability had meager growth of less than 1%.
With that growth in mind, consultants and their clients do not have to look at sustainability in a silo but can instead work that change into their broader efforts so that they get the benefit of the market knowing that the company is making that commitment. So, if a consultant is helping with a CEO succession plan, for instance, they might want to look at successors who have experience in sustainability initiatives.
Yet even if companies are skeptical or unmoved by the financial benefits of sustainability, they may be motivated to reduce their environmental footprint due to societal concerns over climate change, or they may need to report certain environmental metrics to regulators or investors.
How Consultants Can Improve Clients’ Sustainability
Regardless of clients’ motives, consultants have ample opportunity to market their ability to help improve sustainability, just as they would sell their ability to help with any number of other types of initiatives.
Yet consultants do not necessarily need environmental expertise to help. Using the same analytical skills they likely already have in-house, consultants can set clients up with energy analytics software (EAS) to easily measure and report energy usage and sustainability metrics like greenhouse gas emissions.
Rather than simply guessing at ways to reduce energy usage to be more environmentally friendly, EAS can help identify which processes have the largest impact. So instead of using less lighting, for instance, using less air conditioning might result in greater energy savings, and that type of insight would become clear when using EAS, as it provides a breakdown of energy costs by source.
Additionally, EAS can help identify when periods of high overall grid demand are likely to occur. During these high demand periods, utilities often turn to less efficient power producers in order to meet the increase in energy needs. So by using less energy during these periods, companies can reduce utilities’ need to access these power plants.
Expanding the Scope of Sustainability
While some clients might be comfortable using EAS on their own, consultants can provide additional value by tying energy reduction tactics into larger projects, such as getting clients to implement distributed electricity generation and storage solutions. These solutions allow organizations to access energy from local sources, some of which they might own, rather than relying on a utility company to provide all their energy.
As a result, businesses gain more control and can take actions such as using renewable energy sources or switching from the main grid to these local sources during periods of high grid demand in order to avoid getting their energy from less efficient power plants.
So with many stakeholders wanting improved sustainability and with the help of EAS to meet this need, consultants should make this capability a selling point.
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