DestinationGreen - Helping Salespeople Sell Green Products

Volume 4 Issue 9 - September 2008

Welcome to DestinationGreen!

It’s hard to begin any discussion these days without commenting on recent events in Washington, DC, the Wall Street “rescue plan” and related economic events. But in DestinationGreen, our focus is not to assign blame or resolve political disputes. Rather our goal is to “accelerate the adoption of Green Cleaning”.

While we certainly hope and believe that our politicians and others will come together and do what’s right for our country and economy, but we recognize that this will in the short-term slow the economy and demand for cleaning products and services. However, I still remain incredibly optimistic about Green Cleaning. To me, organizations will continue down the green path and while other capital intensive investments may be placed on hold, I believe that because Green Cleaning is typically cost neutral and often thought of as the “low hanging fruit”, it will continue and even accelerate in the marketplace.

For those of you who attended the recent ISSA Convention, I’m sure you’ll agree that it was amazing --- green was everywhere! For us it was extraordinarily busy. In addition to exhibiting, we made 3 presentations including an Introduction to Green Cleaning, Advanced Green Cleaning, and an Update on LEED-EB. As a subscriber to DestinationGreen, please click here if you’d like a copy of our presentations. After all, if we are going to help anyone succeed, we hope it’s you!

And now that ISSA is over we are focusing on two upcoming Conferences of major importance. In mid-October is IFMA’s World Workplace where we will be releasing our newest book --- The Business of Green Cleaning. In addition to being filled with lots of new and valuable information, because it is targeting facility managers (the customers of the cleaning industry), I believe it will be very influential. And then in mid-November is the US Green Building Council’s GreenBuild Conference where we will be giving a half-day educational workshop that will also provide attendees the opportunity to be recognized as a Green Cleaning Professional from Green Cleaning University.

In this issue of DestinationGreen you’ll find our Green Selling Tip which is on following-up after the ISSA Show, and we have also began a new series of our archived Green Selling Tips because so many new subscribers have recently joined. Our first archived Green Selling Tips is on Building Your Bundle of Green Cleaning Products.

Also, we are really please to announce two exciting developments within our Group. See the articles on Cynthia Schultz joining The Ashkin Group to lead our increased effort on Sustainability and our effort to develop a “dashboard” to help cleaning companies measure their progress towards becoming a sustainable company.

And finally, with the US Presidential elections now just 5 weeks away we are conducting a short poll which will take you less than 5 minutes to complete. Please know that we remain nonpartisan and believe that both candidates will increase support for green issues compared to the current Administration. But we’d like to gage your thoughts.

Take care,

Steve

As always, we encourage you to share your personal and professional strategies for “Going Green” with us for future columns. Submit them to editor@destinationgreen.com.

‘BUSINESS OF GREEN CLEANING’ BOOK DEBUTS AT WORLD WORKPLACE

The IFMA Foundation is pleased to announce the publication of a new green cleaning book for facility professionals. “The Business of Green Cleaning,” by Stephen Ashkin and David Holly, will be unveiled at the International Facility Management Association’s World Workplace 2008 Conference & Expo, held Oct. 15-17 at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.

“The Business of Green Cleaning” has been designed to make the adoption or transformation of a green cleaning program easy. While much of the book focuses on background information and concepts that facility managers need to successfully implement a green cleaning program, it also features an appendix with practical green cleaning tools and a collection of 25 public- and private-sector case studies from around the world.

Green Selling Tip: Sales Follow-up After a Trade Show

I have noticed that many organizations (including both end-users and suppliers) are experiencing hard, stressful times. As the economy struggles, many building owners are becoming “careful” with their spending and cutting back unnecessary expenses, which often affects cleaning. In addition, some organizations are cutting back on personnel, which places significant stress on the remaining workers who have to cover the added workload, as well as wonder if they might be the next to go.

In these times, stress can take a serious toll. Our customers and prospects may be stressed-out and place added pressure on us. They may be more short-tempered further adding to our stress levels.

As a sales person you know that we have to be prepared in order to take advantage of opportunities. Often times, making the initial sale is the easiest part of the relationship. But if our preparation isn’t thorough, it is easy to let the big fish either get away, or end up with a sale which is significantly less than we could have otherwise achieved.

Historically the selling process resulted in replacing a competitor’s product with one that was either slightly better performing or slightly lower in price. But either way, it is a single product.

Cynthia A. Schultz Joins The Ashkin Group’s Sustainability Team
Job: Develop a Cleaning Industry Specific Dashboard to Help Measure a Company’s Progress Towards Becoming a Sustainable Enterprise

Bloomington, IN—September 23, 2008—The Ashkin Group, a professional-cleaning consulting firm and leading advocate of Green-cleaning practices, is forming a new division on Sustainability Practices at its Bloomington, Indiana, headquarters. Cynthia Schultz, who has just recently joined the firm, will be heading the new division.

With extensive experience in the design and development of Web-based training and information systems for commercial and not-for-profit businesses, Schultz will be assisting in the development of Ashkin’s “Sustainability Dashboard.”

The new Web-based system will provide the tools industry professionals and facility managers need to measure their companies’ progress in becoming Greener and more sustainable businesses. This way, they can responsibly use resources to meet present needs without compromising the needs of future generations.

The Ashkin Group Green and Politics Survey

As you know, the Ashkin Group promotes the use of Green cleaning products and sustainability. We are a nonpartisan organization that does not endorse any candidate or party.

However, with the election fast approaching, we would like to know your thoughts on the election and its possible impact on the Green/sustainability movement in the United States.

The following survey is brief and should take about three minutes to complete.

Your comments are entirely confidential. We are told only the results of the vote.

Take the Survey Here

CALLS FOR ACTION

Call For Presentations for CleanMed 2009
CleanMed is the premier environmental conference for leaders in health care. The conferences attract key decision makers from across the health care supply chain. Applications are due November 3.

Green News Roundup: This Month's Top Headlines


Sustainability in the Workplace My Company Just Started a Sustainability Department -- What Do I Do Now? The creation of a sustainability department almost always sparks an overwhelmingly positive response from employees. The reality is that workers are often ahead of the game when it comes to environmental concern -- they've been waiting for their employers to embrace sustainability and green business and are relieved to finally see concrete steps taken in that direction. Read More Here
Green Schools Schools Rapidly Turning Green Across America. Tens of thousands of students across the country will go back to school this fall to find their halls and classrooms turning green – as in environmentally sound and healthy, energy efficient and high performing. Hundreds of thousands of additional students are poised to attend environmentally designed schools within the next few years, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. Read More Here
Green Politics Diverse coalition calls upon Congress and next President to make energy efficiency a national priority. More than thirty groups issued a call to action for the federal government and states to make energy efficiency a frontline approach to addressing energy supply constraints and reducing global warming emissions. Read More Here
The Greenwash Green can be deceiving. Of the 1,018 products surveyed, all but one failed to live up fully to their green boasts. Words like nontoxic were used in meaninglessly vague ways. Terms like Energy Star certified were in fact not backed up by certification. Read More Here