Sustainable Archives of Evidence: what customers want
As more businesses commit to sustainability, customers are becoming more savvy about these types of claims and requiring proof. For this reason, as well as the corresponding commitment to transparency and honesty that sustainable businesses usually make, most now publish some type of further information and evidence about their sustainable practices. This can range from an annual report to “smart labels” or online repositories. For the purposes of this post, I will refer to all of these as “Archives” or “Evidence” interchangeably.
Many customers who are brave enough to wade into the dark waters of sustainability documentation find themselves sorting through these for hours trying to find answers without getting what they want. Rather than being pleased by the depth of information offered, the common response is to suspect that companies are trying to hide the “important bits” in a deluge of data and small print.
This is especially true when companies recognise and reward employee contributions. Most employees want to work for companies they believe in, and which they believe are making the world a better place. Archives such as these provide them with that proof they are.
Your archives will be ideally: easily searchable, consistently updated and have in-depth data that is visually displayed. This approach enables business sustainability practices to be more ethical and transparent as well as practical and interactive for customers.
As these are published, the posts will be linked on our Step 3: Archives/Reporting page.
"22 - Former Records Office at Roehampton" by Bank of England CC BY-ND 2.0
Customers want informative and useful archives
Customers and companies no longer want old-style archives. Even when they are available on-line, old-style archives are usually made up of dense, administrative documents full of highly technical and industry-specific vocabulary. This makes their information difficult to access.Many customers who are brave enough to wade into the dark waters of sustainability documentation find themselves sorting through these for hours trying to find answers without getting what they want. Rather than being pleased by the depth of information offered, the common response is to suspect that companies are trying to hide the “important bits” in a deluge of data and small print.
Archives are most successful when your employees contribute
When archives become a shared resource that employees take ownership for contributing to collectively, they are the most successful.This is especially true when companies recognise and reward employee contributions. Most employees want to work for companies they believe in, and which they believe are making the world a better place. Archives such as these provide them with that proof they are.
"VakaYiko Symposium 2016" by INASPinfo CC0 1.0
Evidence archives can deepen engagement
Responsible businesses attract responsible customers. They will have questions they want answered and for this reason often will read through your small print and archives. Instead of seeing this as a problem, this can be used as an opportunity. Customers like this are looking for reassurance, and if you do reassure them, you can often win their business for the long-term.Your archives will be ideally: easily searchable, consistently updated and have in-depth data that is visually displayed. This approach enables business sustainability practices to be more ethical and transparent as well as practical and interactive for customers.
Sustainability stories need to be honest
Some companies worry that this means they have to have a story that shows they are perfect. Interestingly, most responsible customers do not want or need this. They value honest appraisals of what your business can and cannot offer. This means that while your story and archives have to be coherent, comprehensible and answer the questions your customers have, most importantly they need to be honest.As these are published, the posts will be linked on our Step 3: Archives/Reporting page.
