Consumers today are actively seeking out green products and services because they:

• Have a limited — or beneficial — impact on the environment
• Improve safety and prevent injuries and illnesses
• Are typically higher quality
• Provide greater satisfaction and peace of mind to purchasers.

Studies show that three out of four people who walk through your door are willing to pay more for environmentally-friendly services like Inertion.

The only barrier: Some consumers have been burned by products and services that are associated with the “greenish” or “greenwash” phenomenon.

These are supposedly environmentally friendly offerings that are backed by misleading or bogus claims, or are provided by organizations that aren’t really committed to being green.

Being viewed as “greenish” or as a “greenwasher” could damage the reputation of your business and prevent people who care about the earth from working with you.

Here are some simple and easy things you can do to make it clear to your clients that your business is committed to protecting the planet. They will help you convert more customers to genuinely pro-environment solutions like Inertion.

1. Don’t just talk the talk. Actually walk the walk.

It’s not enough to say you’re committed to a healthy planet. You must show people in your community that you are, as well.

• Be proactive. Don’t wait for customers to ask for Inertion. Take the initiative and tell them about it. If you wait, your competitors could beat you to the sale and encourage your clients to move all their business to them.
• Participate in neighborhood clean-up projects and other similar green events. Have your co-workers join you and ask them to wear t-shirts that promote your business. Provide them with information about Inertion and the other green products and services you offer so they can have smart discussions about them with other volunteers and people in the community.
• Empower employees. Supply them with information about climate change, clean technology, green buying habits and other related issues. Having a depth of knowledge will help them convince people to take advantage of Inertion and other earth-friendly offerings. The Inertion.org website has a lot of information about these topics.
• Pay attention to details. Doing small things like using recycled materials and going paperless for delivering things like manuals and receipts will demonstrate that you’re committed to doing the right things. Also, always make sure you and your team dispose of waste properly, even when customers aren’t watching.
• Make a donation. Instead of doing traditional marketing for Inertion and other earth-friendly products and services, offer to make a donation of a percentage of sales to a green organization, such as the Sierra Club. This will turn the transaction into a win for the consumer and they’ll appreciate that it’s an even bigger win for the planet.

2. Be honest and transparent.

Purchasers of green products and services are savvy. They know when they’re being “sold”. That’s why it’s necessary to give them access to detailed information about the products and services you offer. One way to do this is to share a link to the Inertion.org website.

Explaining the pluses (example: reduces negative impacts to the environment) and the minuses (example: may cost more) will help build the kind of trust these consumers value and will make it more likely they will continue working with you over the long term.

3. Take advantage of third party information.

Environmentalists love facts and figures and care deeply about knowing everything about the things they buy.

That’s one of the reasons we developed Inertion.org. It’s packed full of impartial information developed by experts in their fields. It will help your customers understand why using compressed air to fill tires is bad and why nitrogen is a far better solution.

While you’re at it, look into certifications your business can earn from outside organizations that identify it as genuinely green.

4. Consistently promote your business as earth-friendly.

You can’t simply turn on your commitment to green business practices for customers who care about them and turn it off for others. Both groups will see through the lack of a genuine commitment.

If you want to be an eco-friendly organization, you need to live it every day with every customer. You never know: The person who isn’t passionate about the environment may have friends who are and they’ll recommend you to them.

5. Don’t limit yourself to promoting green benefits exclusively.

Focusing only on earth-friendly benefits could make it more likely that you could become a target of people looking to “out” greenwashers.

Instead, balance your sales discussions with other types of benefits and features. For example, Inertion is great for the environment, but it also improves vehicle performance, safety and handling. In addition, it saves drivers money on tires because it makes them last longer.

Not only will this keep you from becoming a target, it will help build credibility and trust with customers and sell them more environmentally positive products and services like Inertion.