Building up a business case for sustainability

You know I like to work with people instead of against them and co-create results...

But sometimes, you have to combine soft skills, empathy and listening, with some solid logical arguments to sway people to adopt sustainability: you have to build the business case for sustainability.

When I worked as a sustainability consultant in construction, most of what I heard was: "If you build a sustainable building, it's going to save you money during its operational phase!"

But guess what, that is not something a developer (who builds buildings to sell them immediately) cares about. Why would they care about some potential advantages that will realise when they have already moved on to the next project?

That's why is so important to understand your audience's needs and wants: you'll be able to tailor your influencing arguments to what they need and want (which hopefully overlap...).

So here it is, a (hopefully handy) guide to the main kinds of benefits of sustainability - independently from the sector.

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I suggest you take your time to understand their needs and wants so that you can tailor your arguments and suggest ONLY the relevant benefits to them - and remember that money is not always the only motivator, even in business.

So for instance, a new business, keen to make its name in a crowded market, might want to adopt sustainability because it wants to have an advantage over its competitors and build a reputation.

Another one that relies on overseas operations might want to shift to sustainability to ensure business resilience and manage risks.

In any case, remember that what motivates you (most likely, the ethical side and to do the right thing) would not necessarily motivate another person - but so long as you influence them to adopt a sustainable outlook, I'd say: who cares? All roads lead to Rome, as we say in Italy.

This article was originally written for the Green Gorilla weekly newsletter. If you liked it, subscribe to receive more articles like this and learn how to communicate sustainability better, how to be more productive without selling your soul to the work devil, and how to make an impact in the world. Here is the link: https://newsletter.thegreengorilla.co.uk/

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