5 minute read
A man of principle
TOBY ROBINS has been extoling the virtues of environmentally sustainable office supplies for 30 years. He has some strong advice for dealers on the need to push the agenda for the sake of the planet – and their bottom line
Bing Crosby’s standard White Christmas will, no doubt, be on heavy rotation in retailers across the nation currently, but it has only happened on four occasions in the past 50 years in the UK, according to the Met Office. With the effects of climate change, it is likely that white Christmases will be even more infrequent in the future, so dreaming of them is all we will be doing.
However, there have been warnings about climate change for more than 30 years, and exhortations to use more sustainable products for just as long. In the office supplies sector, Toby Robins was one of the first to do so when he set up Greenworld Supplies in July 1989.
“It was down to a personal belief that something was happening to the environment,” he says. “Things
are changing; we should recognise this and do something about it. The more we learn about it, the more we realise we do have to do something about it. That was where the incentive first came from. I was ahead of the game on that one but, even now, the conviction remains and is becoming increasingly shared.”
While Toby left Greenworld some years ago, he is still involved in sustainability issues as a consultant at environmental and sustainability consultancy Green Element, and as a director of the British Association for Sustainable Sport. He also maintains a keen interest in the office supplies sector.
SHARED VALUES The principles of selling sustainable products haven’t really changed in those 30 years. “When I started up people were buying from me because of the environmental credentials; we had shared values,” he says. “These weren’t people buying on price, so it didn’t matter if a rival supplier came back with a better price offer.
“You have to sell with sincerity and integrity because you are selling to someone’s values. If you demonstrate that you don’t share those values – that you are just nodding in that direction for commercial gain - then it destroys your credibility and, not surprisingly, you don’t keep that customer. I’m not saying it is a religion, but I am saying it is about purpose-driven, value-based, sales.”
However, he concedes that, back then, environmental friendliness could be a difficult sell to customers. “That was why I had to have sincerity, integrity and passion,” he says. “But it didn’t mean I couldn’t sell to anyone else. My operating costs were very low; I was selling into a local community and those people who didn’t come on board because of the green credentials at the time sure as hell had them repeated and repeated to them until the education had got through.
“Sustainability made it into a fourth criterion in the
decision-making process; if you have the same product, at the same price, with the same level of service but strip out the environmental impact, is there any reason you wouldn’t buy from me? So if they come back and say they aren’t bothered about the environment, you still have the same product with an improved level of service – it didn’t stop me selling on other grounds but it put environment on the agenda for people, which was great.”
COMMERCIAL SENSE Today sustainability and environmental issues are an increasing priority for many customers and, while pushing an environmental agenda has a philosophy behind it, it also makes commercial sense.
“My margin as a dealer was very strong throughout the time I had the company as it wasn’t price I was selling on,” Toby says.
“A lot of environmental initiatives have always made commercial sense anyway – route optimisation and things like that. I was running alternatively fuelled vehicles in London even before the congestion charge but, when that kicked in, it saved me £2,000 per year per vehicle. It makes sense to consolidate your customers’ deliveries and increase the average order value. There is a lot of stuff that makes environmental sense but has been done with cost in mind.”
It can mean a change in sales approach though, Toby says. “When selling, I would go in and try to reduce the amount that my customers were buying. I would go in and say, ‘I am not interested in haggling over the price of a lever-arch file; I don’t want to sell
you one for £2.50. I want to sell you one for £10 because then I know it will be of a quality that means it can be re-used and all you will need is a new spine label.’”
This would save the customer money in not having to make repeat purchases, but also make Toby money in terms of margin. “It is a very different approach.”
Another key point for Toby in enabling businesses to successfully sell sustainable products is to position themselves as partner to customers. “It doesn’t matter how many competitors come knocking on your door - if that is the basis of your relationship, they aren’t going anywhere. You might have reduced their overall spend, but you have lifetime value far greater than it ever would be if your sales focus was price-based.”
In building these relationships, dealers can present to a customer’s green teams. “They tend to be drawn
from every department in a company; having a champion in every department makes it very difficult for the procurement guys to say ‘I am changing supplier’.
Toby advises dealers to be aware now of how environmental issues are becoming more of a priority – and that it is only going to move up the corporate agenda in the years to come.
