iii) Customers “People are starting to make decisions with their pocketbook as to who they want to buy from. They’re going to map their values, both personal and societal, on those companies and make decisions based on that.” – Elizabeth Cannon, President Emerita and Professor of Engineering at the University of Calgary Customers arguably wield a lot of power to demand change from the business community. After all, if a business does not have any customers, it will not last very long. A part of the Survey Participants says customers are starting to base choices on whether they feel a business is as concerned about communities and stakeholders’ well-being as it is about generating profits. Some Survey Participants speak about how this has changed over time. John Bragg, President and Co-CEO of Oxford Frozen Foods Limited says that nowadays on a sales call with a potential business client, it is not just the financial people attending on behalf of the client. The businesses they are trying to land as clients now have people in charge of sustainability join the meetings to ask questions with respect to things other than price. John Bragg admits questions around sustainability were not always asked in the past.
Customers + Consumers + Clients Throughout the interview process, Business Leaders generally answer questions that pertain to this subject from the viewpoint of their businesses’ customers, while Accelerators, in general, speak of consumers. At times, Business Leaders speak of clients – often this is when the Business Leader leads an organization with more of a business-to-business model. For the purposes of this report, the term Customers embodies the terms Consumers and Clients.
John Manley adds, “Not everyone buys on price alone. And not all goods are without differentiation. So, to the degree that you can differentiate yourself, you can demand a better price.” Bernard Lord admits that you need to have good quality products and services to be competitive but, all else being equal, clients will choose a business because of its purpose and impact. Additionally, Sean Drygas is of the opinion that a purpose-driven business will enjoy more loyalty from its customers. At the same time, it is the opinion of a number of Survey Participants that customers are not applying the ultimate pressure point at their disposal – their purchase choices. When asked if customers are applying pressure, Shayna Bleeker answers, “In voice, certainly. Not sufficiently enough with where our dollars are going now. There are pockets of very committed, values-aligned behaviour - that’s not the majority though. The majority are wanting convenience, they’re wanting affordability.” Michael McCain adds, “Consumers say that they care about climate change but are still very sensitive to price.” A few Survey Participants argue that this behaviour is induced from an economic system built on an overvaluation of money, the need for perpetual growth, and an addiction to consumerism. Zita Cobb, Canadian businessperson and social entrepreneur, puts it simply, “If you are overvaluing money, you’re going to buy the cheapest t-shirt.”
34
