Q&A: Business-to-Business Marketing Problem – Environmentally Responsible Issue?

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Q&A: Business-to-Business Marketing Problem – Environmentally Responsible Issue?

Question by SUPLOL: Business-to-Business Marketing Problem – Environmentally Responsible Issue?
Hello marketing guru’s,
I’m a marketing undergrad and I’m currently trying to complete this assignment. So here’s the problem…
A fully-functioning printing company has recently altered its company and marketing objectives which has resulted in a very very strong emphasis on environmental responsibility – green procurement policies, green associates (paper merchants, logistics methods etc), green printing and finishing methods and so forth. they have also aligned themselves with green organizations such as the WWF and have also engaged in community support programs. this is all very uniform and consistent in their message. however they’re problem is that although they are relatively successful, they have not been able to gain bigger customers with bigger needs. how does such a company target big name companies whose purchasing decision criteria currently relies upon price rather than environmental responsibility.

any ideas of a B2B theory nature would be greatly appreciated!
- Vanessa

*they produce: books, magazines, annual reports, newspapers, letterheads, promotional brochures and so forth.
**the company provides their numerous accreditations on all printing they supply to their clients

Best answer:

Answer by fuzzydunlop
get within the ballpark of the competitive price points. add value to your solution by educating the client regarding your practices and their intangible benefits. if the customer bites, continue building on your value add.

otherwise you either
- sell to the customer at a loss
- walk away from the business

empower your sales force to aggressively market and cater to the customer’s specific needs and cater a solution based on the customer’s use of your product. a focus should be placed on vanity and items that increase their market credibility. outside market forces are a google search away to help determine what kinds of influences are pushing the client towards ‘greener’ procurement.

this issue boils down to a focused sales approach and finance determining the costs associated w/ chasing such an opportunity. since this is for a class project, i would also include some kind of fancy chart that uses a SWOT or BOSTON whatever b.s.

the chart should be used as a visual aid to show the intangible variables you cannot account for when making a decision. it should help make the decision of whether or not you should chase this business at a loss.

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