Becoming a Socially Responsible Business Can Increase Your Bottom Line!

You’ve heard the label “socially responsible company”, but what does it mean? Socially responsible is defined by the Business Dictionary as “The obligation of an organization’s management towards the welfare and interests of the society in which it operates.” I’m sure many of you are thinking that this is all well and good for large corporations and industrial processing plants, but what does it have to do with a home improvement contractor. I’m happy to make the connection for you, but first let’s discuss the problem.

Today, we are facing difficult challenges across the globe. These problems include inadequate access to fresh water, ocean acidification, climate change, air quality , and the depletion of our ozone layer. There is a common thread among the aforementioned issues, pollution. Pollution of air, water and soil are bi-products of our actions and many of the issues are directly related to the burning of fossil fuels.

Fossil fuel combustion occurs when vehicles are driven as well as when industrial plants are operating. It is the greatest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions globally. In 2013 the United State’s CO2 emissions totaled 5.8 billion tons, second only to China which produced 11 billion tons! CO2 is one of several greenhouse gasses which regulate the Earth’s temperature. The ever increasing amounts greenhouse gasses added to the atmosphere by humans can negatively impact our planet, causing it to heat up and change weather patterns across the world – think global warming.

55% of Consumers Would Rather Purchase from a Socially Responsible Company

People worldwide are making changes to live smart and green: consuming less plastic, using solar energy, and much more. They are also thinking green when it comes to making purchases. In a global survey conducted last year by Nielsen, more than half of the respondents said that they have purchased one or more products or services from socially responsible companies within the last six months. Amy Fenton, Nielsen Global Leader of Public Development and Sustainability , stated, “Consumers around the world are saying loud and clear that a brand’s social purpose is among the factors that influence purchase decisions,”

If you’re envisioning the segment of the population that cares about “green” services as tree-hugging hippies, I highly encourage you to keep reading. According to the Shelton Group’s “Eco-Pulse” survey, green customers are an extremely desirable target audience because they tend to be affluent and loyal customers. In general, this group consists of Millennials (age 21-34) and are likely to have more money to spend, are educated and appreciate value. Eco-friendly consumers aren’t just a passing fad and businesses need to find a ways to become environmentally and socially responsible in order to thrive in today’s world.

CO2 and the Home Improvement Industry

A large part of a contractor’s business in the home improvement industry revolves around driving to give estimates. Typically, a contractor will travel 30 miles for each request and statistics have shown that in order to make an informed decision, four separate quotes are needed. This means that the four contractors will drive a total of 120 miles; however, 3 of those contractors will not get the job and 90 unnecessary miles will have been driven. That’s a problem because each drive produces 150 lbs of CO2 emissions or 600 lbs per quote. By the way, each minute the average contractor’s truck operates, 470 gallons of oxygen are burned and during a 40 minute trip a total of 76,800 gallons of oxygen are burned.

I recently conducted a Google search for a heating and air conditioning contractor near my home. The search produced 676,000 results! I don’t need to get out my calculator to know that the emissions of CO2 on any given day and the impacts to the atmosphere are huge. If we want to preserve our planet for our children and flourish in today’s eco-conscious world, we need to find a way to reduce the carbon footprint our industry is leaving on this Earth. It’s not just about better business practices and satisfying a growing consumer demand, it’s about ensuring a better future.

Think your business can’t be Eco-Friendly? Think again.

What if I told you there was a way for contractors to give their customers a quote without driving to their home or business? Imagine the positive effect it would have on our atmosphere and our eco-conscious customers. MyServiceWhale is that way! Our vision is to eradicate unnecessary visits by contractors. We want to create a cleaner, brighter tomorrow by reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Our automatic quoting mechanism eliminates unnecessary driving, which in turn helps to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. It’s the first piece of consumer facing quoting technology for contractors that allows them to give instant prices, reduce their ecological footprint, save on deal acquisition costs, and improve conversion rates. With MyServiceWhale contractors deliver what customers want (an environmentally conscious company and instant, custom prices) and in turn they are getting more qualified leads, saving money and burning less fuel.

Did you know that contractors who use MyServiceWhale see increased conversion rates of up to 5% or more? It’s true. Not only that, but we’ve also found that because consumers are more engaged in the process of getting an estimate, answering several questions and providing their contact information prior to seeing their quote, they tend to be more qualified leads. By automating the calculation phase of the home improvement process, a contractor can significantly lower the number of miles they are diving as well as the costs associated with it.

MyServiceWhale enables contractors to make a valuable contribution to the effort of saving the planet while providing socially responsible consumers with an outstanding alternative to the traditional quoting process.

For more information on MyServiceWhale, visit our website and request a demo. There is absolutely no cost or obligation to you.