Anyone who deals with customers on a daily basis knows the importance of giving great customer service. For local authorities and housing associations looking after people’s homes, there are opportunities every day to make each interaction with residents a success. These include ensuring that appointments are made at the customer’s convenience and within a short timeframe, that customers are kept up to date with any delays or changes in real time, that appointments are kept promptly, and that work is carried out efficiently without need for a second visit wherever possible.

At the same time, we all recognise the need to operate in a more environmentally-friendly way. Identifying and implementing greener policies is fast becoming integrated into organisational strategy for companies and third sector bodies across the UK and globally, as governments are starting to mandate carbon impact measuring and to encourage other green policies as a matter of course.

So how can organisations marry these two seemingly different objectives?

Today’s consumers are increasingly driven by values and purpose. In a December 2021 study by PwC, 52% of consumers say they are more eco-friendly than they were six months ago and 51% take traceability and transparency of origin into account when making a purchase. So, in a choice between two similar offers from different suppliers, customers are becoming more likely to choose the one that is also making a positive difference to the planet and its people.

Sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials can also help to attract investors, who look for a well-designed and implemented ESG strategy as evidence of overall sound financial governance. This can be critical for local authorities and other bodies who are seeking to build partnerships with private investment companies. When investors already have ESG integrated into their own overall business strategy they will see it as a minimal requirement in a potential partner.

Here are some suggestions for making being green work for you and your customers:

• Measure current carbon footprint and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, for insights to make the most effective changes. Let customers know you are prioritising the local and wider environment for the benefit of people everywhere.
• Produce a report to highlight progress and identify areas where improvements are required. Current UK legal requirements to report some areas of ESG depend on size and turnover, and the scope is likely to increase.
• Many organisations take the first step by switching energy provider and choosing a tariff based on renewable energy.
• Consider following the principles of re-use, recycle and repair, instead of replacing.
• Digital field service management software allows teams to reduce the time that operatives spend idling in traffic jams, or making unnecessary miles, resulting in lower fuel bills and more jobs completed, plus cleaner air for local residents
• Paper-free offices see an immediate reduction in costs for paper and printing, as well as reducing waste. Digital field service solutions allow operatives and office-based staff to assign jobs and log completed work online, in real time.
• Unlike data held on paper forms and job sheets, important and sensitive information about residents and their properties can’t get lost or fall into someone else’s hands, protecting customers’ safety.
• As well as being an important shift away from reliance on fossil fuels and the associated impact on global warming, upgrading fleets to all-electric vehicles means neighbourhoods are quieter with no emissions, meaning better quality of life for local people.

Advanced has recently published a white paper, ‘Lessons from the P word’ discussing how the field service sector is responding to the growing ESG concerns of customers, and other new and proactive ways to deliver greater customer service for better engagement and higher retention rates.

Please see: www.oneadvanced.com/campaign/new/field-service/lessons-learned-during-the-p-word/?partnerref=HE