Is (sincere) social responsibility a powerful sales tool?
My son comes into my office during a conference call. “Dad, can you read me a book?”
“No, Reuben, I’m on a business call,” I answer. No sale.
But then Reuben starts crying . . . and we’re lying down reading his book soon after. Sales is about connection, and Reuben knows how to connect.
How about social responsibility as a sales tool? The majority of CEOs (60%) aren’t trying to connect to customers through social responsibility: they have no plans to communicate about any social issue this year. That’s despite 44% of CEOs saying their top communication priority is “Selling more products and services” and 39% saying their top goal is “Differentiation from competition.”
Yet, imagine how you feel if you receive a call from salesperson Omarr who says:
“Hi. I’d like to help your company make more money by reducing racism.”
And then you find a way to work with him.
There’s more to the real Omarr’s pitch, but his focus is clear.
We’re all in this together: we all share a need for society to be effective. That’s why social responsibility is a powerful sales tool.
Explaining how your business already uniquely benefits society is a simple way for leaders to strengthen sales.
Fully integrating social responsibility into your business requires a strategy and dedication, yet the benefits can be staggering.
What are the social failures adjacent to your business? Is it conceivable that a business strategy, perhaps a more collaborative one, could solve that failure?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. As technology progresses, we find plenty of massive social failures just waiting for solutions.
Please share your thoughts in the comments or by sending me an email: info@RodWallacePhD.Com.
Our society cannot just survive. For the sake of our children, it must thrive.
Rod
Dr. Rod Wallace is an economist, consultant, and speaker who helps businesses make more money by solving society’s problems. A Fulbright Fellow, he has led multi-organization billion-dollar initiatives worldwide and partnered with a Silicon Valley pioneer to explore the impact of Artificial Intelligence on society.
Rod speaks about how to integrate social responsibility into business to maximize profit and purpose. He highlights digital technology’s impact on society and the strategies and tools with which business can solve our big, systemic problems.