BY JENNY CROSS, Senior sustainability manager, Mohawk Industries
Understanding the green consumer is not nearly as difficult as some think.

Conventional wisdom would tell us that directly targeting a specific consumer segment is the right thing to do, but that is not true when it comes to environmental concerns. Research shows that 90% of all consumers purchase green products, so, in actuality, your existing consumer hasn’t really changed, only her interests and needs have. Obviously there are degrees of green as well. Only 9% of consumers almost always buy green products and 27% regularly purchase green goods (Mintel, May 2008). If you focus solely on environmental consumers in your marketing and communications, you will alienate more than 50% of your market. Instead, you should concentrate on highlighting green products that anyone can aspire to owning because they meet the consumers’ needs.

Ted Levitt from Harvard Business School put it best when he said, “People who buy drills don’t need drills; they need holes.” There is a tendency at retail to focus on products and not on needs—that is a fundamental flaw. Every person walking into your store is seeking a solution to their specific flooring problem. Green consumers are simply looking for a solution that suits the environment as well. The process is very simple: Assess the client’s needs and show her everything you have to meet that need. You simply have one new thing to consider: environmentally preferred products.

Frankly, there are very few people that would refuse an environmentally superior product as long as the performance and value is as good as the alternative. Due to a fear of losing a sale, we are often hesitant to bring up green unless a consumer specifically asks for a green product when she arrives. If you understand that most will not walk in and ask for green—again less than one in 10 always buy green—you must be willing to start the conversation. She might simply be unaware that there are great environmental choices in flooring. As the flooring expert, you are responsible for telling her.

Environmentally aware people do their homework before they shop, so you must do yours as well. Assessing her needs and knowing the features and benefits of the products you can offer that meet those needs are critical. Presenting environmentally preferred products to buyers as an added benefit, rather than the primary benefit, is the best way to satisfy the needs of the green consumer as well as the mainstream shopper.

The green consumer is not very complex. Continue to do what you do best: talk to your customers, determine what they need and present them with the best possible solutions, including the environmentally preferable ones. You will delight your clients and have a measureable impact on the environment in which you live.