A conscientious business is good business.
It's not about giving money away. Connecting with customer consciousness makes money and keeps key customer groups loyal. "Investors are paying more attention to scoioenvironmental causes and business ethics. Employees are paying more attention. Most important, consumers are paying attention," says Mike Hoffman, professor at the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College. "There are a lot of reasons why this all makes sense, and it certainly is a hotter issue than it was a year ago. I mean, it used to take six months to order a Porsche. Now, it takes six months to get a Toyota Prius."
Part of the approach to connecting to customers' consciousness comes from a top-down commitment to track and measure the shifts in what customers are thinking, as well as what they're spending.
Customer intelligence has changed. In the past good customer intelligence filled a spreadsheet with numbers. Now, it's about listening to changes in intrinsic values, such as the environment and social responsibility. These changes can revolutionize entire business models.
Source: 1to1 magazine, September 2006, www.1to1.com