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Selling Green

It seems that everyone wants to "go green" these days. It's the new buzzword in business. People are doing business start-ups to produce "green" products and services; and, established companies want to tweak existing products to be "greener." On the other side of the fence consumers want to use products or services that are more eco-friendly. If the product is not easily available or affordable the consumer won't buy it. Sales and Marketing has traditionally stood in between the producer and the consumer.

The so-called "Green Revolution" is not new. It got its start back in the 1970's. There were a lot of very practical and affordable "green" products when it started. The problem was these new business's could not get their products on the market shelves. They were too new, too radical and there was no real demand. Well folks, the dark days are over and "green" is in. The demand is there but the problem is that there is a shortage of qualified people to market these new products.

A recent scan of Indeed, a job search engine, turned up 412 positions related to "green" products or services. The job titles ranged from Inside Sales to Senior Environmental Health and Safety Consultant. The salary structure ranged from adequate to in the six figure range.

There are two pitfalls to watch out for when planning a career in sales and marketing of "green" products and services. The first is simply job knowledge. This is not cold calling and moving product. You really have to know both the market and the product. Knowing the market isn't hard to do. Anyone who has any background in Sales can figure out the local market fairly quickly. Learning about the product and its applications takes some real study. One recently advertised position, for a Sustainability Senior Consultant, required a master's degree in environmental engineering as well as six years of experience. A straight sales position for wastewater chemicals required a Bachelors' Degree. However, that position's starting salary was $100K. Even the entry level jobs want and educational background that relates to the product.

The second pitfall is determining if the job you're looking at is really "green". There are a lot of products or services out there which have been rebranded or repackaged to look "green". The fact is you can paint the pig any color you want; but, it still produces a lot of methane. One of those sales jobs found on Indeed was for an energy company. That company advertises itself as being "environmentally responsible" and "solving some of the world's toughest problems." That company also gets all its energy from old fashioned coal-fired generating plants. Don't get caught with a paint brush repainting the same old pig.