Communicating & Getting Customers Involved

You've taken action to make your business leaner, greener and more appealing.

• But how do you promote these efforts to your customers? Do they care?
• How can you take it a step further and involve them in your efforts?
• How can you get your staff on board, get media interest or persuade judges?

The resources below will help you communicate positively without preaching!

• Getting Recognition - Green Certification
  Green certification is the process of getting your business independently evaluated with the resulting status offering the potential as a marketing tool.
  
  At present the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) is the only scheme in the UK to be successfully validated by the International Centre for Responsible Tourism which examines the credibility of a scheme's assessment system. GTBS is the largest scheme of its type in Europe with around 2,000 UK members, a quarter of which are in South West England.   
  
  For more information on participating, visit the GTBS website. 
  To read about the experiences of the first South West businesses to participate in GTBS, click here. 
  
  Note: There are a range of other schemes available, some focused on specific sectors, some on locations, and some on particular aspects of sustainability. This page will be updated with more information on other schemes as they are successfully validated. 

• 10 Tips for Providing Better Travel Information
  New for 2010!
  First impressions count, and they start even before arrival at your business. This PDF provides a collection of the key travel tools and tips that will help your visitors enjoy rather than endure their travel.

• Communicating with Your Visitors  
  Updated for 2010!
  Drawing on examples and trends from within and beyond the tourism sector, this resource will help you get to grips with the key principles to follow when promoting and engaging your visitors. 
  Part 1 - The context 
  Part 2 - How to engage visitors

• Keep it Real - Market & Communicate Your Credentials
  New for 2010!
  Drawing on leading examples from around the country, Keep it Real is an online toolkit for businesses that have already taken action and want to maximise the marketing opportunities that may exist.  It is designed to give businesses the confidence to talk about sustainability to customers and other stakeholders.

• Futerra Resources
  Here are a number of resources from sustainability communication specialists, Futerra, who we have worked closely with:
• Words That Sell - How the public talks about sustainability 
• The Greenwash Guide  
• 10 Rules for Communicating Sustainable Development   
• New Rules - A specific focus on climate change communications 

Save Money - Go Green, What do you need help with?

> Save Money Go Green home page 
> Getting Started 
> Cutting Energy and Water 
> Communicating & Getting Customers Involved 
> Examples of Success 
> Further Support