Kate Patay, CPCE, Chief Strategy Officer of Patay Consulting is an international speaker and consultant, SEPA Advisor and Lecturer at The International School of Hospitality in Las Vegas. She’s been a recognized industry professional and influencer for nearly 20 years in many facets of special events and has served on the boards of numerous industry organizations. She currently speaks for and coaches some of the top leaders and companies in our industry and beyond.
Every business I’ve worked with has one common bond, and that is the awareness and efforts to implement programs to become more environmentally friendly and improve processes to become “Green.” Even if it isn’t in their existing company culture to have this awareness, it’s a topic I bring up as I consult with various companies now and it’s how I operate my business – I am paperless, wireless, remote – all those earth-friendly achievements we should all strive for. It’s not only a smart business move for multiple reasons we’ll discuss but it’s the right thing to do.
Creating a paperless business model isn’t just a wise move for sustainability and the planet, but for better messaging in a world that becomes more technologically advanced daily. Some companies shy away from getting rid of paper files, invoices, collateral and documents, but there are so many pros to outweigh the cons of this move toward paperless.
One major plus to having items all stored digitally is that you allow for access and sharing across your teams and with clients. If you’re worried about something being modified then simply make sure you have tracking and backup turned on, as well as control who has which permissions for viewing versus editing.
Most businesses also have a range of clients that could each use the same message but delivered in a way that tailors it to their niche. If marketing materials and everything else are digital, you can have multiple versions of the same style document that get sent to their target demographic so they receive a much more custom message from you. It also saves quite a bit to your bottom line to not have to print as much and you can use that as a selling point with being green.
The printed piece is going the way of pagers, as people are entirely too inundated with “stuff” in their registration bags and their mail, not to mention their daily lives. Technology, such as Beacons, can get information to prospects that they are actually interested in, while supplying you with valuable information and data on their interests and buying habits. By tracking what they click, you can see exactly how and what they want to be marketed and implement targeted remarketing campaigns.
Digital versus Print also allows for streamlined systems and better workplace efficiency. Taking the time to print a TPS Report and pass it through various people and departments for signatures is not only time consuming and labor intensive, but also leaves room for error. What if that one piece of paper goes missing? Does fulfilling your end of a service depend on a single sheet of paper in any way? That’s a scary way to operate. A digital signature is much easier tracked and quicker, plus it cuts down on labor costs, equipment costs and storage.
If you need a second set of eyes on your business to see how you can be greener, don’t hesitate to reach out to a consultant to show you the way – that’s what they’re there for! You don’t have to recreate the wheel to make this happen. A strong game plan and a point person to continually assess progress and compliance will get you green in no time flat and add another selling point for you to use with your clients.
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