Getting the CSR message across during customer events - CSR in Europe, Middle East and Africa -
CSR in Europe, Middle East and Africa » Getting the CSR message across during customer events
Getting the CSR message across during customer events
Three weeks ago, I was able to attend HP’s biggest enterprise customer event – HP Technology@Work – for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region in Berlin. The event is designed to bring together IT decision makers from companies throughout different industries. It gives participants the opportunity to discuss their most important business and IT issues with experts from HP and its partners.

For the second time, our team was present with a booth on HP and CSR. We were probably the only “off-topic” stand at the event and a distant colleague of mine was even surprised to see me and asked what I was doing there. It didn’t seem obvious to him why someone should be present with a stand focusing on a soft topic like CSR at a customer event.

But it is actually quite clear, and some of my observations will explain why:
Last year, when we attended the same event, many customers and HP employees came to our stand and were quite surprised to find out what CSR is and that HP had been active in this field for centuries. So, the main benefit of attending a customer event is clearly to raise awareness and visibility. Something we hadn’t done on the topic of CSR for years and this is now changing, for example with the help of our first customer report on CSR, The Hidden Component which we inserted in all delegate bags at the conference.

This year, we had many customers coming up to us asking questions like “It’s great to see what HP is doing on environmental responsibility, so how can you help me as a customer?” It was rather surprising that just within one year many customers seemed to have “learned” that environmental topics such as energy efficiency are affecting their business. Many of them had closely listened to the opening key note by Ann Livermore, Executive Vice President, HP Technology Solutions Group, who also mentioned HP’s responsibility towards the environment and gave examples of how our technology and products can help customers to reduce their impact on the environment.

The event gave us a great opportunity to network with HP managers that are usually difficult to catch and to show them how we can further support them, for example in the increasing number of bids where CSR plays a role.

And last but not least: Attending such an event is a fantastic way of engaging directly with customers, one on one, something we are usually not able to do at all. It’s great to learn about customers’concerns and to be able to address some of them directly or in follow-up conversations.

I’d be interested to know how CSR teams in other companies are communicating with their customers. What ways have worked best for you?

Ulrike Haug
HP Corporate Affairs Communications
Posted 05-14-2007 3:49 PM by BlogArchive

Comments

smrtist1 wrote Re: Getting the CSR message across during cu
on 06-22-2007 6:12 PM
I came online to let someone in HP management know about my disappointment with an attempt to fix one issue with our HP printer, that, in all other ways works well. You talk about environmental responsibility, so I wanted to share with you a recent challenge to being a good environmental steward. I know that HP's job is to make money by selling new products, but in light of our attempts to be more "carbon neutral," shouldn't we be trying to use what we already have, rather than scrapping old things and buying new ones? Today I call HP for technical help. One choice was to pay for one-time technical help, but the choice that was urged on me was to trade in my "VERY OLD" printer to buy a new one. I told the person on the phone that I found that approach to be immoral. Now, I hope I am telling someone who cares. I have to admit that I did ask about the options for replacement printers, wondering if the price was low enough if I would be morally strong to resist the easy solution of replacing my slightly problematic printer. If you have the chance to give me some feedback, I would appreciate it. We all have a role to play in saving our planet, and our future quality of life. Thank you. Sally M. Rawlings
jeannette.weisschuh wrote Re: Getting the CSR message across during cu
on 07-18-2007 9:06 AM
Dear Sally, thank you very much for your comment. I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed. However, there are always various different aspects to be considered. If your printer is still working, of course you could keep it. But please keep in mind that our newer printers have improved regarding their environmental impact. Printers today use for example less energy in stand by modus. Besides, your old printer will be recycled in an environmentally responsible manner. I am glad to see that you think twice before you just make a decision to buy a new product in return for an older one. Congratulations for being responsible. Jeannette
Powered by Community Server (Non-Commercial Edition), by Telligent Systems