Keeping your business at the forefront of its industry is more challenging today than ever before. With the use of digital technology and online shopping, competition has reached a global scale. When choosing which products and services to buy customers are no longer just looking at price tags. They want to purchase from wholesome brands with a positive reputation that strives to make a positive impact on the world around them. Adopting corporate social responsibility or CSR is becoming increasingly important for businesses. It is an innovative business model that holds companies accountable for improving society, the environment, employees, and customers. Let’s dive into the 7 reasons why a CSR program is crucial to the success of your business.
Protects and Improves Your Brand’s Reputation
A brand’s reputation is everything. How companies are perceived plays a large role in their long-term success. Doing business with responsible companies is no longer just a preference, but rather a requirement. Customers seek out businesses that have strong values, ethics, and business practices that align with their own views. Implementing an effective CSR strategy can help in the following ways:
- Increase your brand’s equity
- Improve brand awareness among your target audience
- Help your brand resonate with consumers by conveying strong values
Investing in corporate social responsibility will allow you to build a positive reputation as a business that cares about its community, the environment, customers, and employees. A company that truly cares tends to have a leg-up on its competitors.
Increase Sales
Increasing sales are more than just a numbers game. Your target audience must be able to connect with your brand. The 2018 Cone/Porter Novelli Purpose Study found that 88% of Americans prefer to do business with companies with a purpose. This is particularly true for Millennials and Generation Z. These two generations are on their way to making up the largest percentage of the population and prefer to purchase from brands that have a positive impact on the community and the environment. The bottom line is that a higher level of engagement and connectivity leads to higher sales for your company. This can be achieved by integrating a CSR program into your business processes that allows current and potential customers to better understand what your company stands for and therefore allows your brand to resonate with your target audience on an emotional level.
Attract Positive Attention and Reviews
In this digital age of social media and company reviews, word can spread quickly about a business. Before purchasing products or services, many customers now research online to look at reviews and what others are saying about different products and companies. When part of your CSR program is volunteering and participating in community activities and causes, your brand will gain positive online attention. Customers want to do business with brands that have a powerful, positive online preference. This will, in turn, lead to increased sales and further improving your brand’s reputation.
Save on Total Operational Costs
Part of a complete CSR program is implementing sustainable practices that have a positive effect on the environment and reduce your company’s carbon footprint. Technologies such as solar panels reduce your company’s carbon footprint while simultaneously lowering energy bills. Other technologies have the ability to reduce labor costs and trim waste, which reduces overhead and increases the profit margin.
Easier Access to Financing
There is a movement towards taking care of the environment and each other. Investors prefer to invest in companies that have a larger purpose than just selling their products or services. Having strong values and an effective CSR program in place means that you are more likely to find investors who are willing to invest in your company.
Attract Top Talent and Increase Employee Retention
Gone are the days of people looking for jobs solely for the purpose of making money to support their families. Employees seek job opportunities that are fulfilling. They want to work with brands that are environmentally conscious, care about their employees, and go the extra mile for their customers. CSR programs that include these components are attractive to top talent:
- Volunteering opportunities
- Environmentally friendly practices
- A work culture that promotes mental, physical, and emotional health (Including wellness perks and flex schedules)
- Products and services that offer authentic value to consumers
Not only will a CSR program help you attract and hire the most qualified talent on the market, but they will be more likely to stay longer periods of time. The hiring and training processes are costly. A lower turn-over rate means that your company saves money on the recruitment and training process.
Reduce Regulatory Hassles
Maintaining regulatory and legal compliance is an important part of running your business in a way that meets state and local regulations. Failure to stay in compliance can result in fines, penalties, and potentially even being shut down until the issues are resolved. Non-compliance can be extremely costly to your business. A company that implements and is passionate about its CSR program will naturally build a culture of regulatory and legal compliance. Building such a strong culture will help to ensure that compliance is taken seriously by your entire staff at all levels of your organization. Continuity throughout your company will reduce the likelihood that you run into compliance problems.
Second-to-None Outsourcing Solutions
With over 17 years of experience, GlowTouch has grown from a small family business to a renowned international outsourcing company. We specialize in helping clients obtain the highest return on their investment by offering omnichannel customer and technical support as well as results-driven solutions such as database management, back-office processing, live chat support services, and much more! GlowTouch helps businesses of all sizes grow and scale to meet their goals and realize the full potential of their success. We are proudly headquartered in Louisville, KY but have offices in Mangalore and Bangalore, India to better serve our clients on a global level. Contact us today for more information on how we can take your business to the next level.
