Sustainable sales

14th February 2023 |   Colin MacKenzie

What does it mean, and does it add value to businesses?

Sustainable sales

In a world where sustainability is the new buzzword, is “sustainable sales” just greenwashing or can it genuinely support the creation of a company’s unique selling proposition?

Academic concepts sometimes languish through lack of action as they cannot be translated into professional practice; however, this article defines sustainable sales and explains how it differs from sustainable selling, and hopefully encourages conversation and ideas to see the concept implemented, or at least discussed, within business.

Many organisations will have corporate and social responsibility (CSR) policies, and these are gradually widening to include sustainability (Ashrafi et al, 2018). Businesses have now expanded CSR to include environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. However, having policies, is one thing; having a clear understanding and actions that underpin them is another.

Dr Colin MacKenzie

Academic at Edinburgh Napier University | + posts

Dr Colin Mackenzie, MSc, FHEA is a specialist lecturer in sales, leadership, and entrepreneurship at Edinburgh Napier University (ENU). He is currently the Global Press Officer for the South East Asian Sales Competition (SEASAC), an Erasmus+ project. He has over 40 years’ sales experience and is a director of several companies and a high-growth business consultant. He has written the online dissertation research and college articulation materials for ENU and the sales training and coaching materials for the universities involved in the SEASAC project. He has been a regular invited guest on BBC radio on business and for five years was ENU’s external examiner for the award-winning Peter Vardy Sales Academy. Dr Mackenzie holds a Doctoral degree in Business Management, a Master of Science degree in Quality and Business Excellence, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority.

C.Mackenzie@napier.ac.uk