How companies can capture the value from environment sustainability improvements in the business-to-business sales process

The topic of sustainability is steadily growing in importance across society today, from having been a specialist subject for environment experts to the object of decision making for politicians, authorities and companies. The climate agreement from Paris in 2015 is perhaps one of the most prominent examples of change, impacting all stakeholders in society. This is also an example where companies joined forces with other stakeholders in driving the Paris Pledge for Action. As a result there is both the opportunity and the expectation that companies should step up their sustainability efforts as society’s values change.
In here lies an opportunity of value creation; if the right competence is applied to understand the company's customers sustainability challenges, evaluate applicability of the company’s portfolio and being able to present proposals in a credible and engaging manner. The question is if it is the sales department that need to become competent in the area of sustainability or if it is the sustainability department that need to become more commercially competent.