Multiple Customers Asking for Different ESG Formats

One customer sends an Excel spreadsheet with 120 questions. Another invites you to a platform called EcoVadis. A third emails a PDF questionnaire asking for signatures. A fourth has their own proprietary portal requiring login credentials and a custom format you've never seen.

Every customer asks for the same fundamental information—energy use, emissions, employee data, policies—but they all ask differently. The inconsistency is maddening. You answer the same questions repeatedly in different formats, wondering why there isn't a single standard everyone uses.

There isn't. And waiting for one won't help. Here's how to manage the reality of multiple formats without drowning in duplicate work.

Why There's No Standard

Understanding why this fragmentation exists helps you accept that it's not going away:

Different customers have different systems. Large companies invested in EcoVadis or CDP years ago. Others built proprietary portals. Switching systems is expensive, so they keep using what they have.

Different industries prioritize different metrics. Automotive cares about supply chain traceability. Retail focuses on labor practices. Pharma emphasizes quality systems. Generic standards don't capture sector-specific priorities.

Reporting frameworks keep evolving. GRI, SASB, TCFD, CDP, CSRD—the alphabet soup of standards hasn't consolidated, so companies asking for data adopt different frameworks.

Competitive positioning. Some customers use their own assessment approach as a differentiator—"Our sustainability program is more rigorous than competitors."

The fragmentation will eventually improve. The EU's CSRD is pushing standardization. VSME provides a common baseline for SME suppliers. But for now, multiple formats are reality.

The Core Data Principle

Despite different formats, customers want the same underlying information. The variation is in structure, not substance.

If you organize your data around core categories, you can populate any format relatively quickly:

Environmental core:

Total energy consumption (kWh, by fuel type)
Scope 1 and 2 emissions (tonnes CO2e)
Water consumption (cubic meters, if applicable)
Waste volumes (tonnes, by disposal method)
Relevant certifications (ISO 14001, etc.)
Environmental policy documentation

Social core:

Employee headcount (by category if possible)
Safety incident data (LTIR, incidents, fatalities)
Training hours (total or per employee)
Employee turnover rate
Diversity metrics (if tracked)
Labor-related policies (safety, anti-discrimination, etc.)

Governance core:

Ownership structure
Management systems and oversight
Code of conduct / ethics policy
Anti-corruption policy
Supply chain management approach

If you have this information current and accessible, you can answer any questionnaire. The work is translation between your data and their format—not starting from scratch each time.

Building Your Master Data File

Create a single source of truth containing all your ESG data:

Format: Spreadsheet (Excel or Google Sheets) with clear tabs:

Overview (company info, reporting period, contact details)
Environmental (all environmental metrics with units and methodology notes)
Social (workforce data, safety, training, diversity)
Governance (policies, certifications, ownership)
Policy Library (links or embedded copies of actual policy documents)

Update cycle: Annual comprehensive update, with quarterly checks for significant changes.

Methodology notes: For each data point, note how it was calculated and where the source data lives. This prevents re-researching your own numbers.

Historical comparison: Include prior year data so you can show trends.

When a new questionnaire arrives, you open your master file and translate. You're not hunting through invoices and HR systems each time—you're copy-pasting from a prepared dataset.

Managing Platform-Specific Responses

Platforms like EcoVadis, CDP, and Sedex have their own structures. Here's how to handle each:

EcoVadis

Annual assessment covering environment, labor, ethics, and sustainable procurement. Scores are visible to all customers using EcoVadis, so one response serves multiple relationships.

Strategy: Complete EcoVadis thoroughly once. Promote your rating to customers. Many will accept your EcoVadis scorecard instead of sending their own questionnaires.

CDP

Annual climate disclosure with detailed carbon accounting requirements. Highly structured, publicly visible.

Strategy: If multiple customers request CDP, completing it once addresses all of them. CDP responses can also serve as source material for other questionnaires' climate sections.

Sedex (SMETA)

Focus on ethical trade: labor rights, health and safety, environment, business ethics. Includes audit component.

Strategy: Once you complete SMETA, your data is available to all customers using Sedex. The audit provides third-party validation.

Custom portals

Proprietary systems from individual customers. These vary widely and can't be avoided.

Strategy: Complete from your master data file. Save your responses within the portal (most allow downloads or exports). Add any portal-specific requirements to your master file for future reference.

The article on understanding customer ESG platforms explains the major platforms in detail.

Efficient Response Workflow

When a new questionnaire arrives:

Day 1: Triage (15 minutes)

Log the request: customer, platform, deadline
Quick scan: What categories does it cover? What's the format?
Identify overlap with previous responses

Day 2-3: Complete from master data (1-3 hours depending on length)

Open questionnaire and master data file side by side
Map questions to your data categories
Populate answers, adjusting wording for their format
Note any questions requiring new data collection

Day 4-7: Handle gaps (variable)

Gather any new information needed
Update your master data file with new items
Complete remaining questions

Day 8-10: Review and submit (30 minutes)

Quick accuracy check
Leadership review if required
Submit
Save your response for future reference

This workflow scales. Whether you receive two questionnaires a year or ten, the approach is the same: maintain your data centrally, translate to required formats.

Pushing Back Professionally

When format proliferation becomes excessive, you have options:

Offer your standard package. "We maintain comprehensive ESG documentation that we can provide in PDF format. Would this meet your needs, or do you specifically require completion of your platform?"

Reference existing ratings. "We have a current EcoVadis rating of [score], which covers the topics in your questionnaire. Would you accept our EcoVadis scorecard?"

Propose VSME alignment. "For consistency across our customer base, we're aligning our disclosure with the EU's VSME standard for SME suppliers. We can provide this standard disclosure package."

Request prioritization. "Your questionnaire has 150 questions. Given our limited resources, which sections are highest priority for your reporting needs?"

Customers often accept alternatives. They want data; they're less attached to the specific format than their procurement system makes it seem.

Building Efficiency Over Time

Every questionnaire makes the next one easier—if you capture the work:

Save every response. Create a folder for each customer with copies of submitted questionnaires. Future requests often repeat previous questions.

Build an answer library. Common questions appear across formats. Save well-worded responses: "Describe your environmental policy implementation," "How do you ensure fair labor practices," "What is your approach to supply chain sustainability." Copy-paste and adapt rather than rewriting.

Track question-to-data mapping. Document which questions in which platforms pull from which master data fields. Over time, this becomes a translation key that dramatically speeds completion.

Note customer-specific preferences. Some customers want detailed narrative. Others prefer brief answers with documentation attached. Customer A cares deeply about carbon; Customer B focuses on labor. Tailor your emphasis accordingly.

The article on building reusable response templates covers this system in detail.

The Multiplicity Advantage

Here's the counterintuitive benefit of multiple formats: redundancy.

If you only had one questionnaire from one customer, you'd have little incentive to systematize. Multiple requests force you to build a proper data management system. Once built, that system handles any request efficiently.

Suppliers who respond to multiple customers' ESG questionnaires develop capability that single-customer suppliers don't have. You become better at ESG communication because you practice it more frequently.

The frustration of format fragmentation is real. But the suppliers who turn that frustration into process improvement end up with sustainable competitive advantage.

Need a system for this? ESG Passport lets you track ESG data year-round and respond to any questionnaire in hours — not weeks. Free ESG tracking for life. Pro turns your data into finished reports with 200+ automated answer templates.