Originally published February 2007, Today's Garden Center

From Selling to Serving
The new sales opportunity for today’s garden center

Serving is different than selling.

Selling is top down – as a retailer, you work with a nursery, the salesperson pushes product down to you the retailer, and then the product is pushed down to the customer. It is a matter of what do we have to sell? This is nothing new; it is a business model that evolved when the business was as simple as growing enough plants to meet demand. To a degree, it was trial and error. The problem is - errors are expensive.

On the other hand, service is an exercise of understanding the needs of the customer and creating a product or service to meet that need. The question then becomes what does the market need? You are still selling plants, but the growth opportunity is to move from plants as a commodity (push down model), to plants as they meet a changing lifestyle. When you shift to the lifestyle market, you can take advantage of a growing market sector.

Sound a little too fuzzy? Let’s take a closer look – the demographic of our existing business model is built around the ‘baby boomer’ generation, which is pushing 60.The days of catering to ‘gardeners’ has passed. The next generation is not as interested in digging in the dirt as they are enhancing their environment. They speak in terms of makeovers, curb appeal, and self expression. Living rooms are painted on a Saturday and landscape projects are tackled in a weekend. The market is shifting from a generation that looked at gardening as an avocation to a younger customer base that is more interested in landscapes rather than gardens, great design rather than learning Latin.

It is an environment where time is more valuable than money and quality product and service is what is expected, not what is exceptional. While a portion of your business will always be built upon plants as a commodity, the growth opportunity is to reposition your business as a service company.

The irony is that most garden centers have been offering exceptional service for years. They have just not called attention to it. Think about it – when a customer comes in your garden center, does an employee work with them? Yes, well that is a ‘personal shopper’. Do you help homeowners with small projects? Of course, that’s an ‘in-house’ design service. In fact many garden centers have been marketing it as ‘We Plan, You Plant’ – a 30-60 minute consult for small landscape projects that the customer would handle themselves. You just provide advice on plant selection and a simple layout.

Knowing how important this level of service is to new customers, your objective should be to call attention to it. After all, programs like ‘We Plan, You Plant’ identify the key differences between you and your competition. You should look to reference this service in all elements of your nursery signage. Signage for this type of service should also be placed strategically throughout the garden center.

Even a banner sign that identifies trees and shrubs should contain a program icon that will generate interest. The same logic applies to your delivery services, potting bench services, and just about anything else you can do to separate you from the pack. You cannot assume that every customer is aware of the service; you need to promote it.

It is important to establish a value for all levels of the services you offer. Most garden centers will charge anywhere from $50 to $125 for this kind of 30-minute design consult. When you are able to establish this type of value, then you can offer an incentive to buy that might rebate up to 50% of the design fee.

Of course, this is also an opportunity to offer this service as a benefit of your customer loyalty program. As a retailer, you know that this will generally result in a sale that could eclipse $1000 or more. Therefore, it is in your interest to create as many appointments as possible. It is important to create and maintain a schedule so that you only sell what you can deliver.

A follow up could also be scheduled for a personal visit to answer any questions the customer might have. Now you have moved from selling to serving. You’ve gone from a personal shopper to a personal trainer that could also result in a private gardener service.

Growing your business is going to require a fresh approach to your garden center. While plants as a commodity will yield a markup that is restricted by local competition, service knows no such limitations. Moving from sales to service is a fundamental paradigm shift that requires a commitment to a new way of doing business. It will require a new level of staff, training and compensation.

While your typical garden center will sell plants, pottery, soil, etc., the next generation garden center will consult with the customer, put the pieces together to suit the home and garden, and quite possibly, deliver it as well. If that retailer can successfully create a learning environment, they might be able to sell a seasonal subscription to fill those containers that could last for years. Not every customer will warrant this level of service, but your customer loyalty program should help you identify your top customers.

This upper echelon of customers expects more than just the lowest price on plants; they are looking for a level of service that they experience from their BMW dealer, Whole Foods store, and dry cleaner that picks up and delivers. When (and if) they visit their local garden center, they expect personalized service and a staff that remembers them and their likes and dislikes. When you can determine the dollar value that a customer represents on a seasonal, annual, and lifetime basis, then you can understand how much to invest in that customer.

When you are operating your business in an environment of personal shoppers, potting services and delivery options, then the expectations for all the supporting marketing and merchandising elements need to rise to the occasion.

With that in mind, Sunrise Marketing has created a total marketing and merchandising package designed to promote the ‘We Plan, You Plant’ program. Gone are the days of scratching out impromptu designs and loading the plants and soil into the back of the station wagon; today’s customers are looking for a level of expertise and style that matches their self image.