The Five People You Meet
Author Mitch Albom wrote a book in 2003 called The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the story of a man who dies, goes to Heaven and is visited, Christmas Carol style, by five people from the life he just left, each with a lesson to share.
It occured to me that during this season of garden center tours and trade shows including ANLA’s Retail Roadshow in Ohio and GCA’s Summer Tour, one of my recent trips we have the opportunity to meet a lot of people who can share pearls of wisdom with us.
The Fearless Leaders
June’s GCA Summer Tour in North Carolina was a group effort, organized by board members of the Garden Centers of America and made successful by attendees who offered their insight and feedback after every stop.
And the tireless efforts of GCA’s vice president of operations, Shanan Molnar, and tour coordinators Ken and Mike Long of L.A. Reynolds Garden Showcase made this a must-attend summer event. These three were enthusiastic around the clock and passed their optimism on to the attendees.
The Straight Talker
At the tour’s welcome reception and dinner, Bob Hendrickson of the Garden Center Group was the featured presenter. And a few of the things that came out of his mouth were shocking to some audience members.
If you can’t connect with your customers on a deep, emotional level, you’re just a “poser,” he told us. Customers can smell a phony from a mile away, and he took issue with those who blindly subscribe to “big ideas” such as branded products, loyalty programs, “lifestyle” centers, marketing to Gen X and Y, “going green,” and organic products.
“Your perfect customer is a person, not a target,” he says, and feelings mean much more than facts and statistics. Aim to be a place your customers love to shop, because “what the heart wants, the mind justifies.”
The Sage
During our first day on the bus, a man named Ernest Wertheim sidled up beside me and quietly took a seat. But he didn’t stay silent for long! He’s been in the industry for at least twice as long as I’ve been alive, and his experience shows.
He kept me on my toes: When I mentioned I wanted to document trends, he cautioned me that the word “trend” can be misleading. Our industry is made up of regions that don’t lend themselves well to sweeping national trends. There are colors that fashion deems trendy; architecture dictates certain shapes as “in.” The trendiest flowers are the ones that grow best in our own region. Do what works for your customers.
Throughout the tour, though we sat together only that first day, I checked in with him on a regular basis. Never one to jump to conclusions but always outspoken, he was a hit with his on-point critiques and dry sense of humor.
The Humorist
At Plant Delights Nursery, President Tony Avent told us a little about the business. Some of the other things he said dropped a few jaws, too. Don’t bend over backwards to keep every customer, he told us. If someone has a bad attitude or unreasonable demands, she’s not worth having as a customer. If someone sends a nasty letter, he posts it up on Plant Delights’ website instead of stashing it in a drawer. And Plant Delights’ print catalog always displays Avent’s own brand of humor, with a Saturday Evening Poststyle cover featuring more political commentary than horticultural information. But it draws people in!
We walked away with a sense of his colorful personality, which also gave us insight into his dedication to good customers and providing them with the best possible service.
The Scribe
And then there’s me, writing it all down.
I’d like to think I offered a fresh angle during the bus discussions: As an editor, I take more of a macro view of the industry, and I’m a lifelong consumer who knows what she likes. I have been cataloging the hundreds of photos I took and going over my notes so I can share the rest of the ideas I found with you in the November issue of Lawn & Garden Retailer.
Videos
