It All Adds Up
Growing up, I always had problems with math in school. I was a writer, what did I need math for? Besides, “No one uses math in the real world”; at least, that is what I always said to my teacher when I did poorly on my algebra tests. I never needed it; my sister was a math wiz, and I just had her do my homework for me (actually, I tried, but she never said yes). My attitude was that it would just be easier if someone would do it for me.
Well, one garden center has figured out that lots of people don’t like math or are not quick at making computations… or whatever the reason, they need help when numbers come into play. Instead of leaving those people to their own resources, Dundee Nursery, Plymouth, Minn., has developed a great customer service that takes the math out of repotting.
It is spring, the garden center is crazy, and your employees don’t have tons of time to spend with each customer. So Dundee developed the Do-It-Yourself Planting Guide, a sign that basically maps out what a customer needs to plant a container garden. The sign is based on a pot size range of 8-20 inches and details all the components needed to adequately fill each pot size. The list includes how much potting soil and the number of either 41_2-inch or 4-pack plants needed to fill the pot.
There are several reasons why the simple sign works so well for customers. First, it goes along with the consumer trend of not having much time: Many consumers want someone to do things for them. The other reason is that a lot of people just don’t understand what it takes to put a successful container garden together. They think it is pretty, but they have no idea where to even start. That is where the garden center becomes a teacher and tells them, “It is not as hard as you think, just try a little harder, all you need is a little push, and you will figure it out.”
Yes, I was proven wrong: Math is everywhere, even in the garden center. If you can use math to your benefit to teach your customers how to plant their own containers, give your employees a little bit less of a headache at the end of the day and add up more sales on the register, well heck, you must be a math wiz.
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