Do You Have Zombie Defenders?

Not long ago I wrote posts on the Horticulture Zombieconomy, Zombie Stores and Zombie Departments, and Horti-Zombies Come Alive! Next thing you know, during The Garden Center Group’s Fall Event awards cruise Robert Hendrickson presented me with the NY Times bestselling book, The Zombie Survival Guide – Complete Protection from the Living Dead. The book is a sort of spoof on how to survive the complacency and fearless tactics to recruit others to join those who are already dead and working unremarkedly among us – in this case, Horti-Zombies.

A wise first response to a Zombie attack is to assemble your defenders against Zombies, as did the folks at Altum’s Horticultural Center in Zionsville (Indianapolis) Indiana.

Open Letter to Independent Garden Centers

Friends,

Independent garden centers are my future. I am a fortunate person to love what I do and do what I love. I sincerely want that to continue, and I realize it is entirely dependent on the success of my clients.

Today I feel compelled to share with you some information you would probably rather not hear or would rather not consider. Sticking your head in the sand is a possible reaction to this. Consider carefully how you choose to respond. This could be a decision that changes the course of your business and your life completely within a very few short months.

Is THIS a Fair Test?

You’ve probably read or will soon about YET ANOTHER recent case study CLAIMING again that branded plants outsold non-branded 5:1. Maybe I just don’t understand how anyone would believe the results of the study after looking at the photo of the two displays that consumers compared. One is on a gravel paved area, and the other on grass.

A New Link or 2

The summer tour and trade show travels brought perhaps the most frequent question everyone wants to know the answer to when we talk or meet: “What’s New?”

There’s a lot to keep up with and I usually fumble a few seconds to come up with an answer to their question, so I added a NEW category in the right column of this blog titled, “A New Link or 2″.

Handling Haggling

Is haggling is on the increase?

The introduction of the new Taggle concept for in-store bidding on merchandise at participating retailers has brought about a plethora of media reports on the rise of haggling. Don’t fall for it.

“Fair Enough”

Your customers are seeing and reading that they should be haggling. They would like to save some money if they can, especially if they should. They don’t want to pay too much, and they definitely don’t want to be taken advantage of. Some fear other customers may be haggling with you and getting a better deal. There is no fault in them asking for a better price, you just need a way to handle the question.

What’s Wrong with this Message?

Enough about the economy stupid.

Yes, we need to be empathetic to the consumer’s need to save, but that problem is that when everyone else who is marketing has the same basic message across all communication channels the basic tenet of marketing – differentiation, is lost.

Hip & Sage?

Do middle aged white guys in gray suits really think anyone is following them any more? Is wisdom worth anything anymore, or are you written off the planet because you’re not GenX, GenY, Millenial, or something. The younger guys can be happy because while they aren’t the coveted woman shopper they are at least generation something or other.