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Critical Staff Responsibilities
The single most vital ingredient in a successful water
garden program is the retail staff. The sales staff will
make or break the water garden program. The importance
of a friendly, knowledgeable
and unbiased sales staff cannot be overstated. Some of
the most beautifully laid-out water gardening programs
have
not reached their fullest potential, failing simply because
of poor staffing. Training your water garden sales staff
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| hands-on
experience. Encourage your staff to get involved with the
instillation of your retail display ponds. After instillation,
assign staffers to specific husbandry responsibilities such
as water testing or filter maintenance. Always assume that
pond customers need help in learning how to keep plants and
animals alive and healthy. Your staff members are their teachers.
Your sales
staff needs a reasonable understanding of pond biology. They
should thoroughly understand the nitrification process and
how to use water test kits to track it. They should know what
affects the performance of a water pump, including factors
such as head pressure. Staff members should be familiar with
the subspecies of coldwater ornamental fish such as orandas,
comets and koi. Aquatics plants are another important part
of your program. The staff must understand that plants benefit
a pond, playing a critical role in improving water quality.
They should know a hardy water lily from a tropical one. All
this knowledge comes with experience and a price tag. A pond
program left in the hands of a staff without direction or
focus
on the customers' needs, will fail. |
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Upscale Water Garden Marketing
A successful retail water garden program demands much
more than just a shelf stocked with pond liners and pumps.
For today's water garden retailers to capitalize on this
growing hobby, they must provide customer appeal and service.
Retailers who approach the business with passion usually
are successful. Smart water garden retailers create beautifully
landscaped pond displays, build experience with
pond
layout and construction and include their staffs in the
process. All these characteristics are essential to a
successful retail water garden program. Retailers must
first acknowledge that the majority of their customers
are only interested in the sound and look of a water feature
in their backyard. It's necessary to focus on stimulating
customers' imaginations. Sellers should imagine that they
are their customers, concerned only with the beauty of
a pond. With that approach, retailers soon realize just
how important a spacious department full of aquatic plants,
koi and displays really is. Of course the pumps and filters
are also important, but only after the idea of having
a pond has been sold to the customer.
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Sources
of Information
Retailers can access many sources of information
on pond keeping and building an upscale water garden
program. Helpful information can be found in trade publications,
in "how-to" water garden books and through visits to
trade shows. Any publication devoted solely to the water
garden category is a
good place to look. Some magazines publish articles
spotlighting successful water garden retailers. You'll
find that these publications are filled with great ideas.
Check out your competition, too, but be sure to pick
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competitors
with good customer service reputations.Don't be afraid to
drive a few hours to visit their operations. Qualify retailers
in the same way your own customers qualify you. Look at their
display ponds, their fish and aquatic plants. Watch how employees
treat their customers.
Attend
trade shows, especially regional lawn and garden exhibitions.
Discuss your plans with vendors and ask them about their products.
Credible pond information is important. Many
excellent books are available regarding pond construction,
aquatic plants and fish. Purchase a few, read them, share
them with your employees, then build a pond to gain direct
experience.
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Product Mix
Selecting a workable water garden product mix is not all about
packaging, graphics and shelf space. In fact, the retailer's
first priority in deciding what product lines to sell should
be product integrity. Next is marketing support. Third, and
equally as important as the first two, is customer support.
Offer your customers a selection of products that you use
yourself, products you trust. Two or three lines of any product
type are sufficient; depending on the product family, three
lines may be too many. Too many varieties of the same product
confuse your employees and customers, and can reduce your
purchasing dollars if vendors reduce quantity discounts.
Big name manufactures sell plan-o-grams or full-line displays.
Unfortunately, you may not want to sell all the products included
with the display. Savvy retailers must choose products carefully,
sometimes even cherry-picking the products that are the most
attractive for their program. Again, using these products
yourself is the best way to determine whether a product or
product line suits your retail needs.
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