July 2022 - 28

POHMER ON...
* And there's rising concern about stagflation, a
stagnant growth economy with continuing high
inflation, possibly leading to recession.
Rising to the Challenge
We're in pretty scary times, and there's little indication
that things will get measurably better in the next 12 to 18
months. While we can't control all of these externalities
that affect our consumer and our business, we can
anticipate them, plan for them and proactively react to
them. We've got to be even more resilient, agile, flexible
and adaptable than we've ever been; these are the same
traits that served us well during the pandemic.
From an operating standpoint, manage your input,
production, labor and freight costs, raising your retails
wherever possible. The consumer is becoming conditioned
to expect higher retails. And, please, don't get caught up
in the race to the bottom by matching prices with your
dumbest competitor, the one who absorbs all of the cost
increases without adjusting his retails!
Manage your inventory; don't let your inventory manage
you! Monitor your product mix weekly, watching not
only your inventory levels, but your profit mix based on
what the consumer is buying, adjusting regularly. With
the pressures on profit you're experiencing, reducing the
potential for markdowns and clearance is critical.
We were blessed during the pandemic when the
consumer gravitated to the products you offer because
they filled a void they were experiencing, and they realized
the benefits your products offered them. The uncertainty
the consumer is experiencing in the immediate future is
more intense than ever; they need our products. We are
essential to their emotional, psychological and physical
well-being, though many don't yet realize this.
Now is our opportunity to educate, motivate and
inspire the consumer to enjoy the real benefits our
products offer. There are very few products that have the
power that plants and flowers have on the consumers'
psyche. This, along with a customer-first attitude, is the
competitive value proposition that will help our customer
and ourselves cope. If we focus on delivering this message
to them. In today's crazy world, promoting stuff at a price
won't cut it.
The economic growth engine is stalling, business
challenges abound, and the consumer is hurting. The odds
are stacked against us. But we've been here before. We know
how to anticipate, plan, adapt, be flexible and agile; we've
proven our resilience over and over! We already understand
the real value and power plants and flowers offer the
consumer; we have an untapped opportunity to educate,
motivate and inspire them to benefit from our products.
Yep, succeeding against the odds. That's what we do!
Stan Pohmer is president of Pohmer Consulting Group in
Minnetonka, Minnesota. He can be reached at spohmer@
pohmer-consulting.com or 612.605.8799.
28 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | JULY 2022
Circle 116
https://www.schultz.com/Products/Plant-Food.aspx
July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2022
