May 2024 - 10

INNOVATIVE IDEAS
Can We Talk?
By C.L. Fornari
Your employees need to be polished communicators
to interact with customers - here's how.
W
hen you work in a garden
center, you wear many
hats and need various
skills. But whether you're a cashier or
head horticulturalist - or anything
in between - your title is Garden
Communicator, since we are always
helping the public to be successful
with their plants and properties.
Thirty years ago, a garden center's
prime interaction with customers was
in the store. We spoke to customers
one-on-one and periodically held
classes. Today, we've added a range
of digital interactions - websites,
newsletters, virtual seminars and social
media posts. It's now in every IGC's best
interest to make sure its staff members
can communicate well through writing,
speaking and photography.
Here are four tips for making sure
your garden center is well-staffed with
polished communicators.
1. Writing as a Team Effort
There are some writers who are able
to turn in " clean copy " effortlessly,
and others who need a couple of
proofreaders to improve their writing
before it goes public. Either way, the
goal is to produce information that is
helpful, understandable and aimed
toward your customers' cares. In
addition to watching for misspellings
and typos, those who write or proofread
should eliminate extra words and avoid
repetition within a sentence.
While our customers appreciate our
use of common names, including the
botanical names of plants not only
helps them to get the variety they
want, but actually also improves your
search engine optimization (SEO)
with Google. Google sees the use of
scientific names as having a higher
level of knowledge and legitimacy, so
websites that include these are given
preference by this search engine.
2. Speaking Starts Small
There are many who fear getting up
in front of a group of people to speak,
but garden centers can cultivate their
pool of educators by having their staff
start small. Encourage your employees
to begin by speaking to small groups for
informal presentations about the topics
that they are most passionate about.
Does a member of your staff love
perennials or plants for pollinators?
Whatever topic they are enthusiastic
about will make it easier for them to
practice their public speaking. Schedule
some " limited to six attendees " events
around specific topics so that employees
can build their confidence about
speaking from the ground up. An added
bonus of such small groups is that the
attendees develop a personal connection
with your staff and garden center, which
translates into customer loyalty.
3. Photos Are Essential
In 1911, at a meeting of the Syracuse
Advertising Men's Club, Arthur Brisbane
said, " Use a picture. It's worth a
thousand words. " Little did he know that
more than 100 years later the internet
would make the value of a photo much
more important. It's a visual world
indeed, and we who communicate
about plants are in a visual business.
Enlist as many of your employees as
possible to take a few pictures every
day. Ask them for a mix of plant, store
and people pictures, with emphasis
on what delights them. Assign a single
staff member to receive the photos
and store them in a company photo
library. The pictures can be used for
10 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | MAY 2024
your social media posts, advertising
and website/blog.
4. Communication Education
Just as you invest time on instore
training or sending your staff
to industry events, there are ways
to improve communication skills.
GardenComm promotes and educates
professional plant communicators
with virtual classes available
whenever your staff is available and
in-person conferences that cover
writing, speaking and photography, as
well as inside information about the
green industry.
For assistance with developing
speaking skills, look to your local
Toastmasters group. An employee
who is comfortable in front of
audiences can be an ambassador
for your business to local garden
clubs, neighborhood associations
and libraries. In addition to in-person
events, speakers can present virtual
talks to your customers that allow
you to build excitement about plants
and gardens to large groups of people
without needing to set up chairs or
keep your staff after hours.
In a time when everyone is flooded
with information, developing personal
connections with our customers is
more important than ever.
C.L. Fornari has worked at Hyannis
Country Garden, a family-owned IGC
on Cape Cod and a 2023 recipient of
the Lawn & Garden
Retailer Innovator
Awards, for over 25
years. Learn more
at lgrmag.com/
article/hyanniscountry-garden.
http://www.lgrmag.com/article/hyannis-country-garden
May 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2024
