It’s a good time to have a good time

It might not be fair, but your customers have a set of rigid service standards that have virtually nothing to do with your garden center. For instance, they go to DisneyWorld – and then evaluate your crew through their Mickey eyes.

Then, when the FedEx toll-free number gets answered in one ring, and the courier hustles to their collective front door, your customers suddenly have a new benchmark by which they judge your phone-handling time and your delivery promptness.

Got a Web site? It had better stack up favorably against Amazon.com, because – like it or not – that’s your service competitor when it comes to online shopping. 

As if the service standard mountain isn’t a high-enough climb, consider, too, that your average customer is also sorely over-stimulated. Television has become both high-definition and multi-media. The nightly news displays the weather report, ball scores, stock market numbers and a crawling headline simultaneously on the TV screen. Even the little league ball park is cloistered among giant billboards. Hitting a home run makes a bragging sponsor as noteworthy as a budding sports star.

The domino effect for you: A daily stream of sensory arousal can render a trip to your garden center humdrum and plain vanilla.

So, what’s a Lawn & Garden specialist to do if A+ service now only gets you a B- on your customer’s report card? How do you whet the appetite of over-stimulated customers who crave excitement along with their mulch? The answer is one word long: Entertain! 

We’re not suggesting you have to hire a comedian to plug petunias or a singer to sell seed. But you had better be prepared to rethink your customer’s service experience. In fact, it might be time your garden center was re-sensed, re-energized and re-themed.

Re-sense your center. Most garden centers absolutely nail the “eye candy” category. But they forget there are four more senses to be teased. Walk into the lobby of a Westin Hotel, and your nose knows the scent suddenly shifts from the “smell of the street” to a signature fragrance called “White Tea.” Reach the checkout counter of Dallas garden center Nicholson-Hardie, and you can pet one of two big calico cats (Frank Cat and Sammy Cat) sprawled across the counter with business cards proclaiming them “The Rat Pack.”

Stroll around a Bass Pro Shop, and take in the sporting goods displays amplified by such visual desserts as a giant fish tank and museum-quality wildlife dioramas. An antique and memorabilia shop in Memphis plays oldies; a shop specializing in silk flowers put a small waterfall in the center of the shop; an upscale jewelry shop has employees wear formal evening attire.

What’s happening in all these pictures? Enterprises tap the power of the five senses to augment the customer’s service experience. When realtors suggest baking an apple pie before holding an open house, when cookie shops pipe their kitchen aroma onto the sidewalk, when upscale retail stores put a pianist at a baby grand on the sales floor … they all are using common sense to arouse common senses.

Take a close look at the “touch me” features of your garden center? Customers enjoy a tactile connection. What does your garden center sound like? What do customers hear in the background when they call? Would homemade cookies or popcorn be a feature your customers might enjoy? Is your parking lot interesting? Does the garden center entrance “welcome” in an obvious/positive/unique way? Have a friend “shop” your center and count the smiles or double takes he or she sees. Will he or she see many of either? 

Re-energize your center. One of the hazards of fishing swampy rivers is the risk of getting a leech. A ritual among river anglers is to always check for the bloodsuckers after emerging from the water. And, the typical way to remove the slimy hitchhiker is with a lighted match or lighter.

Just as leeches suck the blood from their hosts, “spirit leeches’ suck the passion from theirs. Spirit leeches are usually dark—they remove optimism, hope and confidence. Mention an opportunity, and they can tell you why it’s a mistake. Some spirit leeches are almost invisible, yet you can’t overestimate their knack for putting wet blankets on joy.

Spirit leeches are removed the same way real leeches are—with fire. We don’t recommend using a lighted match, of course. But you can “ignite” the energy of a positive spirit. Consider this notion: You do not inherit spirit, acquire spirit or borrow spirit. In fact, you choose spirit much like you choose to introduce yourself to a stranger. Those who opt for an upbeat, positive spirit are happier, safer, healthier and more productive. And, they refuse to let spirit leeches attach to them.

Customers are attracted to spirited people. Today’s customers, in particular, are frustrated with indifferent service—not bad service, but boring, comatose service. They witness service people sleep-walking through the workday.  Re-energize your center by making it a “No spirit leech” zone. Let employees know your customers expect a great attitude—and so do you.

As their leader, you travel in a spotlight, with your employees watching as well as remembering your every move. Display the attitude you want. Mickey Mouse never has an off day, even if he stayed up late watching TV the night before. He is expected to be happy-go-lucky Mickey, and that is what theme park guests get everyday, even though Mickey performs in a hot costume in sizzling July.

Re-theme your center. Guess where this is: You walk through the entrance and a big fuzzy-costumed character greets you. Everywhere you look there are smiling employees and happy guests. As you wind through the colorfully adorned passageway, a mechanical rooster pops up and sings to the mechanical hens in the nearby cage. A peppy soundtrack is periodically punctuated by an announcement that the show in one section is about to begin.

Think you are in a theme park? Nope! You are in a grocery store—Stew Leonard’s Dairy Store, headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., and currently operating four giant stores in Connecticut and New York. Stew Leonard re-themed a traditionally functional experience into one that was entertaining. His concept was so successful Stew Leonard’s Dairy Store landed in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the highest retail sales per square foot of any food store in the U.S. 

Theme is all about having a compelling story—a fantasy land commanded by a mouse (Disney theme parks), a trip to Treasure Island (Treasure Island Hotel in Vegas), or down the way a bit a stroll through the streets of Paris (Paris Hotel) or Venice (The Venetian). Most garden centers have a proud history or founding vision that could serve as the basis of a theme.

And, even if there’s no relevant story in your garden center’s legacy, you can create one. What if your garden center made a centerpiece out of unexpected speed, ultra-personalized service, a classy experience, a marketplace link to other trades, or the funniest place in town? What if you became the new watering hole—a spot people gathered for conversation?  What if your center became the smartest in the region, with horticulture professors and florists on your board or advisory team?

Customers recall, return to, and refer others to those experiences that engage them emotionally and that leave them with a positive memory. In an era of gloom and doom, creating a place of joy can help your garden center become the customer’s “oasis of choice.”

Chip R. Bell and John R. Patterson are customer loyalty consultants and authors of “Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers.” They can be reached at www.taketheirbreathaway.com.