The garden industry around the worlds is going through some major changes. More retailers are discovering that this is an attractive retail category to be in and are looking for a part of the action.   What does the independent garden retailer do to grow sales in an increasingly competitive market?

Firstly, the independent must realize that they have the opportunity to own the market in their territory and therefore the marketing should be based on owning the high ground.

The following ten steps can help grow sales: (more…)

First of all we had the $15,000 bucket of tomatoes, now we have the $125,00 kitchen tap.

Many of our friends are aware of the Stanley’s ongoing home renovation saga.  If you have not already heard of our saga,  we are renovating our home and have experienced various challenges over the last two and half years.

Our kitchen was the biggest challenge and was completed in November last year.  We are delighted with our new kitchen, it is gorgeous, all except for the tap.  The tap fittings are exquisite and came from Italy, but when you turn the cold water tap on you get hot water and when you turn the hot water tap on you get cold water.   It’s back to front.  Having invested several tens of thousands of dollars with the kitchen builder we thought he would quickly and easily rectify the back to front tap. (more…)

I have just completed a survey of 16 retailers and benchmarked their performance like by like for an Association. Some of the group of 16 are performing exceptionally well, whilst others are performing less effectively. All the retailers were in the same economic climate in the same industry in the same country. So what made the difference? Some of the retailers knew the secrets of success while others were still searching for that magic formula.

So what are those secrets that some retailers have discovered and the others have yet to discover?

What were the ten secrets the top performers implemented? (more…)

Have you noticed what makes a top salesperson a top salesperson … they understand sticky.

The key to increasing the average sale per customer is to be sticky. I do not mean you should cover yourself in some form of glue. What you need to do is to start telling stories. Customers always remember the story you tell, these stories must be true and relate to the product.

Now before we go any further, I must stress that the sales priorities are important. The customer is going to have confidence and trust in you based on two key issues. (more…)