In the first few weeks of 2010 I travelled to the USA, Canada and the UK.  I realize that the snow in all of these countries had created a dampener on the start of the retail year, but many retailers were not creating excitement for their customers.

Retail is detail. In all three countries in the middle of January I was still seeing Christmas greetings.  One Coffee Shop was putting an A Frame outside their shop that said “We Wish You a Happy Christmas” and I was there on January 17^th.

As retailers we need to be alert to what is happening in the world.  Complacency by retailers results in boredom by consumers.  We cannot complain about dwindling customer counts and lower average sales unless we are prepared to go out there and create a few waves.

The one real lesson from my January tour was how important a daily checklist is when managing a store.  We all become store blind.  We cannot blame the weather for everything.

Check the basics and make a difference.

I’m sure you have heard it time and again over the last twelve months. The key to success in these challenging times is customer service. This implies some retailers provide it, whilst others don’t. But, when I talk to retailers they all tell me they provide it.

I was recently on a panel with award winning retailers. The debate was focused on what award winning retailers do that non award winning retailers don’t do.

Again, the subject of customer service came up. The award winning retailers mentioned that one of the keys to being one of the best was customer service. Everyone started nodding their heads in agreement. I was the only one who disagreed.

Outstanding businesses do not provide customer service, mediocre businesses provide customer service. (more…)

I recently spoke at the New Zealand Nursery Conference and seemly caused quite a debate.

During my presentation, I mentioned we need to be seen as the garden experts, a source of knowledge, trust and credibility. At the same time we need to address the needs and wants of each target group in our community. This means understanding and addressing the needs of Gen Y’s, Gen X’s, Jones Generation, Baby Boomers and Greying Tigers if we perceive these groups to be part of our target market.

I then gave examples of retailers that addressed in my view, these target markets exceptionally well. (more…)

I’m not going to take the credit for the title of this article, that goes to John Whitehead in the UK, he brought the heading up when we were talking about the industry over a glass of wine in the UK recently.

The thinking process is worth sharing as it brings up some interesting challenges for anyone in business today.

The conversation we had started with growers and retailers trying to please everybody and as a result, failing to completely please anybody.

Successful business are focussed and often become famous for specific categories or lines of product. In the ups and downs of the last twelve months many businesses have broadened the range of products on offer, when what they probably should have done is gone deeper in specific categories and become famous for that category.

History has shown that long term success revolves around being famous for something. The best way to explain this is to look at restaurants. I have my favourite restaurants. If I want steak, I select a particular restaurant, when I want fish I select a different one and if I’m “going Italian” I select a different restaurant again. It is very rare that I select a restaurant that just does food, and, if I do, I often select it on price and convenience. (more…)