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John Shelley’s inspires ideas, then shows customer the way
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Shoppers are into the experience that is John Shelley’s Garden Center
& Nursery before they even get out of their cars. Clusters of
landscape settings bordering the parking area set the tone at this
Felton, PA, independent. Plantings burst forth at the edge of the
frontage walkway and beside the pathway that leads to the main retail
building on top of the hillside.
The
IGC’s subtle sales pitch for water gardening starts here, slightly to
the left of the base of the steps. A mature pond nestles among lush,
low-growing foliage under the spreading branches of Japanese maples.
It’s not in your face but gently naturalized within the blend of plants
and hardscape features. The “wow” factor soaks in gradually, allowing
shoppers to immerse themselves in the experience and put themselves in
the picture.
Obviously, a master of merchandising is at work here.
Owner John Shelley spent 17 years in marketing and advertising in New
York before putting that background to work in creating this retail and
landscaping business.
“Our customers don’t want to see the water
garden; they want to see the concept of water gardening,” Shelley says.
“Though it’s an old cliche, selling the sizzle does sell the steak. If
we can convey the experience of water gardening, we’ll sell the water
garden and the whole package of other landscaping elements that go with
it.”
Setting the Scene
Shelley’s approach to
merchandising is selling the experience, as exemplified by benches
throughout the nursery where customers can sit and enjoy their
surroundings. This type of retailing incorporates the best of marketing
theory, playing on the psychology of what prompts people to buy, and of
practicality, considering the most effective use of display space and
the time investment of knowledgeable personnel.
“We don’t try to
‘sell’ them on a water garden,” Shelley says. “To precondition them to
buy, we’d have to overcome all the negative experiences they’ve
accumulated from their own previous attempts at water gardening, or
from what they’ve seen at other residences or at businesses that have
water features. Some of those negatives would be easy to overcome, some
could be insurmountable.”
It’s not about convincing someone to buy what you sell, but rather planting the seed that may grow into the desire to have it.
“When
people come into the garden center to ask about a water garden, it’s
already implanted in their mind, heart and soul,” Shelley says.
“They’ll have a preset notion of what they want. We need to capture
that and define their want list of attributes, whether we’ll be doing
the installation or they will.”
The next step is putting all those
attributes together in a package that helps the customer visualize the
possibility while tying it to the practicalities of the site and the
budget. Once that point is reached, the working elements can be
examined - the positioning, configuration and mechanics, what it
entails to set it up and manage it successfully.
When a shopper
comes into the garden center, inquiring about a water garden, savvy
staffers don’t guide them to the shelves of merchandise. “Think about
it,” Shelley says. “If you go into a car dealership, they don’t show
you the creeper and push you under the car. They show you what the car
looks like, and then they point out the great features.”
The first
stop for an interested shopper is the extensive working water garden on
display in Shelley’s main greenhouse. No matter what the time of year,
the greenhouse is a warm, inviting setting filled with plants that help
set the scene.
The water garden itself combines multiple features
that will most likely be on the list of attributes the potential
customer already has in mind, and beauty is the first impression. But
there’s more to be seen because the water feature is also a practical
demonstration of how water gardens work. Most of the mechanics are
purposely visible so staff members can point out the various components
while explaining them. It’s much easier for the customer to understand
that the top hat filter with the foam screen pumps the dirty water into
the bio filter when the process is taking place as it is discussed.
Picturing the Possibilities
While
that show-and-tell session may take place immediately, at this early
stage, many customers are more interested in looking at features than
mechanics. That’s where the computerized photo display of water gardens
plays its part.
Most of these water features have been created by
the garden center’s Landscape Designer James Theisen and installed
under the direction of Pond Master and Landscape Foreman Alan Miller.
The digital photos are organized into a simple slide show Shelley calls
“low-tech.”
“It’s not a Macromedia presentation,” Shelley says.
“It’s a set of sharp, clear images showing working water gardens in
actual landscape settings. The customer and one of our knowledgeable
staff members sit at the desk and look at the screen. They can move
back and forth between the photos, discussing the features that
interest the customer.”
Theisen has the same set of photos on his
laptop computer for display when consulting with customers, either at
the garden center or at their residence. Several customers whose water
gardens are pictured have extended an open invitation for a staff
member to bring a customer onto their property for a close-up view.
Customers ready to move forward on an extensive project may opt to work
directly with Theisen at this stage. “Others may just want to go home
and think about it,” Shelley says. “That’s fine. Our staff understands
it’s much more important to put together a package that will please the
customer over the long term.”
The Total Package
Shelley
and his staff focus on selling the total package because they believe
each water garden is unique to the customer and their site. “We don’t
sell a water garden,” Miller says, “we sell the essence of the area, an
organism with the plants, water, rocks and fish and the land around it.
Even if a customer started out wanting to duplicate a water garden
they’d seen, it wouldn’t be a copy because each site is a different
situation.”
The base of all Shelley’s sales is the partnership
between the retailer and the customer. That partnership is built on the
retailer’s sharing of knowledge rather than on a specific product or
project. With water gardening, that knowledge guides the customer to a
feature that is built correctly, with all the components in balance so
it is basically self-sustaining. The sharing doesn’t stop once the
water garden is in place. Shelley, Miller, Theisen or another
experienced staffer will continue to work with the customer, teaching
her how to become a pond master.
“We teach them to be good
observers, checking the pond daily and noting if anything is askew,”
Miller says. “We’re always available as a resource to answer questions
or visit their site. One of the hardest things to learn is to watch and
wait. It may take a week or two, but in a water garden that was
properly balanced to begin with, the organisms will generally interact
to bring it back into balance.”
The IGC stocks a full line of
products to build water gardens and supply their needs for the future.
But they discourage, rather than encourage, chemical quick fixes or
high-tech additions to manipulate a pond. “We’ll consult with them to
bring the pond back into balance, working with the natural ecosystem to
accomplish it,” Shelley says. “We want our customers to enjoy their
water gardens, not work on them.”
That’s what customers have come to
expect from the retailer who uses the same knowledge-based, pick-right,
plant-right assistance on all green goods, which carry a five-year
guarantee.
It’s the long-term relationship that is the backbone of
the business. “I’m still working with customers that I first consulted
with when I started here 13 years ago,” Miller says. “We seldom see a
water gardening project that stops at the edge of the pond. It extends
to additions, such as boulders, lights and landscape features,
including trees and shrubs. Those are excellent add-on sales.”
Spreading the Word
Shelley’s
advertising background gave him a firsthand view of the billions of
dollars invested in brands, and how quickly that can fall apart if a
product doesn’t perform as touted or word-of-mouth feedback is
negative. His advertising reflects that.
“We never advertise price,”
Shelley says. “We focus on quality and knowledge. Shoppers can get
products anywhere, but only a few people can give them the knowledge
and support they need to achieve success.”
Shelley’s ads are
targeted to a specific topic and are long on copy and packed with
information. All are linked to the website (www.gdnctr.com) so
customers can print them or refer to them at any time.
“We’re really
selling the joys of water gardening,” Shelley says. “While our approach
is different than most, it clicks with our customers and builds
long-term partnerships. Those satisfied customers tell their friends
and neighbors about us. That’s the best advertising there is.”
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