Generational change is the hot topic, with the baby boomers moving to retirement, a shift in the expectations of the ‘average’ customer is taking place as it’s the babies of the baby boomers who are now having the babies. That’s right! With this shift comes opportunity to harness new customers and adapt to the times with the next generation of gardeners coming to the fore.I was in a bar one weekend recently and ended up speaking to a friend of a friend who is in a senior management role, and sure enough the conversation went from the stresses of employment to what one does to create balance in their life. Gardening was the activity of choice for this person; with the statement ‘gardening is relaxing’ being expressed. I was intrigued by this. Finally, people my own age are turning to their own backyards for recreation. The Gen X/Yers are now in the key target market for gardening. Many of us have our own spaces which we want to beautify and show off to our friends, many of us also don’t own our space which is why portability is important. We love to grow our own, and the latest Newspoll shows this with 76% of Australians between the ages of 18-34 planning on doing spring gardening this year, 5% higher than all older age groups. In addition to this, the Grow Your Own food trend is on the rise, with 66% of Australians growing their own fruit, vegetables or herbs this year.
While the Gen X/Y may seem like a difficult demographic to sell to, it’s simply a matter of understanding them. Generation X/Y exhibit very varied lifestyles. Someone who is 26 may be a born again hippy of the 60’s, or they might be the up and coming stockbroker on Collins street – it’s up to you as the salesperson to identify what they ‘want’, as opposed to need, base upon current trends and the individual customers position in life.
In terms of gardening inspiration, Newspoll found a staggering 75% get inspiration for their own gardens from other people's gardens, 68% from gardening or lifestyle TV shows and 53% from garden centres, which is more positive news for garden retailers. This tells me we really need to paint this generation a picture, we are lagging behind here in areas of inspiration and experiential retailing – get some young creative people on staff and let them take some ownership with visual merchandising – given creative flare, they will create exactly what this demographic wants.
Never hard sell, soft selling with minimal pressure is the approach to take. The younger generations are rarely persuaded by pressure, and if put in such a position they will simply walk away. You as the salesperson simple needs to paint a picture in the customers mind based on the information you draw from them. Understanding exactly what the customer wants, combined with good product knowledge is key to offering the sole solution to the customers needs and desires.
Tell me something you don’t know right? People in the age group of our up and coming gardeners despise being told what to do; they ultimately despise looking incompetent or unknowledgeable. Understanding this is the first step to making a successful sale out of this customer demographic. This is a key point to keep in mind.
On the topic of staff, David Cripps (Town and Country Gardens) noted the importance of matching staff with customer. An upper class lady in her 50s has totally different needs, opinions, interests and expectations to our next generation of gardeners. Suitably matching staff to your customer base is the first step to what I would label as a naturally occurring sale.
The following presents an interesting quadrant system of identifying customer emotive decision making:
http://www.youngentrepreneurs.net.au/generationselling.html
Finally, what is your garden centre doing to capture and engage the next generation of gardeners? The two garden centres below have taken initiative by creating ‘children’s days’ as a means of education, community support and building business.
Anthony’s top 5 tips for selling to Generation X/Y
1 – Identify how much space they have – are they renting and need to be able to move their plants in the future?
2 – Don’t pressure them – we are a generation who can make our own minds, and pressuring us in our decisions puts up high walls immediately.
3 – Offer solutions, not options – they know what they want, it’s up to you as the salesperson to identify this. Gen X/Y aren’t concerned, nor do they want to be confused by options.
4 – Be clear and concise with your technical transfer and only tell them what they need to know, not everything you know.
5 – Don’t forget decisions are made with emotions, impulse is everything.
Case Studies: Two retail nurseries engaging the junior generation.
Garden Classes – The Gardeners Corner Store
Last school holidays, The Gardener’s Corner Store in Brighton decided to run a series of garden classes designed to encourage interest in the next generation of gardeners. The objectives of these classes were as follows:
• Promote the future generation of gardeners
• Focus on sustainability
• Share knowledge and passion for gardening
• Encourage kids to be more active rather than playing computer games
Each two hour class introduced the children (ages 3+) to the basics of what plants need to grow and gave them the hands on opportunity to plant up a variety of vegetables and seedlings. With all classes oversubscribed, they were well received by parents who enrolled their children and enjoyed by all participants (and staff!).
Earth Kids – The Outside Bit
On Sunday 27th of September, The Outside Bit (Melanie Cole, Tony Hellier and staff) sponsored and organised the running of an event dubbed as Earth Kids, Raising This Generation Sustainably. Being run by the Koonwarra Business Group in collaboration with Koonwarra Sustainable Communities Centre, the event stretches well beyond the gates of The Outside Bit.
The initiative aims to promote to all carers how we can all take simple steps to protect the planet. It’s all about what is in our food, how to grow food in any size of space, and products that embrace the principles of minimum packaging, recycling or chemical free origin. The opportunity to sell preloved goods will help manage the needs of our growing children through the many stages and show children steps to lead by example in valuing recycled products.
Melanie wishes to mention the strong support of Debco, Oasis and Aussie Rice Straw, of who have all assisted in providing opportunity for the kids’ activities of planting a vegetable seedling to take home to nurture.
The event was a huge success, with people travelling far and wide to get involved and learn about how we impact on our planet and what we can do on an individual level to make a difference. Melanie noted that simply put, ‘when you give back to a community, you receive, not just financially but on a personal level’ too.
