It is one thing to rely on the same customers coming back time after time, but then you just have about the same income all the time. How can you get people to stop in and buy more from you?
Think about how folks try to drive by a McDonald’s and the kids go crazy wanting to pull in and get something there. Think about it…Is it really the food that the kids want? Not usually. It is the toy in the meals that they want. It is like a surprise because they do not know what they are getting when they place their order. Just like the surprises in the Cracker Jacks boxes. Do you remember feeling this way when you were younger?
So how can we apply this same effect to your business to increase the traffic to get you more customers, thereby increasing your profits?
plants
Here are a couple of ideas. The first example targets the adults because adults like the adrenalin rush of surprises too, even though they hate to admit it. Offer a free surprise gift if they purchase something over $30 in value or don’t mention the value at all. Just give the free gift. The free surprise gift would be something that you have an excess of. Extra vegetables that are getting too old or big (or plant extra just for this purpose like quick growing lettuce); perennials that are going out of season; a bouquet of flowers that are going by, but can be enjoyed for a few more days; a marigold from a six pack (cut up the pack into individual plants) because there are too many to sell this season and they would just go into your compost; adjust the value to what you sell (I know if I stop by a farm stand or garden center that I could easily spend $20 to $30). If your competition isn’t doing this, you have the advantage. They WILL be back to buy from you.
seeds
Kids like to get surprises as often as they can. I don’t know if any of you remember buying the seed packets when you were a kid that had a surprise mix of seeds in them, so you had to plant them to find out what they were unless you knew what that seed looked like and grew into. I used to love getting these. There were probably ten to thirty seeds in these packets, but you only need about ten in each of yours or more if you wish, but they will be back to get more too, so don’t worry that they won’t have enough. The idea is to get them to come back, so they will buy more from you. As you order seeds for the year, order an excess assortment of different kinds of seeds to put in each packet to do this (don’t be cheap; remember this is part of your overall marketing plan), or you could use excess seeds after you sowed all of what you are going to use this year, or for nurseries use an assortment of common seeds from pines, maples, or other trees and shrubs to package into specially decorated envelopes with colorful graphics to hand out to the kids after their parents, relatives, or friends purchase something from you. It might be a little bit extra, but it is something you can start getting ready for in the off season [Plan the graphics out; print out the envelopes; add a little folded piece of paper (a bright color like green or yellow would look special or a glassine envelope works too) if there are tiny seeds in the mix so they don’t get lost at the bottom of the envelope.]. Even the adults may like getting these too. These are something easy and compact to keep some of them near your cash register to hand out as needed.
This will help you ‘cultivate you next crop’ of customers as these kids get older. It will be something they will want to bring their kids back to experience too!
Does your season run all year round? Maybe plan on seeds that can be grown inside and passed out in the fall and winter months.
Don’t forget to advertise this on your website, on a sandwich board in front of your business, ads in the local newspapers or radio/TV stations, and any place else you put up ads.
Give it a go and see if it increases your traffic. Let me know you do!
Tags: farm stands, farming, farms, garden centers, garden nurseries, master gardeners, more customers, more farm profits, more garden center profits, more nursery profits, nurseries, tree nurseries
Leave A Reply (No comments So Far)
No comments yet