A Retailer's Christmas Lament

by Robert Hendrickson (with a little help from Santa)

We want to pass along a short video message crafted by Robert Hendrickson (with a little help from Santa).

Robert sends this to all the Group Centers working so hard this holiday season. He received it as a going away gift from 'Bad Robert' (which sounds a lot like one of the kings in Game of Thrones) as a reminder that there's always another way to approach every challenge. You can see the special video message below!

Back to the Future

by Robert Hendrickson

I liked the movie “Back To The Future”. Cool plot, great title. (Although the phrase was first coined by Ray Bradbury in his 1951 book, The Illustrated Man.) Looks like I’m going to do exactly what the title suggests beginning January, 2022.

A friend of mine operated a book store in Evergreen, Colorado where our band was located in the early ‘70’s. During the day I stocked shelves at his store. At night he was our roadie to get into performances for free. It was a nice trade-off. The first time I saw a copy of Mother Earth News was at his store, then read every new issue that arrived. The enticement of gardens, goats, chickens and woodstoves pushed music to the side, so I headed back to Illinois and found a farm house with a barn, pond, chicken coop and deep, black soil. It was a fun but difficult ten-year learning experience. (Chickens hate being planted too deep.) A forty-seven-year detour into the garden center industry followed. But that’s coming to a close.

Counting On Another Boom Year Isn’t A Plan

by Robert Hendrickson

Circumstances no one expected created two great sales and profit years for the garden center industry. Expecting this business boost to become what cliché lovers like to call “the new normal” is short-sighted and risky. Better to spend time and attention on how you plan to spread the word that your company and the products you provide are important to the health and happiness of past, current, and future customers.

Ask almost any garden center owner or the person responsible for the company’s marketing decisions what they have planned for the upcoming year and the typical response will be… “We don’t plan that far ahead.” This usually means when it comes to marketing, they make last-minute decisions based on what’s selling, what’s not selling, or what other garden centers say they should be doing.

The Missing 83

by Robert Hendrickson

[The following article is referencing "Who's Your Competition" shared HERE.]

What's the Right Message?

by Robert Hendrickson

[Danny Summers: I asked Robert Hendrickson, "What's the right message for most of our centers to be considering." Here's his response..."The same words they should always use...Gardening hasn't changed just because a bunch of governors tried to stop it. - Fun, relaxing, personally rewarding and a great family activity. Don't try to overcomplicate things. Once the “all clear” siren sounds the only difference should be come out swinging and keep swinging with a strong marketing plan and the right words that haven't changed." Robert then shared a couple sample radio ads he has recently worked on with clients as examples. Details follow.]

These two radio spots are built around a common theme... connecting Dr. Sacks (mentioned in an earlier GROUPtalk article) and his research on the emotional power of gardening... to local garden centers.

When It Comes To Tracking Sales…
What You Did Last Year Really Doesn’t Matter

by Robert Hendrickson

My doctor said my memory problem was due to two simple facts…

1. I’m getting older, it just happens.
2. The second reason was… uh… I don’t remember what the second reason was.

Music and The Very Independent Garden Center World

by Robert Hendrickson

"It was easy for me to turn things over to the experts since none of the music I listen to would ever be used for creating a shopping environment at garden centers. Hendrix, Zappa, King Crimson and Miles have their place, but probably not among the petunias. But garden center owners asked me for help in deciding what music to play in their stores. My job has always been to help solve garden center problems. So I did.

A Few Words Could Change Everything

by Robert Hendrickson

You wouldn’t be reading this if it wasn’t for Ursula. There wouldn’t be a GROUPtalk, The Garden Center Group or my decades adventure in the garden center industry if Ursula hadn’t hired me to work at H.E. Nursery on a spring day in 1974.

 Let’s Play A Game

by Robert Hendrickson

(The following is a transcribed version of the PowerPoint slides Robert presented at The Fall Event 2019 during his Cheekwood Challenge.) Following The Fall Event 2019 and Robert's Cheekwood Challenge, several Group Owners have shared their experience in working toward a more balanced approach to their marketing efforts. Be sure to see Group Clients Weigh-In at the bottom of this blog post for more. Joey Bokar - Kerby's Nursery, JD Boone - Dothan Nurseries, Cameron Rees - Skinner Garden Store, and Liz Lark-Riley - Rockledge Gardens.

Before The Fall Event 2019, Danny mentioned having an open mic session to address the peaks and valleys garden centers face. I told him I had an idea that might help explain why this happens.

Age is Just a Number

by Robert Hendrickson

I got back from a trip to Farm and Home to purchase seed potatoes and onion sets when it hit me… I’m now one of those guys other people talk about when they say… “Don’t old-timers always plant potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day?” When did this happen? Why wasn’t I notified when passing from rock guy who listens to Hendrix with the lights out to some “old-timer potato planter” expected to wear bib overalls and listen to country music? That’ll never happen. ZZTopp is as country as I can handle.

The Super Bore Review

by Robert Hendrickson

[Danny] If you have been around The Group very long, you know Robert Hendrickson is famous for sharing his critiques of each Superbowl's ads. While I remember some lengthy reviews in the past, this year's are probably the shortest I can remember. To view any of these, simply click on the photo image. Hang on for a quick ride...And here's.... Robert!

The Right Tools Can Make All The Difference

by Robert Hendrickson

Ask almost any garden center owner a question about the past and the typical response will be… “I don’t even remember what I had for breakfast!”

A Marketing Conversation

by Robert Hendrickson

There’s a reason why reality tv shows are so popular. People like standing in the background watching what takes place in other peoples’ lives. Well, here’s your chance. What follows is an email conversation between a garden center owner and Robert discussing what needs to be considered before making a marketing decision for next spring. Names have been changed but the process Robert knows will work remains.

Loyalty Program Or Just Less Profit

by Robert Hendrickson

Something really backwards happened when the industry created so called “loyalty” programs. Instead of garden centers creating programs that would actually show gratitude for their loyal customers’ support, most created kick-back programs with rebates in an attempt to “reward” people already shopping with them. The behind closed doors intent was to create a process that would surely make shoppers loyal to the company by offering them financial “bribes”.

Well Isn’t This a Twist in Everybody’s Knickers!

by Robert Hendrickson

“Business is really quite simple,”he would say… over and over and over.

Well that’s weird…

by Robert Hendrickson

or SUCCE$$FUL? Van Wilgen’s just recorded their biggest day ever, a $168,000 Saturday followed by a $150,000 Sunday. Other than being one of the coolest garden centers around, I wonder what kind of marketing is required to attract that many shoppers. Let’s see…

Building an Ad - Creating a Story

by Robert Hendrickson

One of many resources included in The Group's WebSystem is the fundamental principle Robert Hendrickson developed on how to create your messaging to your audience to build a lasting relationship. One that is not built around "PRICE" but around a connection. This is the most important time for all of our centers, the coming weeks. It is a great time to revisit these basic principles... [Danny Summers]

Same As It Ever Was… Sorta.

by Robert Hendrickson

My last article for IGC magazine is scheduled to run next month. The article is supposed to be titled… “That’s All Folks”… informing the industry that my efforts trying to help have gone on long enough. Besides, ever since Danny and Karen purchased The Group, people have been telling me, “I heard you retired.” Lately my response has been, “I didn’t retire… I quit!” Retiring sounds like some old guy shuffling off into the fog. Quitting sounds like I’m doing what I want to do when I want to do it. You can read my farewell article HERE.

As far as the “industry” goes… I did quit. No more articles, presentations, tours or trade shows (except when shopping for plants for 3GFarm.)

Another Timely Topic

by Robert Hendrickson

It was the first Fall Event Wendy and I have missed. Besides all the business value that takes place, seeing clients who have become friends is like a big family reunion. Not being in Burlington was a huge disappointment but necessary given family responsibilities.

One topic I was anxious to hear discussed in Vermont was the trifecta of Average Sale/Customer Count/Revenue. Ever since Steve's June 12 WDR commentary reporting how a dip in average sale accompanied by a continuing drop in customer count was a concern, I've looked forward to The Fall Event to discuss what could be done to address the issue.

A Hefty Dose of Reality

by Robert Hendrickson

One of the coolest outcomes of my career is meeting some of the smartest people on the planet. While the list continues to grow as a result of knowing someone who knows someone who introduces me to the next big brain person I meet, David Wolfe remains the one person that impresses me most with his knowledge and insight, especially when it comes to marketing. David sent me what I consider to be one of the top three business books ever written, Ageless Marketing (it so happens David’s other book Firms of Endearment is also one of my top three.) After reading his two books my approach to marketing has remained forever unwavering.

Over the last several years David and I worked together several times, at The Group’s 2007 Fall Event then at other workshop sessions where I invited him to speak. David died of cancer this past February. His perspective and straight forward approach to marketing and consumer insight will be sorely missed.