The Strength of Group Sharing

The Strength of Group Sharing

By Danny Summers

When often faced with the opportunity of describing "The Group Experience" for someone who has not been in The Group, I feel it is a challenging task. Of course, I hit the key points of all our programs as well as the different ways our Group Centers share information peer-to-peer and how they have access to and interact with our Group Service Providers. But I feel it is still only a small glimpse into The Group Experience that I just wind up urging them to join and jump into the process as much as they can to see for themself what it is like.

And then as we get closer to The Fall Event, if I can get them to attend, that is the absolute best exposure. As a team, we have often said, "If we can just get them to The Fall Event, we know what will happen. They will be excited and ready to be a part of what they experience."

The fact is all it really takes is seeing everyone at The Fall Event talking and sharing with each other, including all our Service Providers, Partners for Success, and Sponsors, whether one-on-one, on a major panel discussion, or in a breakout session. The level of honest, sincere, and heartfelt sharing (and caring) tells the story.

Of course that exposure usually follows shortly after seeing the Financial Programs sessions that Tim (and Steve) have shared which shows real numbers-sharing that comes from either the Annual P&L Study or the WDR.

I believe the very best opportunity for any Group Center to be re-charged and excited about the coming year is to attend The Fall Event. I know I am biased. But all I have to really do is watch everyone who is participating and see their expressions and reactions to know... this is real. And it is much more than what I can explain to someone in a short conversation.

I want to extend a challenge.. to any Group Centers or any Invited Retailers... don't miss this opportunity next year.

Oh, and you can get a small glimpse by participating in any of our gatherings such as our Best of MANTS, Cool Product Awards at TPIE, or Retailers' Choice Awards at Cultivate or Farwest when we have Group Centers joining us to discover new products and sharing their finds. Watch for details to sign up here in GROUPtalk in the coming months.

You will be so glad you did and we will be too!

By the way, the photo at the top is some of our Best of the Best Award Winners who were recognized at The Fall Event 2022 and then participated in a panel discussion... (left to right in top photo): Civano Nursery, Tucson, AZ (Mel Taylor-Shipley), Fairview Greenhouses, Raleigh, NC (Heather Rollins), Sunnypoint Gardens, Egg Harbor, WI (Kori Zawojski), Gill Garden Center & Landscape, Corpus Christi, TX (Jesse Jenkins), and Watters Garden Center, Prescott, AZ (Ken Lain). Here's their award presentation photo below.

Other Best of the Best Centers Awards are: Atlantic Nursery, Freeport, NY, The Family Tree Garden Center, Snellville, GA, Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery, Delores, CO, Plants for All Seasons, Houston, TX, and Rolling Green Nursery, Greenland, NH.

Congratulations to our Best of Best Centers achieving the highest net profit percentage! Watch for more of our Annual Award Winners coming here in GROUPtalk.


 

SLIDO - A New Participation Tool

We utilized a new participation tool at The Fall Event 2022 called Slido. It is an easy way to take a quick poll or get almost instant feedback during a presentation. Most Fall Event presenters built a question or two into their presentation and it quickly gave us a glimpse into reactions and thoughts.

One such question came from Sid Raisch when he asked "What will help attract and keep future CUSTOMERS?" The audience quickly gave their reactions and the following word cloud was formed. The more "up votes" or repeats a word received the larger it is in the cloud and more in the center. There are some excellent key words below to use for developing your Center's "vibe" in order to (as Sid challenged everyone)... attract and keep future CUSTOMERS!

Sid Raisch also asked "What will help attract and keep future EMPLOYEES?" You can see below the most dominant answers everyone came up with... especially those around the center of the word cloud and larger text.

And one more question Sid asked was "What will help attract and keep future OWNERS?" These features may help attract people who could be future Owners (BUYERS) of Garden Centers! Obviously, a big portion of the key words in this word cloud was centered around buying a profit-generating Garden Center, and let's face it, being active in The Group's benchmarking programs can help show a Center's unique position if and when you are ready to sell. There are other important words in this cloud that are positive attributes attracting young buyers such as Nature, Purpose, Satisfaction, and more.

OK, Here's Your Chance to Participate - RIGHT NOW

If you would like to add your input to a question, here's one for you. This one is from Tim Quebedeaux's History of the P&L Study presentation which you can see some details in his blog article below. He asked,

Are you expecting higher profitability in 2022 vs 2021?

To participate, simply open your smartphone's camera and point it at this QR Code shown above. You will be taken to our question page on SLIDO's webpage. Then it's as simple as selecting the answer of your choice. But wait just a minute...

Before you hit SEND, please click on Anonymous and tell us who you are (Name, Company and email). That's it - Now hit SEND! You instantly see the current results.

We will share details from this question next week here in GROUPtalk.

We have so much more to share from The Fall Event 2022. Some are highlights from presentations. Others are recognition of more Awards Program Winners. And there are insights from both panel discussions and breakouts. All-in-all, this was one big think-tank of collaborative ideas...Thank you all!

Sharing is at the heart of The Group and your ideas are very important. If you have any trouble logging into The Group WebSystem, please let me know. Are you and your staff all subscribed to our eLists such as GroupEs, Retail-Grower, Retail-Landscape, Owners-Only, and a number of others? Need help subscribing? Let me know so I can show you how you can sign up.
Thanks for sharing!

Danny Summers
[email protected]
Tel: 678-909-7770
Cell: 678-761-7145

REMEMBER: Your interaction (by phone and email) with Group Service Providers such as Tim Quebedeaux, Sid Raisch, John Kennedy, Jean Seawright, and of course Danny Summers are included in your retainer!

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