| The association of Victoria Day Weekend, generally the 3rd week of May with the bedding plant season is well established and relied upon in making decisions. Bedding plant greenhouses gear their production for highest sales on this weekend. In case you did not know, in Canada, the celebration of Victoria Day occurs every year on Monday, prior to May 25th. It is the official celebration in Canada of the birthdays of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. Victoria Day was established as a holiday in Canada West (Now Ontario) in 1845, and became a national holiday in 1901. Before Victoria Day became a national Holiday, people had celebrated Empire Day , beginning in the 1890s as Victoria approached her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India was born on 24 May 1819. She ascended the throne after the death of her uncle George IV in 1837 when she was only 18. She ruled until her death in 1901 when her son Edward the VII became king of England.
So, now you know about the Victoria day weekend. Most of the greenhouses target maximum sales for this weekend. Talking to many growers the sales were behind this year and it is hoped that good weather in June will help to catch up.
I see very innovative sales signs and advertisement in newspapers. Customers do get attracted to these signs but it is the “sales” and discounts which appear to be of great value. Many people will wait for these sales in June to buy plants.
Talking about strategies to attract customers, I like this message in the answering machine of High Q greenhouses. After two rings the message kicks in, not after 6 rings. Six rings are too long.
“After a long wait, it is spring and that is great
At High Q greenhouses we have what you need
Plants in pots, baskets and from seeds
All the benches are full with color and smell
Ready for you to buy and sell
The answering machine may cause a cuss
But quick, leave your message for us
So we can look after you and take your order too”.
It appears too long but when you listen to it, it moves along fine. How does one comes up with such messages. I was talking to Michiel Verheul about his messages. I thought he had a team of people who came up with these messages every month. He told me that it is like an inspiration. It is like flow of thoughts which translates into these messages. He writes them down and loads them on to the answering machine. I am sure other growers load similar, thought provoking messages which get customer attention.
On the other hand I also hear messages which are abrupt like” Leave a message and somebody will call you”. “Nobody is here is to take your call, leave a message”. In this modern age, good, thoughtful messages are needed, giving not only information but also to provide a connection. These messages are like a connector to your business and personalities. A good message may prompt people to come and meet you and buy from your greenhouse.
Small problems here and there related to pH were noticed. Look at this picture below:
This picture was taken on April 30th and you have advertised that greenhouse is opening on May 7th. There are 4000 geraniums involved, showing symptoms like this. Worst case scenario is that you did not know what the problem was. In this case the grower knew that it is was an acidic pH issue, but did not get around to applying potassium bicarbonate. He treated his entire water supply with acid to bring the pH down but the pH meter was out by one unit so instead of pH being 5.5, it actually was 4.5. Now the matter got really complicated because over 100,000 liters of water have to be treated with potassium bicarbonate to bring the pH to 5.5 range.
The application of bicarbonate to geraniums was started quickly and plants started responding but the cost of removing those leaves was significant. This labor cost reminds me of the weeds which many growers complained about in the commercial soilless media. I saw many weeds myself in hanging baskets. It is difficult to remove them without disturbing the roots of plants and labor costs are definitely higher to remove those weeds.
Lots of planning and decisions are required to grow these plants and sell them and the matter does not end after selling. After sale customer care is also important. |