ANLA Knowledge Center

IN EPISODE 1

Rewarding Your Customer. Rewarding Your Bottom Line.

Pull Up a Chair brings together retailers and experts from around the country to talk about the secrets behind their success and the challenges that keep them up at night. This tradeshow after-hours conversation lets you pull up a chair to the couch or on the rooftop deck to get the inside scoop on their experiences.

We kick off with Mark, Christina and Michael chatting about customer loyalty programs. Are they worth the investment? Do loyalty programs really work? And how the heck do you set one up? From implementation to success and profit, Mark shares the ins and outs of how McDonald Garden Centers established their program using their Activant POS system.

So pull up a chair and listen in on how these folks are using customer loyalty programs to profile customers, develop offers and program benefits and how they measure success.

BONUS! Segmentation and Marketing. Marketing costs money! While it can deliver big results, the best way to maximize your return on investment is to carefully identify your market and customize your marketing and offers to drive their purchasing. Mark shares how his loyalty program has influenced their marketing efforts.

This inaugural series of episodes was filmed onsite in Chicago. Watch for new episodes with new casts coming soon to a city near you: wherever there are interesting green industry conversations going on, we’ll be ready to help you Pull Up a Chair...

EPISODE GUIDE

Episode 1 NOW PLAYING

Reward your customer. Reward your bottom line.
Pull Up a Chair brings together retailers and experts from around the country to talk about the secrets behind their success and the challenges that keep them up at night. We kick off with Mark, Christina and Michael chatting about customer loyalty programs. Are they worth the investment? Do loyalty programs really work? And how the heck do you set one up? So pull up a chair and listen in on how these folks are using customer loyalty programs to profile customers, develop offers and program benefits, and how they measure success.

Episode 2

POS ROI: Measuring Bottom Line Benefits Mark, Christina and Michael talk with Kip about how they measure the return they receive from their investment in a POS system. Is it really more than just an electronic bean counter? Join the conversation while Michael shares how his POS system helps him compete, Mark talks about bottom line ROI on system upgrades, and Christina shares how her POS drives specific buying, pricing and product mix decisions.

Episode 3

To POS or Not to POS…That Is the Question Part 1
The POS system Stephanie bought after purchasing her garden center just isn’t cutting it anymore. How should she go about making the single biggest capital investment she may ever make? Michael shares his experience upgrading to a new system and Bill advises on asking the right questions to make sure your purchase fits your business’ unique needs.

Episode 4

To POS or Not to POS…That Is the Question Part 2
Michael, Stephanie and Bill continue their conversation with a look at how expensive employee mistakes at the register can be. (Hint: Michael thinks the savings have paid for his POS system!) Stephanie worries about the burden of converting to a new system and Michael and Bill offer some real world advice on how to manage the transition.

Episode 5

Social Media: A Lot of Questions...Not Many Answers
Social media: everyone is talking about it, but does it really make sense for your business? And, if so, what should you invest your time and energy doing? Michael, Christina and Mark share some surprising insights on whether or not to involve your staff and how to use Facebook when hiring new staff.

Episode 6

Email Newsletters: Who, What, When?
E-newsletters are dramatically changing garden center communications making them faster, cheaper and content rich. However, endless possibilities make the questions more complex: what do you write, how often do you send them and who should receive them? Christina, Mark and Michael discuss sourcing content, segmenting customers and the fine line between marketing and content communications.

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MEET THE CAST

Michael B.

Christina F.

Mark A.

		Michael Bracken Michael Bracken and his brother, Josh, own Nicholson-Hardie. These two garden centers, less than half a mile apart, are in the most affluent community in Dallas, TX. Both stores carry significant lifestyle inventories. Neither store has sufficient parking for anything other than the middle of Dallas’s sweltering summer. “At our indoor store location we have 3 landlords for our 10,000 sq ft facility. Oddly enough it all works beautifully! I LOVE my job, my team members and my customers!” Nicholson-Hardie has used an Activant POS system for over ten years. The coolest thing about their system? “SPEED…so much faster than the traditional register situation.” michael@nicholson-hardie.com http://www.nicholson-hardie.com

		Christina Feile Christina Feile manages her family’s business, Atlantic Nursery and Garden Shop. This single location garden center has occupied this location on Long Island since 1929. Being in a waterfront community, Christina says, “Our customer radius is more of a semi-circle since the fish don’t shop.” Atlantic designs a significant amount of custom work, both containers in the spring and summer and wreathes and garlands at Christmas.Atlantic has used an Activant POS system for about 15 years providing a much better handle on inventory and gross margin information. The best part of Pull Up a Chair Chicago? “As with all ANLA projects, I get to work with intelligent colleagues who give me lots of great ideas while I get to give back to the industry!” christinafeile@atlanticnursery.com http://www.atlanticnursery.com

		Mark Anderson Mark Anderson manages finance and accounting for McDonald Garden Center. His family's business, founded in 1945, has grown to include three stores in Southern Virginia. Mark says, "We demonstrate our commitment to locally grown plants by producing nearly 80% of the bedding plants that we sell. McDonald has used an Activant POS system for 25 years now. "Without our POS system we'd be looking out at the floor saying, 'I think we're selling more of those than last year,' or 'I think we're getting a better gross margin.'" Mark's favorite part of Pull Up a Chair Chicago? "Learning and sharing with successful industry leaders through meaningful conversations that work on getting to the heart of common business issues." manderson@mcdonaldgardencenter.com http://www.mcdonaldgardencenter.com

For More Information on

POS Systems

Properly tended by experienced hands, plants will grow and bear fruit. The same is true for your independent garden center. But, because your business must continually attract new customers and retain those customers you already have, it is critical that you install an integrated business management system. The Activant Eagle software system is a complete, fully integrated solution that’s backed by an industry leading network of consulting, training and support professionals who in some cases have been Activant employees for over 30 years. Integration is important to a well run business. When you connect all the parts of your operation—POS, inventory management, financials, purchasing, special ordering, payroll and marketing—everything runs more efficiently and accurately, day in and day out. It also allows for a number of benefits that you won’t find with anyone else.

Phone: 925-449-0606

Website: http://www.activant.com/lawn-garden/products.cfml