Young Voices: Customers for Life

Blanton Sheorn

We have a challenge upon our plates. We’re part of the live goods industry, so we inherently appreciate a good challenge. The challenge being served is assuring future patrons and repeat consumers of our products. The group, in my eyes, are adults in their mid-30s and younger—the so-called “Millennial Generation.”

The members of this generation that are going to be driving the economy in the near future may or may not be interested in plants at all. Conservatively speaking, we should assume they’re not. They are, however, driven by rewards, want acceptance and hope to realize success with ease. These are perplexing traits, when we’re essentially asking them to try something that’s uncharted territory, requires a little work and costs a little money. Remember, this is a formidable task being served to all of us. Breeders must come up with plants that are strong for given environments, growers must produce quality ready to perform, and retailers have to stock their shelves with variety for the home gardener.

Young people aren’t afraid to try something new and will often accept a good challenge, but if they fail miserably or get no reward, they’re less likely to try again. Participation trophies—the ones given to everyone, not just the winners—were the norm for this generation. The reward of a garden—which could be as elaborate as a property border, as simple as a container on the patio or even a small pot on the kitchen window sill—is tougher to isolate because there are many intrinsic rewards to the act of gardening. There are physical rewards of exercise and emotional rewards of not just relieving stress, but also a sense of accomplishment. I hope everyone knows the feeling of watering in a fresh planting and exclaiming, “Grow! Be a plant!”

Acceptance is tough to accomplish with a plant, but not impossible. Plant-specific advertisements are coming into play more and more. Billboards and television ads mention specific plants, and hopefully, this trend continues. Having something that’s well known makes people feel good.

Advertising takes many forms and one of the oldest is subliminal product placement. Automobile manufacturers have taken this adage a few steps further. Characters on television converse about their brand of minivan and its excellent features. Can you imagine a character exclaiming how big this salvia got this summer or how delicate this euphorbia is paired with this large geranium! I can and it’s tremendous.

The simplest and most important thing that’ll assure a repeat customer is making sure that they feel successful with their plants—because it’s all about the plants. We all must be good stewards for the plants. Know the plants, use them and know where to exploit their strengths and avoid their weaknesses, and share this information with others. Ask the consumer questions to know them broadly and specifically. Know how much they want to maintain and work with their plants, how much light they have in their garden and how much money they’re willing to spend. Think success in giving them what they need. Honesty is the best policy here. If they can’t spend much, have an asphalt front yard, and little time or knowledge to care for a plant, show them the portulaca and make sure they know to soak it down once a week and they’ll be successful. And if they have deep pockets and lots of time, do whatever it takes to make sure they come back next season!

Our future presents many challenges. Be a good steward for the plants, share the benefits of gardening with everyone and make sure a person’s first gardening experience is a good one, and you’ll have a customer for life. GT

Blanton Sheorn is a head grower for Metrolina Greenhouses in Huntersville, North Carolina.